The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1905-07-22
To q Complaining Correspondent.

refusing to accept the exposures OF cor
ruption in public officers and private in
dividuals as other than evidence OF the
increasing delicacy of the moral sense
Of the American people.
Here precisely is the indictment against
THE sun brought by this correspondent:
ITO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN-sfr: Whenevera
voice has been raised to decry some eVil-iet us
say the tendency OF society women TO gamble
THE SUN has been ready to prove that never
has the evil been less manifest than now. Does
a group OF mon deplore the increase OF divorce
In the natlon' Not at ALL says THE SUN. on
the contrary, we compare more than favorao'y
with all other countries Mr.. BoNAPARTE
says that America Is Sodom among Christian
peoples and he voices the unspoken thought OF
thousands who have stood aghast these last years
at the monstrous revelation Of fraud and corruption
In high places. Senators and congressman, glove
contracts and land once frauds, Judges and state
Legislatures. bribery and graft Cabinet members
and diplomats. railway rebates. asphalt companies
postal frauds and cotton statistics. all mixed In
terrible tumble of infamy.
"A recent compilation has been printed showing
list of States having ono or moro Of their oncals
under some sort Of prosecution for crime. 1hs
list embraces every State In tho Union but sikh
-Reoan Philadelphia and tho other cities whose
sins have been laid bare by SrEvrRNs. TO say
nothing of quasi-publi OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
on, Benf Trust, Equitable and so on id ndusedm.
How high up later disclosures may reach what
other Senatorial togas may yet be smrched.
doth not yet appear
BY an ironcal juxtapos.,'on of ideas, THE
SUN. in an editorial Immediately preceding the
ono under discussion. duplicates Its own state
ofnc,als In tho Equitable nastinessi
In tho faco of such a catacysm OF crtme THE
SUN calmly brushes Aside Mr.. BoNAPARTB's In
dictmont and assures There Is nothing to
CAUSE tho lover Of tho United States the slightest
uneasipess. Not only In the Federal
service, but also In State and municipal govern
meuts the citizens are demanding higher standard
OF honor
Surely THB SUN Is not serious. Is our I'M
sasiness to bo stined because public otical, arc
being prosecuted for crime, Shall We not tremblo
tho moro In tho consciousness that beneath the
surface TO which but few bubbles escape the seeh-
ing mass OF corruption extends to unknown depths'
would TIM SUN chlorofom us that our end
may bo painless, HENRY B. ELY.
-BuYYALo CREEK. Col. July TO-"
THE SUN never said and never implied
that "the tendency Of society women to
gamble" is less manifest now than ever
before. 1t simply referred to the his
torical fact that there was time when
gambling among such women was gen.
eral and fashionable and passed without
reproach except by the Puritanical. Its
revival at the present day we reprobated
and we gave illustrations of its unhappy
consequences.
THE SUN never said or implied that,
az to the matter of divorce, we compare
more than favorably with all other coun-
tries We simply cited the unques-
tionable fact that the statistics Of di-
vorces gathered by the Federal Govern
ment show that the vast preponderance
of divorces In the United States are OBJ
tanned by wives and for other reasons
than the prime moral breach Of the
marriage contract; and we denied, as
we do now again deny, that conjugal
morality Is low in this country. Rela-
lively to European countries generally
it is high. We also referred to the fire.
quency Of divorce in this country as
suggestive of a concession to the public
sentiment which sustains matrimony as
the fundamental institution of human
society rather than as defiance of it.
Mr.. ELY Is q careless reader. More
over, he seems to be man incapable OF
taking anything approaching a philo-
sophie view OF social conditions 1t is
not the presence Of moral turpitude
which Is cause for alarm so much as the
liberation Of it, Indifference to it and
cynical treatment Of its exposure. If
the fragrant corruption exposed so fire.
quently OF late had been allowed to con-
tinue in hidden places, II there had been
no effort to bring it into the light OF pub
licity, if it had been successful in pre-
venting its revelation by means Of the
money it had stolen, and II the revelation
had not produced in the public revolt and
determination to clean out the rotten
ness at any cost, no matter what might
be the responsibilities and the high pub
lilo regulations involved. Mr.. ELY might
be Respondent as TO the moral condition
OF the American people.
As it is, we are cleaning out the putrid-
ity; and naturally, as we go into the
mess, we find it in new ramifcations
But we are going to do the job thor
oughly ands'l' Il purify the air before we
are done with it.
Therefore The SUN has said, and i,
repeats, that this housekeeping is o.
hopeful promise. 1t is indicative OF Q
healthy public sentiment Society anC
politics and business are going to b.
purer aid decenter in this couAtry from
this time forth. The rascals and hum
bugs are going to be stamped with theil
true character, no matter how respect
able their pretens,s and how glitterine
! the robe Of lofty sentiment with which
they cloaK their infamy.
The Piety OF Rogers.