Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1873-12-05

Ous, decent American public, which wire
pulIers usually regard as having no more in
| telligence or moral principle than one Of the
forces of nature, showed Enthusiastically that
| it possessed much political virtue and some
| political sense. The discovery that the So
called ISLANDERS against its fayortes were, in
all probability. verities. only made it more
| determined that those ISLANDERS shonld be in
yestigated. The steady tempest ofit7 right
eous Indignation scattered good seed through
Congress. and produced nthat upland states
manship promising bin or two Of cons
cienoe. An inyestigati a was ordered, at
| first ander hermetically sealed conditions,
| bat the popular storm soln blew the doors
| open.
| The rest We mainly know the whole
alien world of monarehie7, empire, and des-
potisms knows it , the capacity ol republic
ani>m far honest government Is everywhere
| being Judged By it. In every civilized land
| on this planet. thoughtful sonls are seeking
to divine. hy the light Of these doionons re-
yelations, whether it is possible for demo-
cracy 10 save itself from the e0rrnpiing
| tyranny of capital. Within our own borders
| sadder spirits are asking which Is the most
| allnring SPECTACLE free America falling
into squandaring and bribery. or monarch
| ical Prussia rnled hy economy and honesty.
We know how il Jared with Christian and
Faithful ani Hopeful and Greatheart and
| other Sene1ated Statesmen who had turned
more 81 les. into the wavs Of Achan and
| AnaniaS. tnxioas 10 clear themselves Of an
ugly char=e, and trusting that the chief
manipulaIor Of the Hen Psr~uador woald be
willing Ia bear their sins in return inr their
services. they had fatty denied having taken
any golden egg ont Of his abStracting mach
| inc BuI this disclaimer left MIR. Simon
Sharp under the imputation of putting said
eggs into his own pocket, and 81 plundering
| his partners in the enterprise Of making the
national hen lay On Indefinitely. Being
man of exact arithmetical instincts. and Of
| inyeterate, ingrained business habits, he re-
yolted from such an Unfair allotment Of the
! dividends Of diShonor, and insisted that every
| one should take his own share and no more.
| To the astonishment Of everybody, he told a
/ story a, straight and searching as ulough-
/ mans iurrow and We Will venture 10 sly
/ that no American was proud Of thr mex
| pected skeletons which il turned up There
| was 4 time when every fair political reputa-
/ ton reminded u~ Of the Arabian oil.pr7,
| each one Of which held robber when it
! seemed A. if We sh0ald have 10 c0nceie that
| our legislative temple was but den Of
/ Thieves, ,aily given to lying IL wa, a new
| and prryersely reversed and altogether be-
deyilled rendering of the Pilgrim Progress
] into American politics: il was much as II
| Bnyan had al the last pitched las Christian
/ and li0prfu into the little lnrid hole which
led from the gate of Zion to the pit Moth
| ing conld well he more suhyerting ami con-
/ founding and dehilitating to the moral sense.
| unless il might be TO see silver Demas and
| filthy Muckrake welcomed hy shining ones
! into the Holy City.
| And something similar To- ,hi- last nar'e.
was not wanting. Neatherco'k John car
/ riei out has plan Tor getting up new and
revised edition of his character a- Honest
| John Nane lie let Sharp and lronman 90
on working for him. declaring that he was
| the most upright creature GA this iootsto7l,
and recommending him r. iii o. investigate
| the very claims If saints 10 their crown-.
/ But when his name Wa read a- member
ot the committer. he rose AMI requested o.
/ be- excused from serving.
Ny reason Is simply thi-, hr aid, calm.
ly turning his honest face All dignihei ah-
domen towards every quarter OF the house
n own -toCk-to the amount ol one ih7n-
sand doilar--in the corporation IN question.
I will offer no explanations here and now a.
To my motives in taking IL, because those
motives VIII doubtless Be demanded oi me hy
the committee of investigation. shall he
happy t' appear before II. but cannot con-
scienIiou-ly De- member oi 10. ! trn~i thai
the House. ant yol. Nr. speaker. VIII rN-
cue me
The Honorable Sharp looked i,i,'e liom
his arm chair and Darmln booked Goals Of
fire from his rear corner Bat As '"s mem
bes -ll down there va general murnnr ol
PerIuuclary applause. AMI 10y next morning
hr was newSnaprret All over a- Honest
John Nane.
Still. he wa MOI "u' oi danger. y tAr
ram OF IRE and hrm~tonr int' the t"nsrr~--
ional >odom continued. and especially when
the blazing ha~hr~ ct in'e~tisaiion h'san 10
/ light On hi~ own eomha~tlhle garmrnt- De-
wa m a state OF mind 90 tiee into the moan
tain and dwell ia cave. When he al-
! pearet hei''re the committee. he dii not look
much Ike one col those Just men wh1-r mere
I presence can save wicked city. Moreover.
Sharp and Dorman testified against him L.
the fall extent ot their naughty knowledge.
Neyertheles-, Nane came oat of his furnace
without much OF -ingeing. lie exhibited
Dorman receipt oi payment Tor the ~tofk.
! and triumphantly remarked thar the d,cu-
ment spoke lur it-elf" As Tor the thousand
dollar which Sharp had refunded to him. he
said that hr hai always regarded Il as g
| loan, and stood ready 10 repay it, 4 for
/ the singular proftahlenes- of the investment,
well. hr had expected that il would bring
I him in -alnething handsome: it was his
/ habit a. a husine-~ man &, invest for 'rol-
IT,
[ He tried O, rli-r 1 -nde here. tar,ing hi-
/ genial Si>age from one to another OF the
/ committee. with an almost pathetic ehort AZ
/ hum5r but the sad synagogue OF iuyes-
tigators did not smile hack it had been en-
/ gaeed that morning in digging graves for
| some ol the iareSt regulations in politics
/ for once q hodv Of Congressiona, Norick-
/ could not appreciate poor ioke.
w hat We mainly wish 10 know" hum
med and hawed the worried chairman, "i-
whether YOU were aware. at the time Of pur-
chase. that the Hen Persuader was a branch
Of the Great Suhhuyial corporation
Weathercock John was in dire trouble II
Z ne said -Nes. a" his character and career were
ruined; il he said No &c he was a periurer
IL cost him many seconds Of penal mpditl-
ton 10 hit upon that happy dodge known a.
the non nj recordo
"Gentlemen. will frankly comics, that
did not inquire 50 clcseyaS perhaps should
have done into that point, he answered.
remembering distinctly that he had not IN
quired into it at all, but had been told all
about it by Dorman. II did. however.
know that the two comPanie, were acting
under different and independent charter Il
7eemsd lair to infer that investing in one
wa not the zlme thing As investing ia the
other.
It wa done. Congressman Sane had
found hi own way out Of hi- antanglements
The committeeman were ready to rise and