The Rutland daily globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1873-08-26
SIEE TRAIL OF TEE SERPENT.

1t seems strange--it is strange, 1t is pass
ing strange-that fraud and corruption is
creeping in everywhere The greed for
wealth, the " almighty dollar ovcrpowcrs
every other consideration. Is this some
thing new, or have we always been going
on in this course ? Are we no deeper in
the mire than before, and are these daily,
hourly developments due mainly or, per-
haps, entirely, to speedier and easier modes
of INSTRUMENTATION of thought? 1t
may be possible, and we believe it to be
measurably true, that the Improvements
being made in the art of printing, in all its
appliances the continual multiplication
of newspapers the noticeable increase in
the number of readers the grouping to-
gethcr III one day, in one newspaper, the
news from all parts of the world the cut
ting up of the country and world by the
building of Geographic lines, by which
every new and startling development and
every sensational horror is at once sent to
the grand news ccnters, thence to be scat
tered broadcast over the world the strife
between the conductors of differently
may or may not be rival-newspapcr TO be
the very first to spread the latest news; the
apparently increasing appetite Of the
people for something new, startling, scnsa-
tional or scandalous; ii may be possible,
we say, and we believe it TO he measlrably
true. that some of these causes or perhaps,
all combined, have something to do with
the almost daily and hourly dishes of scan
dal-scandal did we say, rather disgusting,
disagrccable truth-which are brought TO
us by the telegraph. Upon the coming up
of every new one, we have these rcfec-
tons, and we strive to believe that it is n
full and perfect explanation. We must
confess, however, that each day il comes
harder and harder to settle down in such Il
self-satsfying and, perhaps after all, delu-
sivc belief Can it be, we say to ourselves,
that the world is growing worse as il grows
older that with the multiplication of the
means for disseminating knowledge, CON
reying intelligence, and preaching the Cos
pei 1.-the people are going backward Wedo
not want to believe it. We will not believe
it until it is forced home by some more ir-
resistable arguments.
Perhaps, after all, it is because the
world is growing better, that we notice
these departures from the paths of recti-
tude so quickly, scan them so closely, and
condemn them so mercilessly. This may
be the explanation and it is plausible one.
We were told years ago that the "trail of
the serpent" was over everything, and it
certainly seems as if its sinuous track could
now be detected everywhere. We have
become somewhat accustomed to see the
Judicial ermine bedragged in the miic of
New York city, and in the dirty pool of
politics elsewhere. 1t does not come to us,
as anything especially new, 10 hear of
legislator, whether state n national max
ing "a handsome thing out Of his vote.
1t has become old and well nigh stale to be
informed how this man or that, of charac-
ter, standing and influence, and of unques-
toned integrity, among his friends, ac-
thered his nest out of corporation with
which he was connected. We expect,
every morning upon glancing over our pa
per, to read of some defalcation or embez-
element, All this we have become accus-
toned to. These acts have become so
alarmingly frequent as to excite hardly a
ripple of surprise. But when the serpent
is seen entering the church of God, it is all
changed, and well may we ask, "whither
are we drifting?" The intelligence from
Japan is startling in the extreme. When
we were hoping so much from the religious
federation extended by the Emperor of ia
pan, it is discouraging to learn that he is
compelled to take backward step, be-
cause too large class of missionaries, both
male and female, ''dishonOred their cloth, ;
and all for the sake of the "almighty dol
lar" Sent out there, by boards organized
for that purpose, to preach the gospel at q
stated sum, upon their arrival there, they
enter into new contracts TO teach, with the
express proviso that they shall not teach
religion, receive salaries therefor, and then
set to work to cheat both parties They
receive a salary from two sources, to do
two distinct things, each inconsistent with