Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1874-02-06
NO.. 6.
whatIuas nesn Done ADou, 1..

Mr.. Tweed has his answer TO the uues-
tion, "what are you going 10 do about ii"
He has also The leisure and secluslon de.
sirable for weighing its pertlnency and
conclusiveness. We say this Is no spirit Of
banter, and with no pleasure that is not
toned by pity for the fallen chief, and
sorrow that he should have brought upon
himself such shame and ruin. The "Boss'
had many amiable and admirable traits.
He was courageous, he was talented, and
in bis deep humiliations lie has refralned
from criminating those whom he had
bought and used, and who still hold up
their heads in the community. A thorough
ly mean man would have tried 10 bolster
himself by degrading others whom he had
in his power. II he was the prince OF
thieves, he has the honor Of prince OF
thieves. There is no question that he had
the reputation of hundreds Of men in his
hands, and sank alone when he might have
had mullitudinous company.
The special significance of Tweed's con-
viction and condemnation, as a lesson in
public morals, lies in its definition, of theft.
He entertained the same idea that thous-
ands all over the country entertain, viz:
that everything that can bo got out of a cor
poration or The public is legitimate plunder.
The amount constantly stolen from rail-
road corporations in this country, by men
who certainly would regard it as immoral
10 rob neighbor's hen-roost, is enormous.
Somehow, poor men touch railroads in an
official capacity, and get rich, while the
railroads get poor, and stockholders are
not only cheated out of dividends, but out
Of the railroads altogether. Picking and
stealing are going on everywhere,-in rail-
road managements, in municipal govern
ments, and in all sorts ofcorporations,- go
ing on among and by the hands of men,
who regard themselves as doing an entire
ly legitimate business. The theft is dis
guised by the medium of some scheme like
that of the Credit Mobilier and it is un-
confessed to the consciences of the thieves
themselves. Men will consent to hold an
office and do no duty, while the pay they
receive is practically a theft. There are
ten thousand thefts, only less gross and
high-handed than that which enriched
Tweed and his gang, that are practiced all
through the community, unrecognized by
the thieves themselves as thefts. There
are whole States that seem to be demoral-
lied on this subject. To great multitude,
to take anything from private person Is
stealing; to take anything that can be got
by any indirection from the government or
a corporation, is matter of perfectly le-
gitimate business.
Tweed's condemnation extends, for a
large number of minds, the definition Of
theft. Multitudes are brought to appre-
hend by it as they ha We never done before,
the fact that 10 steal from a corporation is as
bad as to steal from a man, and that all
men who grow rich in places of public
trust, through the advantage which their
offices give them, are thieves. All hangers
| on, all deId-heads, all sinecurists, all men
who use Office for the filling of their purses,
all putters-up of jobs, all public men who
| manage to get out of corporations and the
government more than they earn, are
thieves. Why is it-how is it-that the
public conscience has become so dcbauch-
ed that it cannot see this2 If all who have
done and are doing to-day exactly what
Tweed has done, in all essential respects,
were TO be dressed in striped suits, in uni
form with his, there would be an immedi-
ate advance in the price of the goods, and
call for the enlargement of 'our public
| Institutions"
Now we wish that this matter could go a
little further, and that the public might be
! treated to an extension of the definition of
| gambling. Wall street is little more than
a gigantic gambling-shop. There is, of
course, a certain amount of legitimate
| business done there but it is entirely put
in the shade by that which is just as truly
gambling as any game that the Heather
Chinee does not understand" or that
John Morrissey does understand. There
is no moral difference between betting on
the turn of card and betting on the rise
and fall of stocks. The law ought to take
the matter in hand, and Judge Davis ought
to administer it. The betting on stocks is
a constant menace 10 the commercial and
industrial interests of the country. We
have no statistics, but we do not believe
that illegal gambling does as much harm
in this county as that which 10 done under
cover of law. The games of bulling and
bearing stocks, Of making corners" and
of buying and selling long and short with
out the transfer of share, is just as inn
moral and unchristian as the games that
are played in the gambling-hells. Yet the
Wall street conscience-what little there Is
of it-cannot take it in, and needs the ex-
tension of the definition of q word which
al one fitly characterizes their business.
Nothing will work cure but the law and
the striped clothng-Dr. j. G.. Holland, IN
ISeri6Rers Monthly for Feb.