Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1905-07-16
POLITICAL SIGNS OF PROMISE
William Allen White Refuses to Join in
Reform Pessimism.
HIGHER MORALS NOW IN SPITE OF GRAFT
Thievery in Government, He Declares
is Steadily Growing Less Instead
of Greater PropOrtiOnateIy
20 Opportunities.

EE0p0ENl0mn1eAT
60 Opportunities.
| That there is bow of promise on the
political horizon in spite OF all the graft
] exposures and a steady advancement In
political morals, Notwithstanding exag-
! sefated lamentations over the degeneracy
OF the times is the text of an interesting
| contribution to the current outlook from
the pen Of VIM. Allen White. On the sub
! Ject he says:
1t is important that the stockholders in
| any concern should know Just why things
are going wrong and just how they are
going wrong. No matter how prosperous
the concern may be- the man who points
the way that leads honestly to better pros
perity is doing the stockholders a service.
In this country we are all stockholders in
the local, state and federal branches of
| the government and he who shows rs
where there are leakages in the expendi-
lures or estoppages in the income of our
various governmental institutions has done
US real service. AS a people, during the
four years last past, we have become I'm.
terested in the disclosures of the men and
women who have been enlghteninE us
ABOUT the frauds and swindles and till
tappings in the public service But we
nave been something more than Interested
IN our critics. We have given them our
respect and confidence, whether they
were serving the state through public
of1ce or through the public press. One
no longer loses caste by being called n
reformer He is not charged with being
pharisee, nor is he hustled into the hold
over OF public suspicion and searched for
his Interior motive. The wide swing OF
the pendulum of popular favor may be
measured by comparing Mckinley. Hanna.
Sherman, Reed-the conservative leaders
OF the dominant party eight years ago
with La Toilette, Roosevelt, Folk, Deneen,
Jerome, radical leaders Of type domi-
mating American politics today. Looking
at these men. who mirror the popular
mind' the people see their own aspirations
In courage, honesty and common sense,
Not All Are Thieves.
We citizens of this republic are thor
oughiy awake to the evils that threaten
and beset us. But in our eagerness to
coin enough vigilance to pay the price
Of liberty there is just a little danger
that we may sit up too late. become in
somnious, and consequently slightly over
wrought and excited on the subject Of
the thieves that break in and steal OF
course there are thieves in politics. and
they do have opportunities to steal There
are always thieves in business, and the
best system of checks and audits in the
land cannot prevent a thief from robbing
the cash-drawer who will take the risk
of being caught. Wherever there is money
there will be the love of money, and where
greed becomes a passion laws will not
curb 1t any more surely than they will
curb other passions. But Of late the writ
ers on municipal corruption, the writer's
on federal and state corruption, and the
writer's on business corruption, as we'll as
the officials who have exposed and pun
ished bribe-takers and unfaithful servants,
have shown the dark side of the picture
from so many viewpoints that the whole
political system seems to be shady. This
is the veriest delusion American politics
is. on the whole, fairly clean. There are
dirty spots Certain cities are tainted. Ger
tain political machines are clogged with
filth. Certain parts Of the system--from top
to bottom-need overhauling and improv-
ing. For instance, giving patronage to
congressman, thereby making them assist |
ants to the executive branch of the gov |
eminent, is a bad piece of gearing In the |
mechanicism Of politics. The Tammany |
system of mixing philanthropy and voting |
confuses issues, elevates bad men and |
breeds much evil, but Tammany wicked |
ness is local and will grow less as the |
people grow shrewder and better. The evils |
OF bribery and corruption may seem great.
But Isolated and compared with an ideal |
Of decency that has taken possession OF
the American heart, these evils are found
to be sporadic and trivial The most cor
rupt city council or state legislature passes
more good laws than bad laws, and in the
measures passed is infinitesimal compared
with the gross amount of good work done.
Even a corrupt judge, the most UNI
usual thing In American politics, dis
plays his venality only In certain
ines, and his work is soon undone
II it is hard for a poor man to |
get justice in the courts, II is not due to
corruption there, but rather to red tape
Ind the high price Of good lawyers.
Lots of Honest Public Omcers.
To be specific In considering the limited
Irea OF corruption in public life. witness
he postal frauds. There was graft-as
he phrase goes-in the ink that stamped
he letter, in the mail-box that received IL,
n the train that carried 1t, In the pouch
hat held it, In the strap that tied it, in d,
he apparel of the man who delivered 1t,
nd In the clock that recorded his time ,
nd the typewriter that kept his accounts
let OF all the thousands OF men at work
n the department less than a hundred
Tere stealing and the peculations amounted
o mere fraction OF a mill on the dollars
hat they handled. More than that ey- Z
ry guilty man is now in the penitentiary, '
r is going there as fast as dilatory
ut memorable law can send him. The !
Official system behind which they seek :
D hide will not shield them from
he wrath OF the people. Instead of ,
cling an example OF the ineffciency of =
ur system Of government, the fate of [
he postal thieves should be most n
sign of the excellent condi- &
on Of American political institutions. One L
orrible example is worth dozen pre- o
spts. The exposure and disgrace of the Il
oodlers in st. Louis and the overthrow a
{ their defenders in Missouri spelled in n
rye letters the fact that in politics now It &
avs TO be honest. Recent Developments
nd recent tendencies in our public life
ave proved the instability of crooked sue h
sss. When a few score of rogues are n
lught pilfering public money, the thou C,
lnds OF men and women in America serv- h
lg the government In important and I'M Ct
nportant places may vince a little at the D
lblies unjust estimate OF their calling, h
ut the very vigilance and suspicion of
lie people proves the honesty Of the mass a