Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1905-11-06

ADOLESCENCE IN CORRUPTION is
WORSE THAN CORRUPTION.
AmeriCai Public Opinion too lndif-
fcrent to Notorious Frauds for the
Wo.tNs of The Nli.ci. y Strict
En- orc ,ment of TIC avs Should
be Sted Upon.


Descr. hing what he conc, we'd to te the
faults of the people OF the United States
Bryce, he historian, charged ne with "a
want vi li-ni'v and elevation in and
about tha .onduct ~ ruhlic affairs, an
inscu hlirv t. the nohier a pect- and
And Lerkv, another very frank critic
said: There l.. hoNrv.:. anr thing
which f. worse than coulplon. It is
acQuD -c.. .l~r in cor lrt fature
OF Amervn life strlk -trauger so
powerfully as the extr.ar mar indIlfer-
ence, rart'v cvnirism and partly good
nature, with which n'>orl9n- frauds and
notorious corruption ia lc sphere of
politics ar- viewed bv American public
opinion -
However disincinel Ve may bee to ac-
knowledge these cri icjsm- as entirely
deserved, we cannot deny hat we are at
times prone to indifference as to the
character Of our public servants and the
methods they employ in thA administers
tion of public affairs.
In most instances IT,. urges against
the several senators a congressman
who have been indictra ve heen suffi
cient to compel their retirement from the
comrnrcial concerns Wlih which they
were connected; vet it doe not seem to
have occurred to tnem 'ht IA V should
return their official con,D,l oipus to the
people. N1r has any considerable de.
mand for thar resignatons been made.
the theory t>at the people II tve become
quite accustomed to shortcomings oD
the part of public officials, and others
NAV explain l. on the tde"y that, how
ever guilty Of the Things cn u eel against
them the Burtons. the Drpews and the
Mitchels may have been, their offenses
we're small compared with the otfenses OF
many nther men who Y' hold their
heads high in society and WELD undis-
puted sway in the councils OF govern
ment For instance, the Bnrtons and
Mitchells were charged with having APP
peared before departments ol government
as the reprssentatiy9s o private inter.
ests. But. do we not remember that
several of the most powerful United
States senators ave been publicly and
repeatedly charged with representing
on the floor OF the senate, great corpora.
tions? Men who appear to be shocked
at the disclosures concerning Chauncey
Nj. Depew, seemed not at all disturbed
when the Vanderbilt railroad bought for
Depew senatofship. Nor have men
seemed seriously to be disturbed when in
other states great corporations have in.
vaded the legislature and controlled the
the action of that body in the selection
of United States senators or in the enact
ment If laws.
1t is true that in every instance where
exposures oi actual bribery have been
made the people have become aroused
and nave given encouragement to those
public officials who undertook to punish
the wrong doers, but is it not strange
that the people in every state do not
more carefully investigate the conditions
in their own community, and before it is
too late hold their public servants strictly
to account, and keep in check the special
interests whose representatives. would
corrupt officials and plunder the public.
Men are all too apt to insist upon the
strict enforcement Of the law against
petty criminals such as Burton and
Mitchell have shown themselves to be,
while ignoring the conduct OF men who
quite habit of some men. at a time
when public int rest has been greatly
stirred, to make great to-do over COM
paratvely Insignificant wrongs in order
to win reputation and to enable them
to conceal the greater wrongs in which
ahev have deep and perhI personal
interest. And while We hear a great
deal concerning the shortcomings Of
some individual office holders, no CON
siderable attention is Uelng paid TO the
greater wrongs committed in the name
of the republican party--policies that
threaten tine tact Of government as they,
in tru II. DENY the correctness of that
form OF goycrument.
1t is i.oti"eable, also, that although in
surancc company chiefs have confessed
to many instances OF wrong doing there
is not that determined. persistent de.
mand tor the punishment of these
wrong-doers which one would have the
right to expect under the circumstances.
Do not the American people owe it to
themselves to so insist upon the enforce.
ment OF law and the maintenance OF
morals that they will avoid even the
suspicion of that acquiescence which
Leckv said is the one thing worse tn
cOfiup.lpn.