Martinsburg weekly independent. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1873-1875, 1874-05-02
ArARTICLE WORTH READING,

we van tue tiSpecihi attention OF
our readers to the following edito-
rial, taken from the Baltimore
American III Thursday Ii il full
OF rich truths and is opporiune
and seems 10 show that the best
portion of the partisan press are
waking up to the necessity Of be-
ing fearless and independent. Our
independent effort has been so
much talked of by certain preju-
diced politicians, that we copy with
great satisfaction SO good and
sound AN article And we pray
now again the privilege of warn
ing ring politicians Of the hand
writing on the wall, and also trust
that the satanic, purchasable press,
may heed the lesson herein con-
tanned. The article is as follows
Decay OF Virtue.
1--WE hear this phrase so
frequently, that it sugges
widespread conviction, if not
a. baleful fact. The wild
waves of speculation which
have rolled SO resistlessly since
the great war have threatened to
,overwhelm and submerge industry
and honest economy, and for a
man to fail of wealth is TO be put
down as fool. There is a loss eff
confidence in personal and official
integrity positively alarming In
tie public service there is suspi-
cion everywhere. Are Cabinet
ministers and Senators concerned
in jobs? Do inen win who pay ?
The whisper that such things are
possible is calamity, but when
whispers deepen into audible
vote. ;. a.d when these are pro-
claimed upon the house top, the
decentralization is far-reaching.
Vixen the country rings with the
names nl Sanborn and Jayne, cou-
plei with those of Richardson and
Butler, there are signs that we must
have reformation or rOttenneSS.
1t was bat short time ago that
the country was holding its breath
over Cilorpenning claims and Cred
it Mobilier rascalities. 1t was sad
to zee so many splendid reputa-
tioils Blasted. Treasury defalca-
tons aud fraud have succeeded, un-
til the question arises, Is honesty
one OF the lost virtues? Are Sena-
torial seats ever secured by donbt-
ful expcdients? Are public officers
Bought and sold? Is it true that
scarcely any part of public service
isextmpt from ring rule or ruin
1t is not easy to compute the loss
of prosperity attributable to the
decay of confidence. Public inn
provements are demanded in
cities, but The people fear that if
authorized they will he made vast
sau.drons for the boiling of polite
al pap to feed hungry imbeciles,
and REFUSE to authorize them.
Railroads are wanted, but visions
of Erie and North Pacific, ofstolen
bonds, wstered stock, suDken div
idends, receivers, etc., sweep in
panoramic extent before the pop.
ular eye, and there is hesitation.
Capital hides itself from evils it
imagines or feels to be in the air.
Men have not confidence to VEN
.ture even into needed and prima
.facie secure investments. Prosper
,ity stands and waits the return of
public confidence. Faith is the
substance ofthings hoped for" and
faith is dead. There are many
honest nien in public life and in
trade, bu, they are clouded by the
c0mmon Suspicion, and there is
l.ud cau for reformation. How
shall il be secured?
1t will not be immodest, we
trust, if we first mention the press,
the agency which broke the ring
of our commercial metropolis, and
seEt its master Williams into convicts
quarters, clothed in their costume.
The press must inculcate pure
ethics; it must be bold and outspok-
en-; it must make vice odious and
successful fraud disgraceful. 1t
will bp compelled to call names
and to expose the rottenness of
many a whitewashed character.
1t will sometimes be obliged to ac
cept t. patronage of min GRITTY,
but ii must not falter. 1t must
be unpurchasable and fear
less, never justly liable to the
charge of corruption or poltroon-
cry. Careful never to wrong any
man; it must suffer no man to shield
or glorify wrong. 1t must be y
the trucst, highest sense, ! ~
pendent. Ii must expose the shams
and denOunce the evils of its own
party as readily and faithfully as
those Of the opposition. 1t must
love its party too well to see it
manned by incapables and keel