The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1876-03-24
GEN. BELKNAP'S DISGRACE.
From the Turf, Field and Farm

We have been living too fast in
the United States since the shock
of civil war. The money standard
has been too conspicuously carried
in the front ranks. When god alone
is made the passport to distinction,
the moral tone of the community
cannot be otherwise than low. In
the feverish desire to grow rich the
manner of acquiring money is not
scrutinized as closely as it should be.
The result, not the method; has
commanded attention. The lives of
our public men have been full of
ostentation. The question has not
been, how ably and faithfully does
he serve his constituents, but how
much parade can he make in the
way of public travel. receptions and
dinners. The buzz flies of journal
ism, whose brains are not equal to
anything but the milk and water
work of social tattle and the DIES
cription of ball dresses, have contrib
uted no little to the decentralization
of the times. They have made giddy
the weak heads of women by record
ing in print the popularity of their
headgear, the quality OF the stock
ings and the humber Of the shoes
they wear, the shade of the gloves
and ribbons most becoming to them,
the value of their dresses and the
brilliance OF their ornaments, and
by turning them inside out gener
ally. Each women with husband
in public life has been ambitious to
outshine her neighbors, and the mil.
! liners and dressmakers, in whose
interests the fashion gossips write,
have profited by the social rivalries.
lt~haS been one constant whirl, a
never ending scene OF dress and vul
gar show. The parade called for
money, and when the money could
not be got by fair means it was got
by foul. Men high in the confidence
OF the Government degenerated into
mere spoil gatherers. They looked
for pelf in every transaction. Their
e moral sensibilities were blunted,
and the only way TO secure favor
was by bribery. Now that Gen
a Belknap, ex-Secretary of War, has
\ been exposed, the nation cries out
Shame! But it was evident to al
n who had moved in the feverish all
Il of Was ington of late years tina,
men in places of public trust were
living beyond their means, and the
only logical conclusion was that cor
n ruption was at the bottom. Gen
Belknap's chief offense lies in being
found out. Had he covered BIZ
3 tracks more closely, he might hav'
o been honored by the giddy worship
ers OF Mammon until he steppe,
. quietly from his pedestal and return
'e ed to the shades of private life. Blu
'e being a clumsy operator, or on
brazenly Indifferent to public cen
sure, he has been forced out Q
:, Office by storm of denunciatior
- Bride takers even as great as him
a self draw their robes about then
n and pretend to shudder at the enol
nifty of his otfense. OF course, tn
N disgraced ex-Secretary of War wi
now be punished as he deserves
be punished; still, the future of til
10 Republic will not be guarantee
:, until the entire order of doing thing
q, at Washington and elsewhere
le changed. Instead of encouragin
- men to live beyond their means b
" applauding only their attempts &
costly show, society should chez
the extravaganza by the cold eye {
v suspicion. A man should be homo
!, ed for something besides the house
80 he owns and the dinners he give
g. And woman should be taught tn;
ST she can be as charming in a fifty {
in five hundred dollar dress. N,
until money ceases to be god
Sc social gatherings can we hope
check eager speculation and
lie instil lessons of rigid integrity. Fir
yh let the writer's of social tattle an
dress be suppressed. 1t was grle
Gus day when ''society" people WEI
prompted to do everything with tt
OF sole idea of getting into the new
re- papers. This craving for notorie1
!, always accompanies low tone
ne public morals. If the fall of &c
Belknap shall quicken the publ
conscience and promote love #
ire solid worth and simple tastes, tt
disgrace of the man will prove