Sacramento daily record-union., 1881-06-18
THE CASE OF p1rNEY.

shared Dy noDouy KNOWS no" Iiahy oLiSoio
of the Government. and by not few IN
high positions. The evidence shows that
there has been prevalent at Washington
quite general disposition to regard the
Government as fair prey. This is not
surprising, for the same disposition has
been exhibited even by members of State
Legislatures and also by members OF Con-
eress. Now Pitney had been wise in his
generation. He had made friends with
the Mammon of unrighteousness He had
helped many officials to perqulsites;
or, in palmer language, he had helped
them to steal. The result was that their
ewes and mouths were closed in regard to
his peccadilloes, and probably the impunity
with which he had conducted his thieving
ultimately led to his destruction by making
him incautiously bold.
One'of the most remarkable revelations
of his methods, however, has just come to
light. It appears that he went to num-
ber of Washington merchants, and induced
them to subscribe S., 600 to campaign
fund, by promising them opportunities to
get back their money by plundering con-
tracts. OF course it is evident that every
one of these merchants was as great a
rascal as Pitney. They were perfectly
willing and even anxious to rob the Treas
ury, and they were prepared to pay $1,000
for the privilege. But the most amazing
thing about this infamous business is that
these scoundrels do not appear to have the
faintest notion that they have done any
thing wrong. On the contrary, they be-
lieve that they are the victims of an out
rage on the part of the Secretary of the
Treasury. They have the consummate
impudence to publish their own shame by
making known the nature of the corrupt
bargain they had entered into with Pitney,
and they are actually talking as though
somebody ought to make good the loss
they have sustained through missing their
opportunity to steal. A dispatch says that
they are complaining" and that they
"have, after consultation. decided to ap
6 peal to Rubbell about the matter. !"
Surely corruption must have made start
ling inroads upon the public conscience
when such things as these are possible.
Here we have the almost incredible specta-
Gle of a. number of merchants holding a
meeting and gravely discussing the advisa-
bility of urging upon the National Repub-
lican Committee a claim which according
to their own showing is the grosseat kind OF
fraud. What will they say to Mr.. Hub
bell? VIII they say :" We gave 5000
q to the Republican campaign fund last
''vear on the underst anding that if Gar
"a field was elected we were to be allowed
' to steal it back with interest and now
General Garfeld's Secretary of the Treas
"ury has broken faith with US, and is
projecting the public funds instead of
allowing US to steal them. We protest
"against this, and we demand permission
"to do our thieving according to the orig
"inal contract :" We do not see what else
these "meschants could say to Mr.. Hub
bell, for this is the whole OF their case ;
nor do we see what Mr.. Hubbeil could say
to them, except that they ought to be
thankful if they escape the penitentiary.
But how is it that after ascertaining the
extent and nature of Pitney's roguery, the
Secretary Of the Treasury permits him to
escape SO easily Certainly his dismissal
from office is not sufficient punishment
for his ofense. Certainly if he has done
half what is charged against him he ought
to spend the next ten years in the peni-
tentiary. How then is it that after all this
exposure he is suffered to go away without
any other punishment than the loss of op.
portunity to steal any more? We fear
that the construction put upon this in
adequate mode of dealing with the case
will be anything but creditable to the
Government. We fear it will be believed
that Pitney is allowed to escape because
he could not be prosecuted without involv-
ing many other hitherto unsupported
officials In the same condemnation. That
indeed is the only possible explanation of his
escape. But such an explanation cannot
justify his release. All it does is to warrant
the suspicion that there is too much cor
ruption in Washington to be dealt with
openly and sternly.
1t is perfectly clear that this case ought
to have been pushed to the utmost that
Pitney ought to have been arrested and in
dicted and tried, and if possible convicted.
But if this is not done if the hand of
Justice is thus stayed capriciously it will
be impossible to convince the country that
the motive of this course is sound or de-
fensible. We shall see presently if the
star route frauds are followed up more
energetically. 1t has been clear from the
first that the men concerned in them did
not apprehend vigorous prosecution, and
their threats have been most impudent and
open. All this indicates crying need for
reform in the Government, but at the same
time shows that there exist disgraceful
reasons why no such reform is likely to be
undertaken very speedily.
DAMAGING STATEMENT.
Pavmaster kenny having been asker