The Washington times., 1904-02-27
The MaChen Verdict.
An Outrageous SANDER Against Wash
ington Refuted.

| an outrageous SlanoeI Against wash
ington Refuted.
Ever since the indictment of A. w
Machen and his fellow-conspirators
last summer, ugly whispers have been
heard suggesting jury fixing" and
the inability Of the Government to Sc
cure in the District of Columbia q
verdict against "grafters" and "bood-
lers." mo public official" exclaimed
one of our New York contemporaries,
''can ever be convicted by a Washing
ton ;rry for defrauding the Govern
me-. The answer TO this outrageous
SANDER is the verdict found by the
Machen jury, last night, which con-
vets the eonspirators of having vio-
lated section $40 of the Revised
Statutes, and which indicates the pos
sibility Of their paying the penalty Of
their crime by a term in the peniten-
tiary.
The moral effect of the verdict will
be altogether wholesome-w wholesome
in the sense that it will strike terror
into the hearts of ''grafters;D whole
some, also, in the sense that it will be
difficult, hereafter, for a self-consti-
tuted interpreter of public opinion to
designate the doings of Maehen as
those of an "unselfsh and warm
hearted philanthropist," without
arousing the resentment and disgust
of that portion of the community
which still is old-fasihoned enough to
think that to "do" the Government Is
criminal rather than smart"
We cannot help, at this time. refer.
ring briefly to the part taken by The
Times in the exposure of the Postof-
fee rascalities. We began that ex.
posure nearly fourteen months ago.
IL, at that time, we had the assistance,
practical or otherwise, of any of our
distinguished contemporaries in fer
reting out the rascals, we certainly
have no recollection of it now. On the
contrary, instead of their sympathy
and in some instances we were eon.-
PEELED to face even less than beEevo-
lent neutrality recollect encOun-
tering a malicious and malignant hos
tility on the part of some of our con-
temporaries, the bitterness of which
seemed to stand in some relation 10
the intimacy established between then
and the ''grafters." We were ac-
|, fcused Of an attempt at blackmail. We
were told that our methods were dis
tinctly disreputable. We were IN
formed that the course we were pur-
suing manifested a wicked desire or
cur part to introduce herein dear,
old, star-ridden Washington the
manners of Journalism from Be-
lam," whatever that may nave meant.
We were told, in short, that we we're
an abandoned crew.
We, well. We went on dong our
Out 20 the public, as it was given to
us to see that duty. 1t may be that
to some good people it appeared as If
we had ''ostentatiously pushed and
then abruptly dropped" those charges
against Machen. But these good peo-
pie now know better. Results speak
for themselves. And whatever they
Lave whatever they may turn
out to be in the future let it be re-
corded here that they could not have
been attained without the unhinching
courage, the high sense of duty, the
patriotism, the determination TO tear
out corruption, root and branch,
wherever ard whenever found, Of
Theodore Roosevelt, President of the
United States. From the very start
it was his resolve to go to the bottom
Of things, which made the investiga-
ton a success, instead of the farce
that IT had been when undertaken by
I Congress. The hands Of the investi-
gators were never stayed. They were
at liberty, if necessary, to cross the
threshold of the White House. And
il IS this knowledge Of the free hand
given to General Bristow which ulti-
mately broke the impudent defiance
of the "grafters" who thought them
, selves safely intrenched behind the
breastworks Of Congressional inhu-
ence. All honor, we repeat, to the
present occupant Of the White House
: He is a terror, sure enough-to evil
dcers.
| IT, d - g. &c IL