The Morristown gazette. [volume] (Morristown, Tenn.) 1867-1920, 1875-02-10
] 11:AEEi 3 SEcRE.FFs. g or e0RR1P-

Y -
S9a, OF J Japaary, 27tb.s According Il
44rwin.s testimony, Nhoshas been be
fore the. Investigating Committee a
/ Washington for several days, only
I q million dollars were paid 1eHtsaoi
THE Government funds BY himself to
,llhaye this subsidy swindle passed
passed. congressman gSchumaker
pocketted three hundred Thousand d
tit and his memory was very defect.
i've as to the disposition he made df
it: ..s7 'e9o
The transactions. disclosed in the
Pacific Mail investigation are suffi.
i.cieptly7 abeminable to make every
\ honest man hang his head. with
shame and modification ever the
degradation into which. the affgirs at
Washington have falleps These
transactions constitute, a, national
disgrace. And the 1ipPapt, manner
in which. they are disclosed. adds to
that disgrace. Here are facts ,jauH-
tily avowed to the committee Of in
vestigation wtfctr-the natural senti-
mentcof decencY and Justice, iustinc-
lively prononpces deserving of pun
ishment in a State prison, Think of
the Infamous audacity Of undertake
ing to procure legislationlf from Con.
gress hy an outright gift to sassingle
individual of the sum of three hun
dred thousand dollars in-rea6y cashI!'
And this is but one of a long line Of
similar operations all directed to the
same end. atz ser sr
What was the object os these peo.
pie? 1t was to deliberately and de-
terminedly demoralize and corrupt
an army of needy hangers 5on at
Washington. to poison the whole at
mosphere of le9islations and to buy
up members of Congress like, cattle
in the market. 1T was to nndermine
the foundations of honesty and NOR
atty at the national capital, and to
con @ert~alf about them iintfT "a mass
ofmoral Observation-Disclosures
putrefactions vShch.swas their ne
farions purpose ; and now instead. Of
recounting their criminal conduct
with shame and confusion of face
it is hrazenly yynaErated as all a cheer
-ful story. anseyeryday occurrence, a
simple matter of ordinary experience
in Washington life. The distinct
intimation of the disgusting narra-
tive is that there is no sound spot in
or aoout the capital; that it is one
huge mass of fecuIence land thatthe
committee to whom the. testimony Is
addressed. know the, fact too weti to
subject even the boastfui manlfer Of
the recital to rehuke.
Parasites on healthy bodies are
an ordination of nature. and society
is infested with such vermin. But
these are parasites upon the CORPSE
of legislative integrity. Fhey gen
crate a rot and feed upon it, Their
nutriment comes from an abseess
which they themselves have foment-
ed. They press the stream ofpoln-
tion to their lips as though it we're a
breast of mothers milk. 9 "a
II is all lively joke to them to
endeavor to disbossess the nat ohal
legislature of it manhood. its honor,
its respeetability; the only gnard
and guarantee that. the people i1ave-
Of good government. and Of the
preservation of individual liberty
The corruptor os' the national legi :,
aator is not only criminal. but the
greatest oferiminals. He is not only
a5barglar upon property but be is
burglar upon human rights since he
destroys their only sure defenee,9the
integrity Of their representatives.
Now that the fraud is accomplish
ed, the sentiment is prone to creep
in that it is a thing that is gope by,
and not to be helped aand thus tends
to moderate the public indignation. j
But suppose the veil could be have
been Suddenly lifted from these Pa
cifc. Mail transactions while at their
height, and the light OF a MONDAY
sun let in upon them while the vote
was being taken, would not even
Washington have been too hot to
hold the beggarly crowd Of expec-
tants. then and there fouiiy pocket
ing million of dollars ffIched from
the Treasury under false pretences?
What then would have been the in.
slant public Judgment upon the
whole tribe Of principals. builders,
agents, attorneys, recipients pay
ers, and payees in this detestable
Would not every man of
them all have fed to escape thestide
OF indignation that would have risen
to aoverwhelm them? s -e@-z2 n
Language is inadequate to express
our sense of detestation at these ever
freshly multiplying evidences Of the
which-appears to prevail
not only in the acts but in the senti-
ments of people most iminently con.
nected with our national legislation.
It grows daily and hourly more and
more evident that moral misasma |
overhangs. peryades, and sinterfuses
itself into the atmosphere ofrthe cap.
ital. That whole city is, seemingly,l
no better than a smallpox, hospital. 4
in which all are alike infected, pa
tients. nurses, directors, managers.
and all. -. -
The morals-of the entire nation are
sapped and undermined by the never
ending spectacle of, Official yillainy
to daily contemplation;
And as we have seen and said, the !
worst feature of all Is the prostration
of the standard Of integrity hi pub
lie administration. in Congress. and
IN the atmosphere of the committees,
where corruption. is smoked out of its
haunts and its holes. The moral
tone being thus low political action
Is demoFalized. What else can ac-
count for the support given in Wash
ington to the intoIerabie outrage in |