The New York herald., 1876-03-10
The Root or the Evil.

which bears fruit in the disgrace of the late
Secretary of War until we consider the mat
ter in its larger sense. 1t Is sad enough to
see one so highly trusted as Belknap recreant
to the trust 1t is humiliation for the
American people to see Cabinet Minister
arraigned at the felon's dock For, while the
history of nations as circumspect and proud
as England and France show peculation to
have been common in high places, and that
even a Massena and a Marlborough had
itching palms, we have been rather free from
the sin, or, at least, from any knowledge of
it. There were scandals about Buchanan
and Floyd grave enough in their way but
Buchanan VIC believe, never went beyond
suggesting that good democrats should be
employed in the Philadelphia Navy Yard,
and the sin of Floyd was political-not per-
sonal-treason and not corruption. We have
no idea that the real moral of the Belknap
scandal will be developed by clouding it
with cant. Nor will the administration be
permitted by On indignant public opinion to
send Belknap out into the wilderness as
scapegoat while the Babcocks, the Shepherds
and the Delanos remain to offer up sacrifice
in the temple and thank the Lord that the sins
have departed from the sanctuary. Bel
knap's fall is almost a miracle. There is
probably not another man, trusted as Marsh
was trusted, who would make so frank and
brave q confession. Men who go into the
bribery and jobbing trade become experts in
perjury. The chances are that if twenty
witnesses, who knew as much as Marsh and
who had done what he did, were to be sum
moned before the Committee on War Expen-
ditures, they would swear with GOODNESS and
self-possession that they never paid Belknap
a dollar We do not anticipate the good for
tune, so far as the truth is concerned, with
many witnesses that was gained in Marsh.
Nor must we waste any time with the
political Pharisees who call out to us to
come and see how good and pure they are
and what spotless robes they wear. There
was one who in His wisdom vainly asked for
some sinless critic in the shouting multitude
to ''cast the first stone" If Belknap were
only to be pelted by those who had not
sinned he might pass through both
houses of Congress without receiving
dent in his hat. Trust the average Congress
man, as members go, with a dozen fat
trading posts, and he will do as we'll
as Belknap in money earned and
much better in the selection of his partners.
The root of the Belknap evil is in the caucus
and the convention. Politics is q question
of machinery. The people are managed as
artisans manage mill-race or brick yard.
Conventions are chosen by bribery We do
not mean that delegates in all cases are
bought as Belknap was bought, but there is
bribery in patronage, in Office, in the award
of contracts. The whole government rests
upon these varying phases of bribery. Tam
many Hall maintains its discipline by
naming laborers to the boulevards, Just as
the administration at Washington secures
delegations to conventions by commanding
tidewaiters and letter carriers to attend.
The processes by which the Belknap mind
reasons out the propriety of making frontier
soldiers pay for champagne and truffies at
shoddy balls is easy when we study out
Tammany general committee and republican
State convention. Corruption runs through
them all The convention knows that its
Tammany committee is strong because it
can send thousand ofice-holders into the
streets tomorrow. The convention naturally
bears fruit in q Belknap, just as several gen.
erations of Tammany committees gave us a
fully developed Tweed.
To DE Tocqueville we owe the wise refiec-
ton that no people will ever be governed
worse than they will themselves encourage
or permit. The question in the first place
is, How far are we the people who have
encouraged Grantism, responsible for its
recent fruits and in the second place. How
and when do we mean to put an end to it ?
Many Of the acts for which we now censure
Grant were approved at the time. When he ap-
pointed Cabinet of cronies instead of states
men we threw up our hats and cheered the
second jackson, who dared to ''ignore poll
ticians." When he began sending relations
into various parts of the country, wherever
pleasant Treasury places could be discov-
cred, we said, ''Well, it is human, after all,
and blood is thicker than water and we
would most likely do the same thing"
When he began to cover up fraud and scan
dal by the ''no-removal-under-i policy
we cheered him as one mot afraid
to stand by his friends" When
he drove Sumner and Schurz out
of the party we hailed the resolution,
maintain discipline" The Senate which
threw down Sumner hastened to accept Bel
KNAPP and Shepherd and all their set. The
Senate, which was intended as q conservative
influence in the government, a check upon
the passions of the House and the ambition
of the Executive, the embodiment of the
conservatism and the pride of the people,
became the slave of the Executive. It's men,
bers made n compact with the President.