Evening journal., 1891-03-09

/ A-e,erNA" "Nh "HteHs " pay Az. ho no
faulted
II be had been conducting a ship. build
ing shop and allowed his obligations t,
mature unhonored, it would have besr
considered a disastrous failure. II h'
had been managing the estate of IN or
phsn, whose arrival at majority neeesi
tated settlement and had represented
to the honorable court that he was using
the funds to enhance HE private fortune
he would have been peremptorlly dealt
with personally. his property seized aud
his sureties levied upon to secure
! the estate from loss In such case the
judge would scorn sympathy for the
faithless trustee, but would exercise all
of his skill and authority to protect che
h elpless orphan from loss by the wiles.
decsits and avarice of the betrayer Of his
trust. 1t would be folly to weep with the
betraysr Of a trust whose plethorie
pocket Fuckers with ill-gotten gains,
while his victim wrings his hands in
more or less hopeless despair at the loss
Of his fortune
In this particular case there Is probably
no loss likely to fall upon the state or
upon Mr.. Herber's securities, but those
hypothesis do not aft sct its moral and
legal aspect, That Mr.. Herbert, as
public fduciary officer AS a member of a
glorious and honorable political party, is
forced to call on Mr.. Herbert's private
different morally or gally than If he
had called on his sureties to do the same
thing. In one case it is an sb7olute de-
fault, In the other case temporary de-
fault.
Clear ideas on this subject are difficult
TO maintain in the minds Of the people
when cur contemporaries dwell with the
painful and shocking ardor Of interested
spologists on the hypothesis that the
state will not lose dollar, snd therefore
Mr. Herbert was right in using the pub
lie funds for private gains.
The position of the EvREING JOURNAL
IN al such cases has been precisely the
same. Hence from the first intimation
of any default the EVENING JOURNAL
has never wobbled in it's comments
on the cases of Cummins, Lichtenstein,
Swiggett, Pierce, the boodling Council
men or Herbert The fact that some
Of these cases have been palliated
by restoration aud death bed repentance |
should and does mitigate public indigna-
tiOn, but it should not cOndone the in
elimination for using trust funds for
private speculation, or as in two of the
above cases, for the enjoyment of
private luxuries.
In this connection we cannot refrain
from directing public attention to that
shining aud noble exemplar OF manly
honor and chaste Democracy, Ebe w.
Tunnel Of Georgetown, who, when his
rum crazed clerk defaulted in the public
funds Of Sussex county simply asked,
Gentlemen, how much is the shor agel"
He never stopped to reason why-he paid
the full amount. That furnishes an
example Of what proud man, Demo-
cras and a patriot should do. That Is
eooo ADA oJmP4bhIs huHlFhtiOu hnu lhl =
tation. Mr.. Tunnel suffers for no fault |
OF his. His high standard OF honor and
official integrity made him poorer, not
richer. He would have been richer by
being mean, tricky and untrustworthy.
The people of Delaware cannot applaud
Or trust a man like Mr.. Tunnel too much
because he will never shirk duty. de-
fault with trust, betray his friends and
bis party. He guides his life by fxed
principle. he, like the EVENING jour
NAL, holds honor sacred. and never
allows expedleuoy or private profits to
dim the atmosphere about moral ques
ton.
While we would not add little to the
burden Of grief and remorse that Mr..
Herbert must feel for his default from
weakness, not willful dishonesty. we
wish to put this matter clearly and dis.
tinctly before the minds of the people, so
that they may understand that ''publo
office is not private snap" or tsat pub
lie officials are blameless in Swapping"
As much as possible, provided they are
lot caught.