The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1896-01-18
Rockafe,'e.s Case Axaiu.

We do not think that our contempor-
ary is in full possession of the facts In
this case. 1t overloOks the circum-
stance that Mr.. Rockafeller is an old
man. whose punishment has been and
Is being effected in ways other than by
mere Imprisonment; that his guilt con-
sisted more of carelessness than of
criminal intent: and that the very fact
of his almost unprecedented downfall.
with its attendant lessons teaching the
fallacy of dishonesty. has quite as en-
phatically discouraged ''other dishon-
est men to stea' as would be true were
he to end all his remaining years in the
penitentiary. The disgrace of i'm
prisonment has already been suffered
by him; further imprisonment will not
augment 1t. The realspunishment of
man like Mr.. Rockafeller will not pro-
within-in the consciousness of the
wrong that he has willingly or unwit-
tingly afflicted, In the knowledge that
he has by that wrong sacrificed the
confidence and the respect of the COM
munity which once delighted to do him
honor and in the recollection of the
eminence from which he has fallen.
These. If the man be of sound mind.
win constitute his real eXpiation: II he
be of unsound mind. the Jail for him
would be but travesty on justice.
Our plea for Rockefeller does not
arise from personal motives. We never
saw the man. 1t rests wholly upon the
belief that justice, while it should be
impartial, should also be discriminating
and merciful.
President Eliot's controversy with
Miss Susan b. Anthony, which has
ELECTED from the latter q savage de-
nunciation Of the Harvard executive.
reminds the public Of his seemingly
constitutional habit of saying and do
ing unfortunate things. An instance of
this was shown the other day in letter
which he wrote to the Chicago Times
Herald in reply to its query whether
he was in favor of college educations
for journalists. A dozen other men
equal to President Eliot in character
and intelligence responded to this re-
quest courteously and to the point; but
the executive head of Harvard univer-
sity went out Of his way to offer gratu-
itous insult to the profession of Jour-
nalism, of which he spoke in super
cilious terms of contempt. President
Eliot is unquestionably a man of excep-
tional ability and culture, but he ap-
pears to have an aggravated case of
bad liver.
The annual estimates which City
Controller Widmayer has submitted to
councils for the coming fiscal year de-
serve to be studied with attention, not
only by councilmen but also by the
public generally. That they will under
go the conventional pairing i'm the joint
estimates committee Is to be expected,
thereby bringing the total approx
mately within range Of the estimated
revenues; but the public should be pre-
pared. when this pairing time comes,
to have an intelligent voice in the loca-
ton thereof. The shaving down last
year was reprehensibly economical in
certain directions. and 1t will be. well
to guard this year against a repetition
OF these prior mistakes.
1t Is significant of the reserve
strength inherent I'm the American peO-
pie that when the crash in silver came,
the people of Colorado, instead of Civ
ing way to despair. went to work to
find new gold deposits, and succeeded
so well that their output of the yellow
metal is now larger than their output
of silver was in silver's palmiest days.
1t Is unfortunate that silver should be
SO inequitably and unnaturally de-
pressed, but the fact of it's depression
has at least served to show the world
that Americans can hold their own,
whatever the terms of the competition.
The Washington Post Is quite right
in reminding the Cleveland Leader that
If 1t wants to make votes for Mckinley
it should stop insulting the Republican
leaders who exercise their legal right
of having preferences of their own. The
Leaders intolerance Is doubtless as
offensive to Major Mckinley as it is to
every other decent Republican. and he
ought not to be held responsible for 1t;
but we fear that he will be unless his
silly Cleveland organ is speedily muz-
zled.
Scrantonians Of all denominations