National Republican., 1874-05-28
TIE INQUEST CLOSED.

The District Investigating Committee
yesterday adjourned sine die. Mr.. Chair
man Allison finally choked off the flood of
talk, and the books, papers. and archives
were once more remanded to the custody of
the District officers. The gentlemen of the
committee now address themselves to the
far more responsible work Of making up
their judgment as to the reforms needed
and the means whereby they are to be &C.
complished. The testimony, as given in
the broad pages of THE REPUBLICAN day
after day, shows what is necessary. We
think that the committee cannot but see
that revolution has been wrought here,
and that in a new order of things it was in
evitable that some abuses should grow up,
and that some slow and unpatriotic people
should think such rapid changes were a
ruthless invasion; for we have been
almost cursed with a class of population
fortunately not very large, and growing
less every day-who have supposed that
they held a prescriptive right to dictate the
affairs of local government in the National
Capital, simply because they once fogged
their slaves within the shadow of the Capt.
tol. 1t has required the crushing out of
this idea to assert the broader and truer
one. that the capital of the country belongs
to the people of the country, and but for
the fact that the people of the country
placed it here, and allow it to remain here,
the owners of city lots would never have
been here themselves. Therefore we say,
what has been done by the local govern
ment since 1870 is in the nature of revo-
luton, which has very nearly accomplished
its work. What remains to be done can
undoubtedly be accomplished by simpler
and cheaper machinery.
We cannot doubt that the able gentle
men of the committee will find remedies
for the evils that they have discovered
The resolution under which they have
acted requires of them this duty. They
are to report additional safeguards in the
expenditure of money, and we take it they
will find it necessary to accompany any
such recommendations with the further one
ofproviding safeguards against authorizing
the expenditure of money. The power to
authorize the expenditure of money in the
District of Columbia, in our judgment,
should rest solely In Congress, and, this
being fixed absolutely, the means whereby
the expenditure is made may be very
simple indeed. We have hopes that the
committee may consider the question of
expenditure from this standpoint and, in
that case, we see no reason why they may
not be unanimous In the general result.
We cannot but believe that even Mr.. Will
son, Notwithstanding his stron g prejudices
he comes to the question of results, will
allow his better judgment to mold his con-
clusions. Certainly bis reputation as
lawyer, and his standing and duty as Re
publican. would seem to require this.
We hope people will not forget what this
investigation was started out to prove. If
any one will take file of the New York
Sue or Tribune of last November and De-
cember, they will see just what its
object was. 1t was started to prove,
as was charged in specific terms, every
officer, from Governor Shepherd and Cen
eral Babcock down, thief and robber,
who had enriched himself at the expense
of his neighbors who paid the taxes Every
single indictment of corruption has misers-
bly, failed, and it has been shown that some
of these gentlemen have neighbors who
don't pay taxes. This very day there are
hundreds of laboring men in Washington
literally being robbed Of their bread because
hide bound skin-fllnts like Columbus Alex
ander do not pay their taxes. We under
take to say, that If the corps of detectives
and slanderers-private, professional and
newspaper-had not supposed they could
fasten the charge of fraud and corruption
upon officers high in position they would
never have begun operations, and their
failure to do this has heightened the bitter
ness with which they have latterly pushed
the prosecution. 1t has caused them 10
gravitate from charges Of grave moment,
unsupported. TO the drivel of slsnder, malice
and revenge. Every mslcontent every
disappointed contractor or man who wanted
q contract, and every newspaper corre-
spondent who wanted to beslime another s
character, crowded their scurvy array Of
disjointed charges and insinuations into the
volume of evidence. and there it Will 60
down to obscurity. =
i Whatever else is said or found, there
must be one verdict, and that is, that there
has been no personal corruption; tina, there
has been no collusion or conspiracy; that
there has been no fraud as against either
the District or the General Government:
and that whatever errors, mistakes, evils,
wrongs or extraysgancss may have been