The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1876-02-08
Are we Becoming a Nation of
Rogues.
A LAY SERMON ON THE RECENT DISCLOSURES
AT ST, LOUIS.

AT ST, LOUIS.
The revelations in the revenue cases i
St. Louis have become positively Sicken
ing. They weaken confidence in humaI
integrity. They throw doubt over al
human professions Of honor, religion On,
morality. Merchants who have for
lifetime held high commercial rank, who
as respectable and moral citizens, hav,
been social cxempars and leaders in al
the political, moral and religious move
ments TO arrest crime and lead men L
better lives found to have been par
tioipants in these frauds and sharers il
the spoils of plundered treasury. Th,
scope of these frauds is appalling. They
were not the mere vul gar offenso of de-
fraudiDg the revenue by secroting lace il
petticoat, or diamonds !" n.ohsiV, /.
Viuei ~ escape the payment Of n petty
charge for duty. 1t was something more
than this To carry on these frauds re-
quired, on the part Of distilers and rccti.
fiers, false book keeping, forgery of re.
turns, non payment OF taxes and the in.
PRODUCTION of their whole working force
to a system of falsehood, fraud and
swindling. On the part of the gaugers
and other officers Of the revenue, it re.
quired violations generally of their official
oaths, and special act Of perjury each
time they made On official report; it in.
volved the acceptance OF special and gen.
cral bribes by all the officials involved,
from the highest to the lowest, and q
guilty knowledge of the criminal conduct
OF all the accompiccs-principals and
sabordinates. 1t included tho actual
commission or the criminal participation
in the crimes of official and unofficial per.
jury, forgery, false book keeping, bribery,
and robbing Of the revenue. And all
this for the meanest and most degrading
Of all motives-moncy.
Had any man gone before the chamber
Of commerce Of st. Louis and proved that
twenty or thirty of the most respected
merchants Of that city had been engaged
for four years in systematic robbery of
their fellow merchants, and had resorted
to perjury, forgery and bribery to accom-.
plish their ends, and had actually oh.
tained three millions of money dishonesty,
how long would the guilty have been per.
mitted to continue as members of the
chamber How long would these men
be tolerated as merchants or as members
Of society? Would they not properly
fall to the plane of all the confidence men
and swindlers who put forged notes or
checks upon the market, and swear to
falsehoods for price per oath?
Is the offense of cheating less criminal
when committed against the government
than when some citizen is the victim d? Is
perjury free from turpitudo when its OBJ.
ject is to get money dishonesty from the
public treasury, and when it would be in.
famous in the extreme had tho perjury
been to obtain money from q bank ? Is
tho bribery of the revenue officers of the
government to koop their books falsely,
that men may swindle the national treas.
ury, less criminal than the bribery of a
bank cashier to falsify his books that some
one may swindle the institution of which
he is an officer. Are bribery, forgery
and perjury less criminal in the man who,
while not committing either act himself
divides tho proceeds of these crimes With
other men who actually commit them {?
Where does society find authority for
drawing line Of distinction between
crimes against the government and crimes
against individuals? Where does mer.
camille honor find its warrant in treating
the forgery of bank note or check as an
act of turpi:ude, while the forgery of
stamps, or their second or third use enti.
ties the perpetrator to the sympathy of
the public and the undiminishod conf.
dence and respect of society?
One Of tho greatest calamities disclosed
by these exposures is the universally of
the corruptiop Of the federal officers.
From high to low, from the gauger earn.
ing his few dollars day to the confden.
tial officers of the revenue department, all
have proved false, all have had an itching
palm, all have sacrificed personal and
official honor and oaths to share with the
criminals the plunder of the treasury
The disclosures show how officer after
officer yielded to the temptations of
money how they betrayed their employ
crs, and how they actually sought out toe
men who were involved in crime, that
their official silence might be purchased.
Is official integrity no longer a fact, and
does our civil service attest the truth of
the English minister's sweeping assertion
that every man has his price? For this
decay in morals, for this decline in official
for this degradation OF official
life, society is largely responsible. The
country is largely supplied with men who
have become rich by questionable means.
Wealth seems to be recognized as man.
tic amply sufficient 10 cover all dishonesty
in the manner of its acquisition. The
man who gets rich, no matter by what
means, is respected, The corrupt Office
holder assumes that his accumulations
will enable him to purchase social posi-.
lion without regard to the manner of his
them. Hence office is now
sought not for its honors, or its legitimate
salary, bu: for its opportunities. The
country has rejoiced at the exposure
md conviction Of Tweed and his asso
,iates, But the ST. Louis conspirators
IRE even guilty Of greater crimes than the
New York ring. They have committed
series of distinct crimes of the most. ;nra.
nous character They have robbed the
government of millions. The corrupting
influences Of their crime have had a wide
extent, reaching into other cities, where
like offenses have been committed. Why
should not these men and their crimes
meet with the same general condemnation
.nd punishment? Why should not these
,rimipals be held up to the gaze of the
world as examples Of iniamy. as well as
he New York ring, whose members have
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