New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1876-02-22
TOO MTCH BfBf dCTI

BabcOck, n man grown, with certainly aver
ace capacty, or he would not be where lac is,
and he under Il criminal charge goes into
court and undertakes to dissipate the effect
of the testimony against him by pleading the
baby act. 81 did not know these men were
"conspirators again-t the Government did
"nOt suspect they were carrying on system
" "a frauds upon the TTca ury. ! found them
ENJOYING the confidence of men in high sta
" ton. and themselves holding official posi-
" tons of trust, and believed them accord
" inely to be honest ard upright" This Is
his plea, his explanation of the correspond
encc in which he has been involved, and by
which he has been compromised; this
his defense against the suspicious which
the array of kilograms, letters, mes
sages, and communications OF various
sorts has accumulated against him. " How
"could | know cries ont this full-grown
man, who j. credited with at least average in
tcligence, educated at West Point a soldier,
having had opportunities for knowing men,
with much experience of the world and ac-
q,lalntance with affairs man whose career
for several years has not been such rs TO i'm
press one with the notion that he is simple
ulnUCu OF Vastly lHlpONiu hI'"H B''''i -
shrewd as to be able to gam large sums OF
money on speculative Investments so high III
the confidence OF the Executive as TO be in
trusted with the most delicate diplomatic
negotiations. and authorized, even without the
sanction of law and regardless Of the lIniita-
lions and restrictions of the Constitutions, to
make treaties; a person of such versatility
and such range Of requirements ard capac-
lies that he holds at one time military
commission, IL diplomatic appointment, and
two or three civil Offices, i'll all OF
which he exhibits thrift and sagacty III
a marked degree" how could know
he asks with a great mir Of injured in
noccnce, chat those men with whom war
ION terms Of such intimacy were conspira-
"tors and thieycs?n 1t is not denied, if we
rightly read the testimony for the defense.
and apprchcnd its drift. or if We are correct
in our md, rstanding of the case as it has
been given to the court and jury and to the
public, that the men with whom Gen. BabcOd.
WAS in such intimate and confidential CORE
sp0ndcncc were guilty of the oilcnscs OF
which they were charged, and have been
found guilty and sentenced. The most earnest
friends Of that gentleman do not undertake To
say that there is no ground of suspicion in the
strange and mysterious correspondence carried
on in cipher and under fictitious names. II Is
ONLY claimed that he was not aware OF their
character; in short, that those evil and de-
.i.,uiul, men used him for their purposes.
lie is not only innocent, hut an innocent. His
integrity is defended at the expense of his
intelligence. lie il not IL knavc, but a
well, let the maintancIs of his innocence say
what he is what their own logic drives them
to pronounce him.
We do not mean 10 piciudgc Gen. Babcock,
nor 10 anticipate the Judgment OF the court or
the verdict of the jury. We have strivcn from
the commencement of the trial, indeed from
the moment that suspicion began TO run III
the direction Of the Executive Mansion to
rive the accused full benefit of every reason
able assumption or fact or Implication IN lis
favor. We have not been willing 10 believe
that the faint Of political corruption and dis
honest greed had extended far as into the
official family of the Executive. We prefer
now to accept the theory OF the defense that
Cen Babcock has been more sinncd against
than SHINING. But the testimony in the case
is now all in and the evidence closed, and we
submit to any candid mind what must he the
the assumption of innocence, based upon the
previous good character of the accused, force
M in oar judgment of his intelligence !
When We consider the character OF Tie men
already convicted Of this conspiracy with whom
Gen. Babcock was in constant correspondence
aud the closest intimacy that the business i'll
which they were engaged wasa mattcrOf almost
public notorety; that they Haunted their i'll
oottcn wealth in the face Of the public in such
manner MS of itself to excite suspicion that the
correspondence had all about II and interviewer
in il such mystery and secrecy a. in amy ordinary
mind would have excited inquiry ~ to its
Interior meaning when, we say, all these, the
salient facts in the case are taken INTO cOnsid-
Grafton il must be confessed that this is q man
too easily imposed upon to he trusted with any
serious responsibility, or to he assigned ia any
official position requiring ordinary intelligence
for the discharge of its duties. There is n
legal maxim that ignorance OF the law
is no excuse. II would be we'll to
extend it 50 that such ignorance of what is
due the public sense of decency and good
morals ms leads an official into confidential in
tmacies and cipher CORE spOndence with
roges should be no excuse. In II healthier
political atmosphere, with more rigid regard
for private and public morals, it would per-
haps be so. But We have come in the past
five or six years into an entirely different con-
dition. II il so much the fashion nowadays
to gloss over irregularities, To condone small
vices, pallate political sins, except they
be- in an opponent, and to content ourselves
with the thought that it might he worse, that
some at least of our high officials are not per-
soually crashing. greedy, and dishonest. that