New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-12-03
As OTHERS SEE US.

| Congress put up the SpeakershIp at auction.
| As OTHERS SEE US.
1t is to be feared that the nations of the
earth never had too high an opinion of this
one. which has been so bravely asserted to be
| the greatest of them all. There have been too
many railroads that never transported any
thing but the money of the deluded foreign
stockholders; too many bonds that never made
any returns except to the people who got them
out on a capital of printing press and Il ream
of paper; too many counties and States
| that repudated their obligations, or, III
the words of the Honest Farmer and the
! Honest Planter, did "a cute thing" at the ex-
pensc of the blOated mOnarchies. What they
thought of us in times gone By was painfully
! evident, for they judged us all by the spec-
men bricks that found their way over. Still 1t
was urged that this was a new country, that
soil less rank would produce "a smaller crop
| of scandals. How does the history OF the last
two or three years, say, fulfill this promise I
| Can we boast to-day that we are not as other
nations are
| 1t WAS not long ago that number OF the
most prominent men in public life were found
10 have been bribed in genteel way to aid
the schemes OF tho great Pacific Railroad with
their votes. Not long after, the Northern
Pacific Railroad melted away in the heat of the
panic like snow of its own isothermal lines,
and millions of dollars, the savings
| of thousands OF men and women, dis
appeared. The railroad was a-speculation.
| The Congress of the United States voted itself
| back pay for which it had not even pretext,
much less q title. The banking business OF
| the Government was taken out of the hands of
| the Balings and given to an upstart house,
and it was afierward discovered that the
! brother-in-law of tho President and one
"James Van Buron" were to share
! the profits. Three quarters OF million
of dollars were sent TO Washington
MS Il corruption fund III behalf of the Pa
| cifc Mail; where 1t went to nobody dared to
| find out. st least one large banking house
! failed which quietly got rid of its assets few
! DAYS before, and took in money over the cOun-
! ter during the last quarter OF IN hour OF It's
solvency. The head OF the District of Column
| bia Ring was made the keeper of the Pres-
| dents conscience, and Delan0, charged with
completely in frauds in his own De
partmcnt. was formally wlitcwashed. He
was pronounced too bad to keep, but
! too good to be allowed to 20 without GER
! tifcatc of character. The FIRST Stlte in the
| Union was found TO he ruled BY cOnfedcra-
| ton of thieves who had had 1t in their hands
| for a generation. Their power was such that
/ neither party had the courage to rebel, and
! Governor, and Judges were their creatures
/ The second State in the Union was made the
! thrater OF contest over simple question
| of honesty, whether the Government should
! or should not go on with its efforts 70
| nay its debts, and honesty won 10y about four
| thousand vote, out of more than half Il mil
! lion. Then the inst in position of our foreign
representatives was proved to have agreed %
| DISPOSE Of his influence as Minister for a
spccifod sum, and all possible snppOstiOn Of
| Mi, innocence was destroyed by the dis
| coyery Of two instances Of this barter
and sale. THIS same Minister had long
| before added lustor TO the record of
! all American representatives abroad, by pub
| fishing n work on the international law Of
! poker, which speedily rose 10 tho rank of Il
! textbook. The Secretary Of the Treasury
opened fire on a Ring which was said 10 have
! stolen forty millions of dollars from
| ue Government, and now the whole
| country il waiting Ia sec whether the
! Private Secretary of the President will be
proved to be an accomplice of the thieves.
! While they hope and believe he will not be,
! they wonder ut the Presidents associates and
still more ut the associates of the Presidents
! Secretary.
With two years. record like tins, what
must the world think Of us What must we
think of omselyes--Or rather of those vulgar
adyenturers, too many Of whom have gained
ascendency in our politics and our trade
IL is they who msrepresent and
mislead us, they who turn our cap
itols and changes into dens of thieves.
But il ought not to discourage lis that the
journals of the day are fairly dripping with
their misdeeds The very publicity given to
them is n sign of an awakened public con-
science, and the vigOr with which the wrong
doors are pursued is bow of promise for the
future. What the world outside thinks Of us
is of little consequence; it is what we are that
should concern IVA. But it is well enough to
contemplate ones own exterior once in a while.
II enlarges ones IDEAS. What the world out
side thinks of us can be left to time to make
right. What we know ia that there are many
of US, great and small, who have determined
that our country shall be rid of these pesti-
lence-breeders The decent citizens of this
country have declared war on the profigate
elements and disordercd society which the
rebellion left us IA its logacies. That is what