The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-12-28
Anthony Comstock and IN LeNo"
Committee.

suthony Comstock and the Lexo"
Committee.
Tho evidence given at yesterdays ses-
sion of the Lexow Committee VIII Nc
,so,,bt cause a great deal of pain to many
excellent people who have hitherto ioui0
unmixed Joy in it. The painful feature
IL tha charge of receiving a bride levelea
at Anthony Comstock. Mr.. Constoch
has had the confidence and support oi
the very element who side with Dr,
p.r,4hurst for nearly a quarter of a cen
fury. Though the victim of many IN
,,andoes and ~insinuations, his integrity
has never before been assailed IN a Iorh-
,dsb,a way. til is therefore bitter Tor
him and his friends and hackers to nave
him placed on a plane of equality Win
those whom they have been
&c social political, moral and official
Pariahs.
The dilemma in which the friends OF
Mr.. Comstock are placed is just thls;-tl
they accept the evidence of streep ana
men of his stamp against the ponce as
tr1,e. they are bound to give it the same
vaI,e as against Mr.. Comstock. If they
reject it in the case of Comstock on the
ground of general untrustworthiness OF
the witnesses, malice, self-interest or any
other conceivable motive, they are bound
10 give the police precisely the same eX-
en,ntion in a very large number of cases,
If not in all. Neither can they set up
Mr.. Comstock's record as an answer
1t is true he has kept himself wonderful
iv clean for a man in his position, but
he has not been unassailed. On the
contrary, many assaults have been made
unon his character and he has had to de-
fend himself by libel proceedings more
than once-always with success, it is fair
and proper TO add. But, it is plain that
in this respect he is rot much better off
at the outset of his onslaught tina was
Inspector Williams, for instance. Both
had been the objects of accusations and
insinuations and suspicious in about an
equal degree-perhaps unjustly in either
case or both cases-and so they make
their first appearance before the Commit
tee with no special advantage on either
side on which their friends can seize.
Mr.. Comstock commits a tactical blum
der. we think in his reply as reported
In the New York s'World" of this morn
ing. His attack on Mr.. Golf is in the
nature of a you're another" argument.
This is a peculiarly veal form of de-
fence. In this case, the very obvious
question that arises is why Mr.. Com
stock did not direct attention to the case
of Olin D. Gray, previous to the last
election. Mr.. Golf was then the subject
of much fulsome praise. He was re-
warded for his supposed virtue by cleo
ton to an Office of great trust and
honor. If it was his habit when AS
sistant District Attorney to shield lot
terry dealers, and Mr.. Comstock knew it,
why were not the public informed at
the right time?
United States District Attorney Mott,
as reported in the Recorder" also adds
to the complications of the situation. He
raps both Golf and Comstock, while he
tells plain truth about the Streeps. The
development, all around, is a new and
somewhat amazing one. Mr.. Comstock
is to insist on going on the witness stand
today. 1t is to be hoped he will clear
away all stain so far as his own good
name is concerned. But if he proves the
charges made against him maliciously
false. it will be the strongest point yet
made for the accused police.