New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1874-08-31
MR. MOULTON'S MENACE.

We do not profess to understand Mr.. MOul-
toms code of ethics. When he appeared be-
fore the Plymouth Committee three weeks ago,
he declared that he felt compelled from
"sense of duty to the parties, to his relation
"to their controversy, and to himself" neither
to make any statement of what he knew about
the subject of inquiry nor to give up any doc
uments in his possession except those which had
already been published in whole or in part.
While he was thus protesting his regard for
the sacred confidence of friendship, his state
"ment," previously given in substance to
newspaper correspondent, was flying all over
the country on the wings of the press. when
a few days afterwards he decided to publish it
in full it did contain some of the letters which
he deemed it his duty to preserve IN cOn1-
dence. He has since chartered necessarily about
the subject on which honor, as he told the
Committee, compelled him to keep his mouth
shut He has now the amazing effrontery to
declare that he has always held himself ready
to appear before the Committee on due notice,
and since he has been denied the opportunity
to tell what he knew to the authorized rep
resentatives of Plymouth Church, he shall
straightway proceed to give it to the world,
and Mr.. Beecher may as well begin to tremble
at once.
The evident determination of Mr.. MOultOn
to have the last word in this trial is of course
extremely suspicious. We can imagine no
explanation of it that does him any credit
He first ran away from Brooklyn, so that he
might not be called to testify until after MIR.
Beecher had made his defense Fooled in this
design he threw himself back upon his re-
served rights and refused to testify at all,
but as soon as Mr.. Beecher's statement was
made public he gave to the press the long
story which he had originally written for the
Committee. Now that the Report has been
made and accepted, MoultOn and Tilton both
are busy with more statements, more testi-
mony, and more letters. The time for them
to speak was several weeks ago. What they
NAV saw now will be received with degree
of distrust it would not have encountered at
first.
Nevertheless, if there is anything more in
their budget of charges, we believe it to be
not only their right but their duty to bring it
out late as it is. No good purpose can be
| served by keeping up the farce of "hOnOr"
and confidence" any longer. The only thing
Messrs. Moulton and TiltOn can do now to
mend their battered regulations is to tell the
| truth and the whole truth without any more
shams or reservations. The misery to wives
and innocent children, the scandal to religion
and social decency, seem o5be tolerably COM
pete now. There is probably nobody to spare,
and there are no sensitive ears to shock. But
if there are more disclosures to come, these
angry gentlemen may as well understand that
we do not propose to publish their stories in
serial form. They must be told all at once or
not at all. 1t will hardly do to keep the COM
munity on the ragged edge of doubt and
expectation any longer, and the public cannot
allow the Mutual Friend and the Avenger to
90 on dribbling nastiness forever, like waste
pipes chOked with their own filth. The next
discharge must be their last. 1t is certainly
the last to which the community will have
patience to listen.