New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1888-04-06
aside. The duty Of the hour is to pub oo"n
d;sloval policy and party
r1coR Snaps DYING WORDS.

n "a stated that Jacob Sharp in his dying
delirium continually talked OF BroaoWay
Railroad affairs, saying that it was "a greaV
nublio benefit" and complaining because inc
nc,vsuapers did not do him Justice" Inns
nced surprise no one. 1t would not be re-
markable il Sharp sincerely believed that the
benefit TO the city from the buldlng Oh .ne
Broadway road was a sufficient excuse for wna'
be did. and that he was prosecuted Dy 'he
nress Moral perversion of this sort Is by no
means rare. Nothing is more common than 70
see men even Of strict morality in all tne
ordinary relations of life, men who are faith
t,l 70 their wives, kind to their children ana
honess IN business dealings, but who seem to
have no proper sense OF The "icheoneS' u
corruption in public affairs.
This is seen both in men who hoid oinces
and in men who stand outside OF Legislatures
and Governments, but are largely lntereseu
in their acts Men who would DO scrupulous-
" careful to pay a debt, and who are perhaps
repular in their attendance at church, VIII buy
the way of q bill through Legislature or
BOARD Of Aldermen, or wink at the buying OF
"a Inv others and seem able to satisfy them
selves by some sophistical reasoning that they
arc doing no wrong. Sometimes they ara
ob,o M doubt, to excuse themselves to their
own consciences supposing that these exist, on
the ground of necessity. They have legit-
innate enterprise in view. A corrupt commit
tee or clique put themselves in the way to be
bought off. They must be overcome or the
| enterprise will fall through, the public Will be
| deprived of all the anticipated =" benefit" and
incidentally this consideration comes into
| yicry-the promoters will lose their profits
| They Weld and those who care to argue the
| matter with themselves at all, probably say
| that they were not the tempters, that the moral
| vronp rests with the other side, that it was
! better to satisfy few hungry scamps than to
! allow a great public improvement to fail. Ii
| we are not mistaken, arguments of just this
| tenor have been used in behalf of jacob
Sharp. and it is quite possible that he was able
| to persuade himself that he believed them.
The case of men who betray official trusts for
brides is moro difficult, because no man ever
did this without clearly understanding what
he was doing. No man could possibly deceive
himself into thinking that he was not taking
! brides when he was actually doing it. Yet II
| is a curious fact that many man who makes
corrupt use Of public position would scorn
| to commit any of the ordinary offences known
to the DOllCC courts, anu BclS VII OHo lO"u
| to self justification that he thinks he is en-
titled to get back his election expenses or
talks about the justice of having his share
Of the money that may BIO made by means OF
his Official action. All of these men would be
sincerely grieved to be told that they were
criminals, necessarily more dangerous and in
fnitely moro contemplate than the petty thief
or the burglar.
It Is easier to see all this than it would be to
explain it, The Generalization occasioned by
the use of money in elections has probably had
much to do with it. Men who are accustomed
TO seeing large sums raised to buy votes TO put
certain men in office are not likely to find great
incongriity in the idea Of corrupt action by
these men when once in Office. Those who
regard politics as mere market, in which
anything is to be had for money, como easily
to feel that public Office is also place to buy
and sell. We can hope to better such a state
Of things only by creating public opinion
which shall deal more sternly with those ele-
ments. The chief obstacle to such an outcome
is the existence of the rogues who are known
as "good fellows" whose personal popularity
blinds the eyes of the unthinking to their real
character, and even leads at times to displays
of weak and silly sentimentalism.