The sun., 1890-07-13
False Charges of Corruption.

There Is a vulgar impression that great
part OF legislation is due to bribery ana cor
ruption OF legislators, and the conccit is
strengthened by some Of the newspaper cor
respondents stationed at Albany more par
tlcularly. They are young men who may be
very clever at nows gathering, but their bus
iness tends to make them morbidly suspi-
cious whenever the facts they are after lie
beyond their reach.
As an example, Mr.. HUGH HASTINGS,
newspaper correspondent at Albany, and
nephew OF that clever Republican politician,
the late HUGH HASTINGS, seriously informs
the gullible weekly paper, called the Epoch'
that OF the 100 members OF the last Legisla-
ture fifteen and not one more could stand
the test " Of fidelity 10 public duty without
regard to benefits OF some kind, political or
financial, In return for votes cast for some
particular measure or measures" He paints
a very black picture of the Capitol OF the
State, and expects people to accept 1t as
correct representation because he has gone
about Albany with his reporters note book
But how does he know that bribery and
corruption prevail there so extensively He
docs not know it. He has merely general Inn
preston that it Is so. The complex and
partisan motives that influence the votes
OF legislators are beyond his under
standing as simple news gatherer;
but anybody can imagine corrupt mo-
tivee. They come within the range OF
Q narrow and suspicious mind, incapable OF
oomprehendlng larger causes. The trouble
with him is that, instead OF sticking
70 his business OF detail he aspires to gen.
erallzation, which is wholly outside OF his
province. You might as well set man
trained as a police detective to writing a
treatise on ethical development or go to
ANTHONY CoMsrooK Tor q philosophical
study Of social morals.
What this Albany correspondent Gays
about the Legislature is arrant nonsense.
Civilization in New York could not last II 1t
we're true. for corruption so prevalent among
the representatives Of the people would be
symptom of public rottenness generally. If
30 great scandal really existed at Albany
without an uprisngo of the citizens to put it
down, their moral sense would be gone.
The writer OF this stuff Is one ofthe Albany
correspondents who made haste to attribute
to corrupt influences the passage in the AS
sembly Of Gen. CURTIss bill abolishing caDi-
tai punishment. He said that the vote was
bought by the money Of an electric company,
and on the basis OF the information the
Euening Post proceeded to write flaming
article on the shameless corruption Of
the New York Legislature. 1t was all
O lie OF course. and the Hbeller OF the Post
was compelled to retract his infamous
charge, and to speak the truth by saying
that Gen. CURTIS is beyond the suspicion Of
yielding to such influences, even il they had
been applied. The story was out-and-out
nonsense and everybody fit to instruct the
public ought to have known it to he so from
the beginning. Yet this same Albany corre-
epondent now rises to asperse the characters
OF nine-tenths Of tho legislators, as If he were
an authority entitled to respect.
There are a few men in all legislative
bodies who have low conception of their
moral responsibility, but the great mass are
governed by pure motives Of public and par
tsan duty. Instead OF being nine-tenths Of
the last Legislature. the moral delnquen5s
were rather one-tenth. Because man does
not vote as you would have him isnot a sign
that he Is rascal, or even OF poor judgment.
he may be as honest as you. and wiser.
These wholesale charges OF corruption
tend to the injury Of the moral sense Of the
public by creating the false impression that
dishonesty, and not honesty, is the winning
card In public life. They come from nagi-
nations prone to conceive evil and fond Of
wickedness. They do not come from any
sources entitled to respect and consideration.