The Dallas daily herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1887, 1878-02-23
PERSONAL HONOR IN POLITICS,

PERSONAL h0hDR IN POLITICS
The old time prIm and straight pall'
Iieah Is laughed ~ these modern days
The black neok-sloek swallogiail coat
and shining beaver arc only used now 70
nAricalura tho old Lawmakers Of oil
halfoenlury slupe, ~ institute q dlS'
paagipa comparison between him and
bio more stylish bat less honorable suo-
eessor llis true ilal Thirty az my
years since tho code prevailed but then
tho nation had 10 credit mohlller or
baek-pay, sloelS-jobblng ~ Indian con-
tracts resting like q bad dinner upon
tho throhbing breasts Gifts vol dressed,
fiery hut honest Legislators onr north
ern brethren have reyilod tho duelllng.
pr0cliyilIes Ol tho southern members,
and 10 some purpose, because The prae'
liea has fallen into disuse aa much nom
their ridloule ~ from any other cause
Rat among tho mon Of tho first half
century of our national existence, or
even down 10 Tho oommene0menlollhe
war who held themselves personally
responsible for their wliona, words 90
bearIna no single Oal,es Amea, Sohuy'
or Collax or lielknap over came TO The
surface. Indeed this personal honor
and personal responsibility constituted
tho best safeguard which tho ingenuity
Of man on the care Of pully ever erected
about tho treasury Of tho United
States,
II iatrue there were many FEATURES
about II exceeding liable TO objection
but tho objections only affected the
principals, while tho tax aud 1.-THE
money Of the masses rested securely IN
tho vaults until needed TO discharge
an honestly aud intclllPontly contract
cd obligation Of the government Ia
those good old days Of personal honor
aud personal responsibility which now
30 tickle tho disabilities Of the modern
statesman, man did mol outer the pub
llc service bcggNr IN llnnnoo, aud In
ton or twelve short years count his
riches by tho nillion0, and 20 TO Europe
TO Haunt hia tarnAhod jewels and tar'
nlshod honor and the shame ofhls counS
try In the face of tho intclligcneeand yirN
tue Of the frat men Of tho ago There
were no gold joba worked between the
Treasury aud Wall street, shared in by
the president aud his banker but there
was money IN sight AZ all times to pay
obligations and TO care literally Tor tho
comfort of the manned aud myulided
servants Of the government
The contrast between the present
congress aud the national ndminisDra,
ton and tho ono when Amos, CollnX,
Wood and II score OF other credit mobil-
lor operators were skuiking to avoid
the angry gloncca Of II sold out, plun-
dcrcd and shOmoully robbed people ia
very great II indicates that personal
honor and public probily had in that
dark epoch touched bottom and we are
NJ last on the ascending scale, Men of
character men who are not only not
thieves themselves, but dcspisc others
who are, have now the control OF the
government Who would dare to ollcr
Mr. Hayes II racing stud on II cottage
at Long Branch Who would dare to
approach his war secretary or private
secretary with proposition to share in
an Indian contract, or IN u combination
to cheat the government outor tax ON
whisky Hayes and his cabinet may
not be just all we would have them to
be, but then they are such wonderful
"lungo ahead as compared with his
predecessor, that we can never be
half grateful enough for the
boon. 1t may be true even in that
there was n little black "slullduggery"
in the management of the election res
turns by which this grateful change
came about, but the effort to shield and
protect the vile Instruments of the
fraud are dcccntly mild, and reassur-
ingly litful and uneven Public opinion
is beginning to respect itself, and is
forcing returning boards and visiting
statesmen to do the same. Indeed
many OF those visiting olons would pur.
chase severance from each other and
the local statesmen Of the Wells,AnN
derson stripe at considerable expense,
but this delightful immunity is not in
the market for sale, since there is no
Durell now on The bench in Now Or
leans, and no helted soldier to disperse
the state government or overawe the
courts.
Direct personal responsibility is n
good thing in politics. and although it
may be considered little oil Gogyish,
yet we would be glad to sec it come into
more general use than it has been in
for the last fifteen years.