Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1883-08-23
eureka Dailp Sentinel.


THE PROBE.
The next Congress will be enc from
whom the people will expect extraor.
binary and wholesome results.
Other issues are insignificant as COM
pared with cleanness in government,
involving retrenchment and reform.
This is not an affair of party, but of the
whole people.
The first step in the direction proposed
will be an honest, bipartisan endeavor
to expose fraud and corruption in high
places.
The House of Representatives, says
the New York Sun, will be called upon
Immediately after its organization to
make searching inquiries into several
scandals which nave attracted public
attention since the close of the Fraudu-
lent Administration.
After the specific charges made by Mr..
Dorsey, late Secretary of the Republican
National Committee, and the chosen con.
fidant Of Gen. Garfield, in regard to the
bargain between Gould and Huntington
and Garfield for the appointment Of
Stanley Matthews to a seat on the bench
of the Supreme Court, the House Of
Representatives cannot avoid an inquiry
which shall bring out the bottom facts.
That scandal, which touches the integrity
of the highest judicial tribunal, and in
wolves the honor Of all the parties to the
alleged contract, must not be passed over
in silence, as if it were an ordinary
political dicker.
The so-called Ottman compromise, by
which a large sum of money stolen from
the Treasury was paid over to the attor.
neys Of Ottman, the receiver of this
money, and against whom indictments
and civil suits were pending, demands
thorough investigation. The benefciaries
of that scandalous transaction and the
methods by which it was brought about
must be fully exposed.
John Roach secured all the contracts
for building three steel cruisers and the
dispatch boat, against the competition Of
the best equipped shipbuilders in the
country. 1t has been alleged that these
contracts were obtained by means of a
secret understanding with the Navy De-
partment, which enabled Roach to under
bid his rivals. Mr.. Cramp has charged
that there was collision between Roach
and Chandler. We assume that the
Committee on Appropriations will not
report an additional dollar for these YES
sells until the charges that have been
publicly made are fully examined.
The sham investigation Of the Superin-
tending Architect of the Treasury, con.
Quoted by his official associates, opens
the door for an honest and substantial
inquiry into the jobbery of that Office,
which has been notorious for years.
Rings and contractors and favorites have
pocketed millions of the appropriations
for public buildings since the era of
Grantism and down to the present time.
The exact amount stolen by Howgate
has never been ascertaiped. Reports
from official sources have always been
unsatisfactory on this point, and still
more SO in regard to the mysteries con-
nected with his prosecution and escape.
1t is time the whole truth was made
known, since the motive for concealment
no longer exists.
The expenditures of the Department Of
Justice for special counsel under Brews-
ter, Attorney General. have exceeded all
past experience. Tens Of thousands OF
dollars Of the fund appropriated for
special service have been paid for partisan
and personal objects.
These several Investigations should be
put in charge Of able, fair and courageous
committees, free from political bias and
animated solely by the desire to perform
a public duty in a way to win the COM
mendation Of all honest citizens.