The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-12-01
FINDINGS OF BRlSTOW
Continued From Page one.)

Continued From Page one.)
 out discovery be minimized: but the only way to meet the real evil Is to punish the offenders. by removal In any event. and where possible by prosecution under the criminal statutes. In any great bus
 mess. public or private. wrongdoing is certain at times to occur. The way to guard against 1t Is vigorously to scrutl. nixe the character of those appointed
 carefully to supervise their actions after appointment. and finally, to punish with
 relentless severity those who so wrong. All this is being done. Punishment Desired.
 The immediate reformation of the ser vice by the turning out of the offenders if
 not in itself enough to meet the demands
 of justice. The cases against both those within and those without the Postoffice Department who by their acts have brought themselves within the grasp of the law, will be pushed with the utmost
 vigor. Every effort must be made to see
 that both the delinquent official and the
 outsider who shares his guilt are punish.
 ed to the limit of the law. Tn pursuance
 of this policy the individuals above enum-
 erated have been indicted. In no case has
 the indictment been sought save where the officials of the government were con- vinced of the mans guilt; and In every
 case the government will exhaust every expedient in its power in the effort to see
 that justice Is meted out to the offenders. Those in the public service whose duty it is must ever be vigilant in the detection
 of wrong doing. fearless in it's exposure.
 relentless in It's prosecution: but in the
 last resort. when everything which the
 public official. whether legislator. judge
 or executive officer. can do has been done 1t remains for the jury. drawn from the people and representing the people. to do even-handed justice, shielding the inno-
 cent but declining to be mis,ed by any
 plea into refraining from punishment of the guilty. No crime calls for sterner reproduction
 than the crime of the corruphonist tn
 public life. and of the man who seeks to | corrupt him. The bribe-giyer and the | bribe-taker are equally guilty. Both alike sin against the primary law of the State s
 safety All questions of difference in party policy sink into insignihcance when the people of this country are brought face ot face with a question like this.
 which lies at the root of honest and de- cent government. On this question. ana
 on all others like it, we can afford to
 have no division among good cit'zens. Tn l the last resort good laws and good ad- ministration alike must rest upon the
 broad hasis of sound public opinion. A
 dull public conscience. an easy-going ac-
 quiescence in corruption. infaliiby means
 debasement in public life. and such de-
 basement In the end means the ruin of free institutions. Self-government be-
 comes a farce if the representatives of
 the people corrupt others or are them-
 selves corrupted. Freedom Is not a gift
 which will tarry long in the hands of the dishonest or of those so foolish or so in. competent as to tolerate dishonesty in | their public servants. Under our system | all power comes from the people. and all
 punishment rests ultimately with the peo- pie. The toleration of tF wrong, not the
 exposure of the wrong, Is the real offense. Theodore Roosevelt.