The Weekly Kansas chief. [volume] (Troy, Kan.) 1872-1918, 1876-03-09
worse, and More Of III.

u.sh;n0tou. within fe" usy'
,..t hos t,aar of an unusually stsrtnns n"'
Tha committe on Expenditures Oh 'no
ro-+nsDt Of tbe House, sscertalned' Oy 'no ilo'.
-. - ,,os;,ive proof that the post 'iaue' Nv
-. On, - Territory, had secured tne po-
So and had been paying ohe-hah
,,''o1 - nnnally to the Secretary OF War,
,o-o or,onuting in the aggregate to about
80 7. ,os not exactly to the Secretary, ell
-. 20 his wife, who it seems, made the
,L.;n .-o and sale, and received the money, with
a. sacretary's knowledge and consent. The
.-s,;naI bargain was made with Belknap's first
,r;fa who died In 1870; he afterwards married
her sister, who kept mp the business. Not the
least scandaous feature of this affair is the fact,
that at the funeral of the first Mrs. Belknsp, the
business was talked over by the parties. The
Secretary, finding himself caught, at once ten
dered his resignation tn the President, who i'm
nediately accepted it. Articles of impeachment
will be preferred against the Secretary, notwth-
standing his resignation, as it is claimed that he
cannot evade punishment by this dodge.
Reports were current that Belknsp contemplat-
ed suicide. His wife says she is the guilty one,
but he takes it upon himself, in order to shield
her. There is but little doubt that the woman
is at the bottom of it, 1t is one of the results Of
the passion for display and rivalry to outshine,
now raging in Washington. Mrs. Belknap had
the reputation of excelling all others in Wash
ingtOn in the magnifcence of her receptions, and
was the acknowledged leader of aristocratic So
ciety. She has ruined her husband and herself,
in order to obtain the means of keeping up the
show. Others, who have been trying to initiate
her, have probably resorted TO the same means
Washington is rotten, in politics and society.
But this spirit of corruption has had deeper
root than small officials. The example of the
President of the United States has been most ru-
inous to all who came under its influence. His
passion for receiving gifts, his respect for and
devotion to the Money Power, and his bestowal
of position upon men for favors conferred, have
served as an example to all in position or seek
ing position. His first Cabinet was made, up in
great part, Of men who had bestowed gifts upon
him; and rarely has he bestowed Cabinet ap-
pointment upon q man who had established q
sound national reputation for integrity and
craftsmanship. They have been men to whom
he has taken q fancy in the army or on the race
track. The war developed some very good SOL
diers that were previously unknown; but men
who exhibit an aptness for peculiar kind of
work, in great upheavals of society or govern
ment, are not always fitted or Trustworthy for
lesders of the Government.
Is it possible that this co1ssPtion can exist all
around the President, and under his very nose,
and he be Ignorant ofitf We find Delano, men,
Der Of his Cabinet, charged with the grossest
corruption, and the charges proven, but the
President still clung to him, until he saw fit to
resign, when the resignation was accepted with
expressions Of regret. We find Williams, anoth-
er member of the Cabinet, covered all over with
charges of corruption, nominated by him to the
Supreme Bench of the United States, and with
drawn only to save him from rejection by the
Senate. We find his Governor of the District of
Columbia, Shepherd, convicted by Congress of
robbing the Treasury of millions; and right on
the heels Of this, We find him sending in the
Rane Of that man for re-appointment to the same
position, to be Indignantly rejected by the SEN
ate. We find his Private Secretary indicted for
conspiracy to defraud the Government in the
whiskey revenue and, although acquitted by the
jury, pronounced guilty by the public opinion Of
the whole country. Now comes his Secretary of
War, convicted of bribery and corruption, and
fastening to the President with a confession, has
his resignation accepted, in hopes thereby to es-
cape punishment. There are charges freely made
against other high officials; and in view of all
that has transpired, who knows but that they
are guiltyi
versal corruption of the satellites is owing, in
some measure to the influence of the great lumi-
nary around which they revOlvei