The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-10-23
FRIDAY, OCT. %, 1903.
A CASE FOR THE GRAND JURY.


The scandal in connection with the
arrangements said to have been enter
ed into between Assemblyman Schur-
meier, George E. Lennon and others
has now reached such proportions that
a thorough investigation of it is i'm
peratively demanded. The first charge
was sufficiently startling, but little by
little it has been amplified, made more
circumstantiaI and drawn into it's cir
Gle others who are declared to have
been advisers or go-betweens in the
project. 1t is not usually the case that
fire is lacking where so much smoke is
to be seen. The circumstances in this
case as alleged constitute so serious a
reflection upon all the parties concern
ed, and upon the honor and repute of
the city council as we'll, that they must
be taken cognizance of by the grand
jury.
The public has not been at all salts
fed of the incorruptibility of certain
members of the legislative bodies of
this city and county. Undue influences
have appeared upon certain occasions
to be at work, and charges of a dis
graceful character have been privately
circulated. The whole affair needs
ventilating. If there are men inside Of
the city council who can be approach
ed, either successfully or without
arousing their bitter resentment by
suggestions of improper influence, the
sooner we know it and the sooner they
are bounded from public life the better.
If there are men on the outside, as
no doubt there are, who are constantly
hanging, like buzzards, around the
edges of the council, looking for stray
morsels of carrion to devour, let us
have them named and exposed also.
1t takes the two sets of criminals to
create a municipal scandal, and either
one discovered and exposed should be
ostracised politically, socially and in
all his business relations. Any such
man is curse and debauching in
fluence to the community in which he
lives, and from every dollar that he
spends and every dollar that he re-
ceives toll must be taken for purposes
of public corruption. Let us make an
example of a few of these cattle, and the
air of st. Paul will be clearer and purer
its government worthy of completer
confidence and its business interests
purged Of the elements that must be
fatal to its business growth.
The legal authorities should act at
once and peremptorily. This is a case
for the grand jury. It should be pros
ecuted to the limit Perhaps nothing
may come of it. Perhaps these various
allegations may be discovered to have
no foundation in fact. Perhaps the
warning parties may reconcile their
differences in the face of aroused pub
lie sentiment. Perhaps the evidence,
as too often happens in such cases,
AAis'J NC AHSuIHC1SIlI. however these
things may be, their duty to the public
requires of all men entrusted with any
part of the execution of justice to sift
this extraordinary and disgraceful af-
fair to the bottom. The expressed
anxiety of the members concerned to
go before the grand jury should be
gratified. Failure to investigate Sc
Verely down to the minutest detail
would be another scandal, which the
legal authorities could scarcely care to
invite. The public knows a great deal
now but it knows either too little or
too much. Turn on the light, give us