New-York tribune., 1876-04-21
MR. SH1NNONS SENTIMENTS.

There is said to be great deal of smuggling,
especially of Chinese merchandise into San
Francisco. The various ways in which this
evasion of duties is effected are highly creditable
to human ingenuity. Opium wrapped in some
thing moisture-proof is brought ashore IN bar
rels of pork, and other remarkable devices are
rcsorted to. While certain Mr.. Shannon was
Surveyor of the Port the running of goods was
uncommonly lively. Now this Mr. Shannon was
told one evening that $4,000 pounds of opium
"and 100 bales of silk had been smuggled
"that day.r This information did not disturb
the official gentleman's equanimity. lie was
not in the least troubled about the fact. On
the contrary he so calmly accepted 1T as an
inevitable sort of thing that the sus-
picion prevailed that ne shared In the
profits of the transaction by which our unfortu-
nate Treasury lost the sum of $4,000. How
ever, it is the neat little axiom which Mr.
Surveyor Shannon delivered on this occasion
which principally interests us. For not to put
too fine a point upon it, he laid 1t down as
an irrefragable truth that :" any man who was
:" in Government office and did not make
"money out of it was a fool" Slr. Shannon
indeed put it a little more strongly. He used
q profane adjective which is frequently coupled
with fool" OF course this plain spoken per-
son was not referring to such puny profit as
one may get from legitimate salary. That
mo, est amount is what the honest the fools
with n "d," are content with. What he meant
was that the wise pick and peculate and plller
Now, what we admire in Shannon is his
lovely candor. lie did not smite his chest
snd roll up his eyes, and call upon gods and
men to witness his innocence. He did not
write letters to the newspapers. lie DID not
say that he was the victim of perjury and all
other varieties Of falstcation. To state 1t
briefly, he proudly owned up. He couldn't for
the life of him see anything wrong in cheating
tho CustOm-honse. He was in office to make
money, and why shouldn't he make it Did
people think him fool with /" d' and "a
dash and another "d"f
All If all the thieves were like Shannon
what n quantity and what variety of trouble,
what speeches, what impcachments, what call
ines of the Yeas and Nays, what writings to
the newspapers, what judicial Investigations
would be spared us For we rather in
clined to think that such manly impudence
would so astonish everybody that proceedings
and punishment would be indefinitely post
poned However this isn't exactly the rationale
of the matter An oilice-holder may be found
out or not found out when he has " unawfully
taken to prgging." The world has some lin
gcring prejudices in favor of official honesty
but Mr. Shannon puts the point as n matter OF
self-respect. Nobody, oiiicc-holder or non
oflice-hodcr, wishes to be regarded as non
conlpos menas with two "d's.n If honesty is
to he held as prima tacie evidence of idiocy,
how can we expect even Secretaries to be
honesti To have n place, to enjoy good
chance to steal, to suffer the opportunity to
pass away unimproved to be afraid of pock-
eting the trick, to be the slave of humdrum
integnty-wel, if this isn't to be fool with
two IDS" it is at least to be most decidedly
out of fashion.