Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1874-03-12
rHr coRRuprroNs on MoNRY

money 10 po"cil tc'tN
stantly abused. We see this every day.
Men in high aud confidential positions
barter their souls and violate the laws OF
the land to make money every day and
20 unpublished. Justice is paralyzed'
and public sentiment drugged by the
pernicious influence of public corrup-
ton. Money buys judges, juries, YER
diets; it softens the rigors of the law
it enters Legislative halls; and has SOFT
seat in committee rooms, where dam
AGED characters are repaired to order.
The people foot the bills at last and ras-
cality goes unrebuked: 1t has pew in
church. reserved box at the theater
and enjoys the smiles of fawning, hollow
hearted society. Courts Of inquiry are
mockeries, and their records often not
worth the paper written on. The result
summed up is usually in substance
as follows: This is clever fellow;
he understands addition, division
and silence. So do we. Take
farcical Illustration now pending:
The court Of inquiry in the case OF Gen.
Howard, sometimes sarcasticaliy styled
the Christian Statesman, is in session at
Washington, but it seems to make slow
progress. The court happened to be
organized to acquit, and therefore 1t has
no power or will to find anything wrong.
he has friends in the place where they
can do bin the most good. The eoun-
try is under the impression that the
General has not accounted for all the
money he had in trust for the
government by a few hundred
thousand, nor is there any reason
able explanation supposed to be forth
coming. 1t is the order of the day for
public officials Of the government to
turn up short in their accounts, but it
very seldom happens that any penalty is
inflicted beyond the lashiugs ofthe press,
and even this often fails to shake the
nerves ola man with half million
for defence. Whitewash is acheap com
modify, and can generally be had in
quantities to suit rich customers, just
as the veriest scrub can 90 to New York
or London, if he has the money, and
buy a magnificent family tree running
all the way back to the days of William
the Conqueror. In the former case the
subject is looking out for his shoddy pos
terity; in the latter he is merely looking
up his ancestry. The old adage that
honesty is the best policy is more gen
orally discredited than it ever was be-
fore. 1t has been laid aside along with
the theory that the sun moves around in
a circle and that the earth stands still.
Corruption is the order of the day, and the
great Republican party daily illustrates
its inability and unwillingness to arrest
the tide. The necessary reforms have not
originated or been countenanced within
the party, but will have to be organized
without. The people feel this hence
the grangers Of the West, the anti
monopoly movement in Iowa, Wiscon-
sin. Minnesota, Illinois and Missouri;
the election of Senator Booth in Cali
fornia, the success Of Democracy in
Ohio and New Hampshire, the pres
ent movement in Tennessee, and
the general uprising of the peo-
pie, which before another Presidential
election, and even at the coming fall
elections, bids fair to be chrystalized
into powerful opposition party. And
TO this party will be committed the great
work Of correcting abuses and inforcing
the laws and restoring a purer and bet
ter government founded upon justice,
administered honestly, and cemented by
the mutual ties Of universal citizenship.