New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1894-12-05
LATEST ABOUT MKANE.

When John Y. McKane was convicted ol
election frauds and sentenced to Imprisonment
q great many persons probably Thought tllat hc
was I'm peculiarly hard luck. They realized tha'
nIoin case had been made out against MN.
Inf after all. the law which he had violated
w,s y law that many others before him nad
broken with immunity, so that Il sort OF prece-
dent had grown up for liberation OF such Of
f.pccs Not 4 few even went so far as TO say
that a long term in Sing Sing was an excessive
punishment for man who In every reEluoh
Of life excepting the political relation was non
cst and straightforward Some OF his associ-
otcs in religious work were excessively grleved
49, ,bov thought of his piety. his charity and
his Sunday school work. The case would have
bccn very different. they could not heIp Icelhg'
IL he had stolen money instead Of votes. had
been dissouic instead of temperate, ana hard-
hearted instead Of kind and generous.
We'll ii now appears that Mckane did steal
money as well as votes; that he was not
STRAIGHTFORWARD but very crooked. ana tha' HIS
generosity consisted mt least to some extent III
sharing with others that which ala not peiohs
to him. II is found that one Of the enterprises
which he established and promoted was II
swindlc: that this concern was frauducntly
Il
purpose and effect of cheating credulous ana
timorous persons; that he concocted false re-
ports of its financial condition and swore to
their truth: that so late as last January, TWO
months after the Gravescnd election crimes. he
declared on oath that company whlch IL Is
now believed had scarcely anything back OF 1t
but "A string Of lies represented cash invest
mcnts by himself and his partners worth $780,
900 at that time We suppose that considerable
surprise will be manifested in some quarters
over the discovery that Mckane might nave
been indicted. not for the common ana eX-
cusable fault Of carrying an election FOR his
party by questionable means. but FOR the vulgar
crime Of juggling accounts and defrauding cred
itors.
But really there is less cause for astonlshment
here than careless students Of human nature
may suppose Probably there are tricksters In
politics. manipulators Of votes. men who enter
into lntrinscally shameful negotiations and
consummate deals TO reverse the popular VIII
in elections who would not steal money direct
IL or promote their own pccunary interests by
swearing 10 a fraudulent statement But the
burden If proving their honesty ought 10 rest
upon them nevertheless. An assumption against
them is Just. Nobody Is To be ccnslircd for mar
boring cruel suspicion who distr1lsts their in
tcgriiy. The practices In which they are skill
ful. in which they are probably proud OF their
proficiency. and by which perhaps they have
obtained power are practices which are not
only essentially evil AMI gnoblc, but peculiarly
dcmorazing The moral fibre Of political
trlckstcr must inevitably have been dlsin-
tcsraied by the transactions In which he has
engaged, and his dcgcncracy may usually be
measured 10y the time he has 80 expended and
the reputation he has acquired. He may
never be- strongly tempted 10 betray Il trust
outside the Held OF politics but II he Were there
would be- warrant for supposing that he might
yield Having already become expert In cheat
lng the community. why should he be reckoned
incapable OF the less abominable crime Of cheat
ing Individuals
The latest revelation concerning Mckane Is
instructive. In all human probability there are
many other dealers In politics whose business
operations need to be closely scruinzcd.