The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1900-07-09
A GRAVE CHARGE.

Congressman Richardson, of Tennessee,
is man Of great national distinction. He
is one of the. leading figures In the pres
ent congress, and by virtue Of his ability
has possessed great influence on the cur
rents Of national legislation.
1t is to the glory of the South that Its
public men have remained singularIy
clean and exa'ted In their conceptions OF
official conduct, and he We carried out their
ideals in actual practice as the public
men of no other section OF the country
can be said to have done adj through the
nations history. There is a public senti-
ment existing in the South which ac-
counts d3shonorao BILE or questionable CON
duct on the part of a public official as
deserving OF the utmost reprobation. No
politician in Southern community need
look for even common federation from the
peop'e whose good name In Official life
any one feels at liberty to call In CUES
ton lnEPatation on a mans public con-
duct may pass unres4nted elsewhere. In
the South it is folio wed speedily by the
most serious consequences either to the
man whose good name Is impugned or
to him who i1ngugns IT,
In the light OF all this it seems oustA
surprising that Congressman Richardson,
of Tennessee should remain silent as he
has so long done, under the most serious
lmputauons put upon his honesty and
honor as a pubic man. Not one paper
but numbers of them have printed the
charge that in connection with the is
suance of public documents, through the
sanction Of congress, he has been able to
make considerable money This is a very
serious statement te make regarding any
man in public life. Made concerning a
man Of such eminence that he is
chosen as the permanent chairman of his
party's national convention, it is mat
ter of national concern.
This sentence appears, for instance. in
the editorial columns of the st. Paul Dis
patch, accompanied by comment which
hardly necessitates reproduction:
He tRichardson) gave sixteen reasons
why Republicans should be turned out,
out we fan to ind among them the cruel
ac5lcn OF congress IN spelling Mr. Rich
saSeS OF the Presidents" cut of which h
Is said 10 have made some $4,000 be
fore congress caught on to his game
What has Mr.. Richardson to say about
this? There has been a great deal of ex-
ploitation of public documents by prI-
Vate individuals for some months past.
But the result has merely impressed most
people as being in line with the general
tendency under the present national ad-
minlstration to let no opportunity escape
Tor turning nimbie six-pence out of Of
fetal knowledge and opportunity.
Those who are generally regarded as
having worked up those schemes CT per
sonal enrichment, through securing pri-
vate subscription to public documents
printed at public expense, are generally
supposed to be beneath the general at
tention. 1t is not SO regarding Mr. Rich
ardson. The specific charge is made
against him that he utilized his position
as congressman to enable him to make
money illicitly through certain Of such
publications, and that he continued to do
so until congress put a stop to his under
taking. This statement may be false. If
1t Is Mr.. Richardson ought to say so
His continued silence is certainly not con-
sistent with either the Southern sensitive
ness on the score of official honor or with
the course which an upright public man
might be expected to pursue