Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1873-02-06
THE RUTLAND HERALD.
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY l, 1873.
The Moral of il.

The country has been inexpressioiy
pained and saddened by the develop
,nents before the Credit Mobilier lnVesu-
cation committee during the past ~
dave II is certainly no cause Aol lo
;oicing. to anv one, be he kepuohcan
nas9,oorot n contemplate the posi-
t;on n which senator Patterson and
yice-President Colfax are placed, or
rather have placed themselves. Ihere
seems now to be hardly doubt that |
thew were FOLDERS and owners OF Credit |
Mohilier stock and that they received |
dividends therefrom. The moral OF this
whole Credit Mobilier business and the
result of the investigation show clearly
10 our mind, two radical defects III
American character and American poll
tics The want of backbone and moral
courage in the one, and the terrible pow
er of party cry in the other. Every
candid person, who has carefully scanned
the whole testimony, must be forced to
admit that there has been no bribery, no
corruption. no bargain and sale OF votes
and no attempt or intent thereof IN any
of these transactions. All the negotla-
tions, transfers, payments, dividends, etc.,
took place after the legislation for the
benefit of the Union Pacific railroad
company and the Credit Mobilier had
been settled and passed. No further
legislation was or could have been eX-
pected and in fact, none was sought
thp harm
these gentleman, if they saw ut, invest
ing or specializing in these securities
Most certainly none. This charge OF
McComb had been publicly made
months, if not years, before the COM
mencement of the last campaign, and no
notice had been taken thereof by the
public or the public press. The public,
probably, free from excitement, saw and
could imagine nothing wrong in it. And
the sober, second thought of the people,
uninhuenced by excitement, was in this,
as In most cases, undoubtedly right. AS
the cry of "Fifty-four forty or fight"
contributed to elect James X. Polk to
the presidency, as log cabins and hard
cider had, before that, furnished the
same powerful aid to Harrison and Ty-
Ter, so the cry of 'Credit Mobilier" was
seized upon by the opposition and forced
into service to work the defeat of Gen.
Grant. The cry was taken up by the
press and people, not one in hundred
having the least idea what it meant, and
strong men trembled and bowed them
selves before the storm. Instead of
meeting these charges in bold and
manly way, admitting the truth of their
connection with the matter, and show
ing, by the facts and by the records of
Congress, their entire freedom from the
least faint of dishonor, and appealing to
the country against their assailants,
what do they do2 They wilt before the
storm and knowing, as they must have
known, that the facts, testimony and
vouchers could be produced, they cow
ardly deny all connection herewith.
Oh for little back bone at that time,
for the least atom of moral courage to
tell the truth and stand or fall by it.
Who could doubt the verdict of the peo-
pie in the end? What mattered it to
the people, individually or collectively,
what particular property their Senators
and Representatives possessed, if they
only acquired it honestly? Is it any
worse to receive gifts now than it was
in Daniel Websters day? Is it more
criminal to make legitimate and extreme
" profitable investments now than it
was in the days Of Van Buren,? But
the tyranny of a partizan shout was too
much for their weak nerves. An I'M
meaning cry it was, too, to the vast ma
iority of the shouters, and all the more
terrible, probably, on that account.
Whatever may have been the motive,
they seem to have preferred to shelter
themselves behind cObweb of false.
hoods and evasions, rather than to de-
fend themselves, firmly planted on the
rock of truth. If the matter had rested
here it would have been bad enough in
the light of the disclosures now made.
This, however, did not satisfy them, but
they must needs reiterate their unquali,
fed denials under oath. One falehood
has led to another, and unless Mr.. Col
fax can furnish some unexpected expla'
nation we fear he has fallen never tc
rise again. What a terrible example
does this sudden eclipse of the charac,
ter and reputation of a Vice-President
and United States Senator furnish tC
our public men, as well as to all classes
of citizens. The least degree of manly
moral courage, the simple avowal of the
truth would have saved them and spared
the country the shock. The terrible
force of political war cry could not
have better illustration than in its eff
feet on these men. 1t has misled the
people, ii has destroyed two regulations,
at least, and, we fear, has somewhat
shaken the faith of many in human ma.
ture Perhaps the sacrifice of these
regulations would not be too great 8
price to pay, if our public as well as pri.
yate citizens would learn therefrom tC
value the truth, would acquire strength.
ened moral courage, and would, also,
examine carefully, before giving a
forced, unnatural and criminal meaning
to every campaign story or partlzan cry.
The charge as made in the campaign,
that the stock and dividends were giyer
and received with corrupt intent, has
been disproyed, but its effect has been
none the less bitter and blighting. While
sorrowfully accepting the result, let us
hope that it viii tend to the benefit of
the country.