Shepherdstown register. [volume] (Shepherdstown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1849-1955, 1876-03-18
sbspbsrSstow1 lsssistsr.
Is, 1879.
POLITICAL CORRUPTION.

The recent exposures III w ashi"S'o"
bring the blush of shame to the cheek
of every American citizen, irrespective
of party, and il is strongly intlmated the
President himself has been guilty OF as
much corruption as that proven against
Helknap. Indeed it seems as if our po-
litical system is in danger of falling to
pieces from sheer depravity, and that
every office from the highest to the
lowest ought TO be thoroughly investi-
gated.
In this connection, a passage from
speech delivered last November, by MIR.
Mason, in the House of Delegates, may
afford some interest to our readers.
During the debate on the Impeachment
it was argued that an officer might use
the advantages OF his Office 10 make
money, and yet not be guilty OF any
crime, and Mr.. Mason, advocating the
impeachment of the Treasurer, thus re-
fers to the degeneracy OF the times -
He said: No such case as this has ever
before come to the notice ofan American
Court This case is distinguish
ed by the character OF the defense which
ia set up.-that tits no wrong for the
treasurer of State, who receives salary
for his services, To MAKE 4 personal ami Il
nj
pie.
And this defense, Mr.. Speaker, is set up
and relied upon, here on the soil OF Nlr-
,rinia. to whom American liberty las been
n,cusfomed to look, and has never looked
I'm vain. for an accurate and clear an
uunciatiOn Of those principles which I'M
,,erlie our system OF government. Ii Is
made nj this eventful epoch in our history
"a nation when the whole political at
,nosphere is black and foul with the mlas-
ma of official corruption. 1t Is made ut Il
time when the best and most loyal friends
10 representative government almost deS-
pair of the success of the American sys-
lem, because every office, from the town
council to the chief magistracy OF the
nation, is sought by men who desire-not
the salary, but the opportunity TO pllIef,
steal and pluudcr; because men seek Oh
flee. not for the hohorS or the tame, not
that they may write their names in his
tory as The benefactories of their age, but
to prostitute their trust To personal gam
and profit. 1t is made ut Il time when oar
institutions shake ANA totter,-not De
cause the people at home arc no longer
able to discriminate between honest ana
true and dishonest and un,rae men, but
hecause the standard of official duty has
fallen below the mark our ancestors
erected, and because the allurements, the
temptations, the surroundings, the tain,-
ed atmosphere of official station breed
fatal and contagious disease to seduce
and betray those whom the people eieNate
To position, place and power. Ana this
defence, made by one who has had long
experience in the public service, Is ofer-
ed at time when the great heart Oh
American Patriotism beats anu sWells
with mighty thrOb to gather strength
and nerve for that great upheavai OF the
people i'm all parts OF this country, when
we discern in the near future, TO make
one last, desperate, dying effort 10 reSeh.
crate and diSenthral our constitution, anu
To rescue from the disease and death that
yestal spark, that vital principal-Purlty
in Otfice-which our ancestors intended
to be, and which, depend upon 1t, sir,
must ever be, the corner stone and vital
ixing principle i'll every form of RepuDii-
can government
This trial will mark an era in the histo-
nv and i'm the politics of this State. The
proclamation has been made that the
people of West Virginia intend to hold
their political agents toa rigid, severe
and strict accountability. This an
nouncement is made in the infancy Of
this common twelfth, and lis clear, distinct
and emphatic; it is made III the case OF
one who iSa member of the dominant
political party who was elected To his Oh
flee without opposition by the united
vote of both political organizations 1t Is
made under circumstances which pre-
clude the suspicion ofparty spirit or per-
sonal rivalry, and being made uLder these
circumstances and with these surround
ings it will exert most salutary ana Deh-
eficial influence upon every department
ofthe public service from the governors
office down To the saddle bags of the
country constable.
No thoughtful American can shut his
eyes to the fact that UNPUBLISHED malrers;i-
ton i'm office is at once the most glarlnS,
the most pcrnicious and tue most danger
Gus evil of the day. We see men acquire,
hold office of honor Il trust who would not
be employed in the personal AFFAIRS oil any
prudent citizen; men attain To place anu
power who If stripped OF the pomp anu
circumstance of official position would
not be PERMITTED to enter the private
parlOr of the numbleSt gentleman III the
land. We see vast fortunes suddenly
accumulated i'm offices where the salary
barely sufiiccs for the domestic expenses
of the incumbent. We see men enter
public life, povcrty-stricken ana without
credit and in few years they are ranked
among the millionaires Of the country;
but worst of all, we see these men go UNI
whipped of justice and use their plumber
10 corrupt the MASSES and poliute the
very fountains of political power.
Ii is not my purpose to pursue these re-
Elections, but it is an automatic PROPOSE
ton, that if we intend to preserve our
institutions and to transmit them 10 our
children in the state we received them
from our fathers, there must be Il radical
and an immediate change i'll this respect.
The people must either elect better men
TO office, they must exercise more care
and circunspec,ion i'll the selections of
their political agents, or else they must
more frequently invoke these procedures
which are to designed purify the office
and to exact and enforce official account
ability. If this change does not take
place, there are mauy who now hear me
who will survive the practical working
OF ,ose political maXiruS upon which our
civil Institutions are founded and upon
which our civil liberty and national pros
perity depend.
HJ CENTENNIAL TREEs.-We see it
,,,,,ostal a., so,na 81 tho ,>oNarS tbot