The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1875-02-10
Ths Secrets Of Corruption.

The transactions disclosed in the Pa |
ci6c Mail investigation are sufficiently
abominable to make every honest man
hang his head with shame and mortifca-
ton over the degradstioninto which affairs
at Washington have fallen. These trans
actions constitute q national disgrace.
And the fippant manner in which they
are disclosed adds to that disgrace. Here
are facts jauntily avowed to the committee
of investigation which the natural senti-
ment Of decency aud justice instinctively
pronounces deserving Of punishment in
state prison. Think of the infamous
audacity of undertaking to procure
legislation from congress BY an outright
gift to single individual of the sum OF
three hundred thousand dollars in ready
CASH. And this is but one Of long line
of similar operations all directed to the
same end. n
What was the object Of these people :!
It was to deliberately and determlnedly
demoralize and corrupt an army OF needy
hangers-on at Washington, to poison the
whole atmosphere of legislation, and to
buy up members of congress like cattle in
the market. It was to undermine the
foundations Of honesty and morality at the
national capital, and to convert all abo ut
them into a mass Of moral authorizations
and revolting putrefactions Such wastheir
nefarious purpose; and now instead Of re-
counting their criminal conduct with
shame and confusion Of face, it is brazenly
narrated as all a cheerful story, an every
day occurrence, simple matter of ordi-
nary experience in Washington life. The
distinct intimation of the disgusting mar
rative is that there is no sound spot in or
about the capital that it is one huge
mass of feculence and that the commit.
tee to whom the testimony is addressed,
know the fact too well to subject even the
boastful manner of the recital to rebuke.
Parasites on healthy bodies are on ordi-
nation of nature, and society is infested
with such vermin. But these are para
sites upon the corpse Of legislative integ.
rity. They generate a rot and feed upon
it. Their nutriment comes from an abscess
which they themselves have formented
They press the stream Of pollution to theil
lips as though it were breast Of mother
milk.
1t is all lively joke to them to en-
deavor to dispossess the national legisla
ture Of its manhood, its honor, its respcta
bility; the only guard and guarantee thai
the people have Of good government, anc
of the preservation Of individual liberty
The corruptor of the national legislator j.
not only criminal, but the greatest O.
criminals. He is not only burglar upoI
property but he is burglar upon human
rights, since he destroys their only sur,
defense, the integrity of their representa-
tives.
Now that the fraud is accomplished, tn
sentiment is prone to creep in that It is
thing that is gone by, and not to be helped
and thus tends to moderate the public 10
dignation. But suppose the veil coul,
have been suddenly lifted from these Pa
ci6c Mail transactions while at their height
and the light of q MONDAY sun let in upo
them while the vote was being taken, woul
not even Washington have been too hot
hold the beggarly crowd of expectantl
then and there foully pocketing a millio
of dollars filched from the treasury unde
false pretences? What then would hav
the instant public judgement upon til
whole tribe Of principals, builders, agent
attorneys, recipients, payers, and payees
this detestable business2 Would not ev,
ry man of them all have fed to escape th
tide Of indignation that would have risen
overwhelm them? .s.s.-a-
Language is inadequate to express OF
sense ofdetestation at these ever-fresh
multiplying evidences of the depravi,
which appears to prevail not only in Il
acts but in the sentiments OF people mo
intimately connected with our national le
islation. 1t grows daily and hourly moi
and more evident that moral misasm
ovcrhangs, pervades, and iDterfuses itse
into the atmosphere of the capital. TIL;
whole city is, seemingly, no better than
smallpox hospital, in which all are alil
infected, patients, nurses, directors, maj
ayers, and all.
The morals of the entire nation al
sappe1 and undermined by the never-en,
ing spectacle of official villiany presents
to daily contemplation. And as we ha,
seen and said, the worst feature of g
is the prostration of the standard of inte
rity in public administration, in congress
and In the atmosphere of the committe
where corruption is smoked out of i
haunts and its holes. The moral tor
being thus low, political action is demo
allied. What else can account for Il
support given in Washington to the into
cradle outrage in Louisiana, by which Il
voice of fair and full majority of tt
people has been deliberately stifed, pl
down, trodden under foot, by the military
1t is not possible to conceive of MOI
daring or a more fragrant outrage on fire.
government; vet SO deadened apparent
is the moral sense of our legislators ths
some among them who are ordinaril
fair-minded do not appear to perceive th
monstrous atrocity of the proceeding.
There seems to be no reliance left bu
in the unsophisticated judgment of th
country at large. The great masses {
the people, we are happy to believe, al
not yet fatally corrupted, and will in th
end administrator justice upon enormitit
which it is safe to say have never had
parallel in our political history.