New-York tribune., 1900-12-23

Inclined to show himself less scrupulous and less
high principled IN the subject of official honor.
The ethics advocated by Lord Rosebcry was
well enough in olden times when the classes
We're satisfied to derive their revenues excI1s-
iVely from lands or from official sinecures But
such ethics is clearly out of keeping with the
spirit of the present age an anachronisrn in times
when even reignlng monarchs are forced by the
depreciation of land and the decline of agri-
culture to resort to trade to make up their
otherwise inadequate incomes. OF course il will
not do for statesman to be associated when
IN office with enterprises that are in the least
degree unsound. But Lord Salisbury was right
in declaring that to have commercial interests
was no longer a disqualification for Government
Office.
THE ATTACKS ON MIR CHAMBERLAIN.
Lord Salsbury's pronouncement is especially
timely and important in view of the attacks
recently made on Joseph Chamberlain the Co
lonlal Secretary, and on his son, Austen, now
FINANCIAL Secretary of the Treasury, in connec-
tion with their ownership of shares in industrial
undertakings which have in the last two years
been fortunate in securing Government contracts
for which public tenders were invited and OBJ
tanned. In defending himself from these attacks
In Parliament Mr.. Chamberlain with that frank
ness and straightforwardness of language for
which he is distinguished declared that his
fortune was of his own making. and that if he
was indebted to his ancestors for anything il
was not for titles great landed possessions
but for a name that had remained unblemished
In the annals Of trade and industry for over two
hundred years. This in itself, he argued, should
constitute in the eyes of his fellow countrymen
an assurance Of his scrupulous rectitude in all
things relating to his Office. Moreover he said
If the nation as represented by the Ministerial
majority in Parliament possessed sufficient
hdence in his political and personal integrity to
intrust him with the administration OF Eng
lands vast colonial empire. it might surely rely
upon his being possessed of a sufficient amount
OF honesty and care for his reputation to alb
stain from any abuse of his official influence for
! the mere sake of adding a few pounds TO the
dividends of the enterprises in which he held
| shares.
BUSINESS MEN IN HIGH OFFICES
Mr.. Gladstone certainly did not consider con-
nectiOn with a reputable business as bar to
office. When he formed his last Cabinet he in
| trusted the Under Secretaryship Of State for
India, now held by Lord Hardwicke. to Mem
Der Of the House of Commons who was an ac-
tive partner in firm Of cotton brokers, while
Mr. Bertram Currie. the well known London
banker. appointed by him to the office OF
financial member of the Indian Council, at the
time when the fall in the price of silver and of
cotton was the principal difficulty by which the
| India Office was confronted
Mr.. Goschen. who has just retired from the
place of First Lord of the Admiralty in the
UniOnist Cabinet, and who was for many years
a Ministerial colleague of Mr.. Gladstone re-
tains to this day his interest as a sleeping part
ner in the London banking firm of Fruhling &
Goschen, which makes a speciality of foreign
loans, and which one of the largest creditors
OF the Egyptian Government. Yet no one has
ever dreamed Of impUting his connection with
this banking house a disqualification for
Office, OF insnuating that the interests of his
banking partners in Egypt influenced in any de-
gree his policy when in office in connection with
Egyptian affairs.
The late William Henry Smith who was sue
cessiveIy First Lord of the Admiralty, Secre.
tary Of State for War. and First Lord of ths
Treasury and Government leader in the House
of Commons, in administrations formed by Lord
Beaconsfed and Lord Salisbury, remained to
the day Of his death active partner and the
executive head of the great firm Of newsdealers
and booksellers known w. H. Smith & Sons.
The Marquis of Londonderry. now Postmaster
General and formerly Viceroy of Ireland has
for the last fifteen twenty years carried on
late Lord Playfair permitted to hold the
Postmaster -Generalship well the Deputy
Speakership of the House of Commons, stimuli
taneously with the directorships Of a number Of
Industrial and financial companies without eX-