The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1875-12-24
Investigations.


when Conrros. shan rcasscmhlc on the
9Th Of January whole month " the scs-
sion will have expired, without the lc7-t
pt gro having b,cn nude iu the public
bu~ir..s beyond the appointment OF tn"
standing committees. with House Of
Representative in which nearly Que half
of the whole body has had no previous
service, this is "a serious loss Of time, and 1t
might easily have been avoided.
If the Investigations which have hereto
fore been proposed are to bc undertaken
at all and ia real earnest, they cannot be
commenced too soon. II is now evident
this work must be done entirely 10y special
committees, for the plain reason that the
regular committees on the expenditures of
the various departments. are not qualified
to undertake it, even If they were disposed
to be searching, which IN som. cases must
he very much doubted.
The composition Of those committees is
not 81 isnctury at all. in view of the expo
surcs of corruption which have been
made. Under MIR BLAtNE they were pur-
poscly weak. in order to cover up the in
terror operations. Mir. kerr docsuot seem
to have improved on this bad precedent
but ii any thing to have followed IL TO
strange extreme. Take n few conspicuous
Illustrations. because these departments
have attracted public attention IN an ex-
ccptional degree:
Frrsrrfp-es on P4,sr. Frthrgs NJ Nsrcur ~
Ncw N,re. Chairman, .srs. MlLs1N a. ,~1I VI,
glan hvni, ln4 ~ Illinois, PhNrr OF Iowa. and
HlpauiDe q neNug ,psplyn.ee'.-Mr, gqE.eEr
smr,klrY q Virginia, buEition OF Maine and bAAAH
Erreaniares N me war Derar'r,ni Mr.. C1yAEn
OF Tcunst ivinil. Chairmlni Mc.ft. HohhNs ~ Nnth
Csroina. Bf ,ckrrHS Of kentucky, DAss OF Sew York.
If'eiii,e - d, I9a oa,,, ngno,Ttmsa,vMr;
Texls. wAtxER ~ New YORK. srowEIL Of virginia,
Ere. 3 presD. ne iasrfor nen1'tmcnf Mr.. Mrrut-
IEn OF Virginia, tGeitmanj M,ssrs. EooNs a. l. "a,
ONO and frff- Of iowa.
kriea,,. q "a ss D. r 'sni n J',',ic.Nr, Gsri-
ria Hovsr ~ 1enu.s.. e.. srAHEwEArHEg Of COnlccu-
cut and JoYOE Of Vermont.
The bulk OF these committees are headed
by and composed of new men, those Of ex-
pcricucc being on the Republican side.
whose interest is concealment. With the
best intentions they would labor under
many Disadvantages in exploring the de-
partmcnts hu' with iucapacity or luke
warmnoss, they must do more than fail in
such Il tax.
1t is, therefore evident that special COM
mittees must be raised and the best ability
OF the majority be turned In that direction
without delay. If there he an honest desire
to unearth the frauds aud scandals which
have dlsgraccd the Administration ut
home and abroad.
We do not expect a general drag net TO
be cast into these muddy waters, or TO
have the moral force of thorough inquiry
expended on small things, however deserv-
ing OF condemnation they may be. The
chief sources of corruption are well known
to the country, and there is II stern demand
that II shall be uncovered in every part,
no matter who may suffer from the eX-
| posture. II venal Democrats have been
| colludiug with the thieves of the Admins
| tratiou, they should first Of all be dragged
| to light by Democratic House aud brand
| ed. Any weakness IN this direction, If
| there he such cases, will be regarded as
| treachery.
In the holiday recess there will be album
dant time TO prepare for whatever nvcs-
| tigations may be intended, and 10 or
| gan2e ut committees for that important
service. II the Speaker flvOrs this policy
and means to make it effective, he will
| have learned from TIE criticisms on ms re-
cent appointments, to ayold repetition
| OF these buudcrs, and to select men vino
ure not only equal to the task. but who
Will engage in il with vgor and determiua-
ton to r1ve no quarter TO "A corrupt and
| faithless Administration.