Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1876-03-15
THE NATIONS DISGRACE.
Opinions of the Press and of Men or the
Bellknap Affair.

Opinions of the Press and of Men or the
Bellxnap Affair.
From the N. Y Herald.
If the case of Secretary Belknap was
solitary instance of criminal malver-
satlon a generous and magnanimous
country would hold the President guilt
less and regard him as merely unfor-
tunate in the choice of one of his con-
tidental advisers. But so indulgent and
forbearing a Judgment is impossible
when General Belknap is merely a
sample of the men by whom President
Grant has been surrounded. The coun-
try has not forgotten that other men,
bers of the Cabinet have been forced
into retirement by charges against their
honesty, although the evidence against
them has not been so conclusive as to
extort confessions of guilt like that
which has been made by General Belk-
nap.
From the New York Tribune.
And so there was shock of surprise
when it came out that this man, Cabi-
net Minister, adviser of the Executive,
head of bureau whose subordinates
are proverbially careful of their honor
and Integrity, and proverbially sensi-
tive to anything like a stain of the sort
that he has covered himself all over
wlth-that this man had been prostitut-
ing his Office and selling the places at
his disposal. And yet it was not such
a shock as such a discovery would have
brought five or six or eight years ago.
That Belknap has been discovered trad
ing In offices does not shock U.S. And
yet why should it? Should not Delano
and Williams and Schenck and Boss
Shepherd and the suddenly-enriched
Babcock, in fact all the surroundings of
the President, the character of his init
macies, his associations, friendships,
his gravitations, have prepared us for
it?
From the N. Y. Sun.
This man, detected and crushed, is
driven out, resigns, is impeached, and
either escapes or endures the punish
ment Of his crimes. The people are
shocked by the revelation-by the posi-
tive proof of what has so long been sus-
pected and believed. 1t is irdeed a
shocking, revolving exhibition In
the Centennial year Of the Republic,
our great enterprise Of free popular
government results in the sale of Offices
by one Of our very highest function
aries, and In the payment Of brides to
the wife of this rotten official. If such
is our condition at the end of the first
century, what will it be at the end of
the second?
From the Milwaukee Wisconsin
We have no words Of palliation for
this great crime, no plea in abatement
of punishment; but let all the steps to-
ward punishment be taken promptly,
without passion, without giving; to the
proceedings the least tinge of partisan
ship. Let our representatives for once
rise above the character of the mere
partisan, and punish crime because it
is such, and not leave one to suppose,
from their words or acts, that it might
have been different if the guilty man had
belonged to some other party. Let the
punishment and the manner of admin
lsterlng it be such that the record shall
stand as a terrible warning to all fu-
ture time
from the New York World.
1t is certain that many, even Of his
bitterest political opponents, have al
ways entertained a sincere belief in the
personal integrity, if not always a pro-
found respect for the personal shrewd-
ness and moral courage of General Belk-
nap. 1t is not perfectly clear that the
direct charges so far made against him,
though they have passed the threshold
of his now ruined home, have been
specifically and fatally fastened upon
himself by any evidence but his own.
How can any American heretofore
proud Of his country and firm in the
faith that our institutions have not
utterly failed to fulfill the high expecta-
tons entertained of them by their
founders, be deaf to all these reasons
for delaying the verdict of his own in
telligence and his own conscience upon
this monstrous indictment? We
entreat our readers, of whatever politi-
cal opinion, to give these reasons their
full weight.
From the New York Times.
A member of the Cabinet has been
convicted of taking brides. That is a
piece of news which has already made
the circuit Of the world, and whose
echoes will come back to us full of
scornful reproach for many a day. It
would be absurd to regard the guilty
trafcking of Secretary Belknap as a
mere misfortune for the Adlninistra-
ton, or a ground of reproach against
the Republican party. It assumes the
character of a national disgrace, and as
such touches the American people
without distinction of politics. y
Gen Belknap, like some other Republic
ans who have departed from the path
of rectitude, was trained in the Demo
cratic party, and never abandoned GER
tain Democratic associations. Neither
party may be called upon to share his
disgrace, for his fall is just simply
another lesson in human frailty and
another testimony to the prevalence Of
q debased standard of public duty, Of
which all of our political life has shown
too many examples during the last ten
years.
From the nter-Ocean.
We expect to see agood deal Of Dem
ocratic ittleness manifested over the
Belknap exposure. It began in the
House Thursday, and will no doubt
continue for some time. To the small
r