McCook weekly tribune. (McCook, Neb.) 188?-1886, 1884-05-01
WASHINGTON LETTER.
Washington, d. c., April q, 's4

enacted iast year, resulting In the &C.
quittal Of The star route thieves, will be
presented to an admiring public next
week in the trial OF William Pitt KEEL
logg for receiving money in his capacity
Of United States Senator from LOUIS
lana. If it were not so deucedly expen-
sive, it would be amusing to see how
the Attorney General has gone to work
to collect his evidence in this case
which as in all such cases is principally
drawn from some thievish accessory,
whose credibility is as easily impeached
as his evidence can be purchased with
promises of immunity. In this case was
Walsh who wrote to the President about
important papers in his possession
that would convict Kellogg. Walsh
and his papers were in that safe haven
(Canada) where Government criminals
mostly do congregate, and thither the
President dispatched Mr.. Brewster Cam
eron, and one Of its 800 per day attor-
neys, Mr.. Ker, to receive the important
papers. Upon their arrival at Montreal
and comforting with Mr.. Walsh, the lat
ter suddenly discovered that the papers
were not so important in working con-
viction as he thought they might be,
and so, under a suggestion of additional
immunity, he has concluded to come ON
in person and give his testimony, which,
in the light of that given in the star
route cases where it was picked to fin
ders and scattered to the winds, is not
likely to add heavily to the Govern
ments chances for convicting ANYBODY.
In this connection it may not be in
opportune to say that the Attorney
General may have in view the POSSIBLE
ity that a simple trial of Kellogg, though
it result in acquittal, may deter other
Senators and other Members of Con-
gress from accepting money in an offic-
ial capacity, but the innumerable trials
and the many Congressional investisa-
lions that We have had, should have
convinced Mr.. Brewster of his fallacy.
10 show how credulous being the At
torney General is, it is only necessary
to call attention to his official letter Of
apology for not eonvicting the star route
thieves, in which he solemnly declares
he saved to the country the two millions
of dollars annually that the thieves
would have continued to steal had he
not brought them to trial Now every
body knows that before Mr.. Garfield be-
came President, and therefore before
Mr.. Brewster was ever thought of in
connection with the Attorney General
ship, the star route thieves fell out
among themselves and gave each other
away to the authorities with superlative
alacrity. 1t was then that the stealing
was stopped, but nobody supposes, after
the events that have since transpired,
that there was ever any serious inten-
ton on the part of the authorities to
punish the thieves.
While [ am not banking much upon
the faithfulness or integrity of public
officials in general in the matter of
fencing in and trespassing upon the
public lands, 1 think that the recent
editorial upon that subject in the New
York Times, SO far as it reflects upon
the Secretary of the Interior, does that
gentleman a gross injustice. For years
these squatters upon the public domain
have defed the Government, which, un
der a practically obsolete law, thew
knew TO be p0Weriess to modest them.
MIR. Teller, however, more than year
ago, called the Department of Justice
to account for its neglect in enforcing
such law as would be available to an
individual whose property might be
upon in like manner, but
that department had its hands so full in
making facilities for the star route
thieves to slip through its fingers, that
1T had no time to attend to these big
land pirates. The fact of this business
is that no amount of effort to restrain
the fencing in of the public domain will
avail so long as Senator's, Representa-
tives, and men in and out of high public