Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1906-01-01
REFORM BETWEEN FRIENDS.
New Yofk IvenIag Post. Dee. 20lh.

New York fvening Post Dec. 2oih.
Secretary Shaw comes CALAMITY to the
rescue OF bis friend. John r. Walsh who
caused three Chicago banks to become in
solvent There was nothing criminal
he declares. about Walsh methods. To
be sure, that part Of the banking law
which prohibits the loaning Of more than
TO per cent Of the capitalization to one man
may have been violated" but even that
is not criminal and Walsh did no more
than many other bankers are doing all the
time. Besides, the depositors will get
every dollar so what possible ground OF
complaint is there? The rumor OF prose-
cltion by the government, Mr.. Shaw
added, Is nothing but talk.
IL IS more than talk however when
the CHIEF minister of finance thus pooh
poohs serious financial Irregularities At
time when there is so much suspicion
and dlstruat in people & minds. following
the financial scandals that have leaned 10
light, the Secretary of the Treasury should
be the last man even to appear to let down
the standards. He should lead all the rest
in insisting upon absolute probity, faith
fol compliance with every provision of the
law, maintaining sacredly each safeguard
The defence. they al do IT, III becomes
o man in o position Of his high response
/ bility; and as for the excuse that no money
was lost 70 innocent parties by the impro-
/ pricties. and illegalities, that is something
| which Mr. Shaw had better leave TO George
/ w. Perkins. For our part, we find the
! Sccretary's condonation of Walsh simply
shocking most shocking Of all perhaps,
/ for the fact that Mr.. Shaw appears to think
it the most innocent thing in the world.
Walsh is his personal friend. It is in the
guise of friendship that Mr.. Shaw comes
forward to make light Of the charges
against the Chicago banker and promoter
ln this respect. it must be confessed, he
| is following an exalted precedent. IL is
Characteristic of this administration that
Il can see nothing wrong in any of its
friends. Very kind to their virtues, il is
stone blind 10 their faults. What would
be outrageous or unlawful in an ordinary
citizen is, at the worst, mistaken zeal in
the case Of a friend of the administration.
Washington has, in fact, seen a revival of
the political classification OF London, more
than q century ago Men fall into one Of
two groups enemies of the administra-
tion. OF friends Of the administration. o
and the latter meet the theological deini-
ton, non possunt peccare. The theory is
this, and il is 30 firmly held by the Presi-
dent that it is no wonder his secretaries
take it up: we are conscious of only the
purest motives; reform is our daily bread;
we think of nothing but the public good.
Our virtues are, in short, so miraculous
that they necessarily impart something Of
their eupernal quality to our friends.
Hence any appearance Of unftness or
wrongdoing on their part is deceptive.
ANY man who brings an accusation against
them is either misiniormed or malicious
We were used In Grant s day to seeing
the President stand by his personal
friends when ''undcr FIRE Nowadays,
however. the ones who are under FIRE are
those who dare to insnuate q doubt against
the President s friends The Presidential
batteries open fire with the fury which we
still remember in the case of Paul Morton.
Mr.. Roosevelt Is indignation burned hot at
the supposition that the crime Of railroad
Relating could any longer be a crime when
committed by a friend Of his People
hastily call this q glaring inconsistency;
but 10 really shows that the President is so
dead in earnest about himself and his
work. so convinced that all his acts are
mimpoachable and his friends hawless,
that he simply cannot see what others see.
The wicked laugh but the President per-
ceives no joke whatever.
The publication today Of the report Of
the lsthmian Canal Commission serves TO
demonstrate how Mr.. Roosevelt e mind
works IN this matter. First, we have his
letter Of April lst mot taken at the time
for an All Fools Day iest), reorganizng
the commission. and describing the high
technical requirements Of the appointees.
Then we have his speech OF May. 10th, at
Chicago, telling the people how he had
asked Congress for power to remodel the
, commissionandh how, when it did not do so
, 81 remodelled it anyhow, and
made up my mind to put the best man
E could in any given position. Following
3 an this, we have had President Roosevelt {
Z nomination as Canal Commissioner of q
! man whose Warmest champions do not
pretend that he has any special qualifica
e ton for that Office But Mr. Bishop is
personal friend Of the President, and thai
3 IS sufficient TO make him fit for any posi-
p tion within Mr.. Roosevelt s gift.
D If any President but Mr. Roosevelt has
e tried TO ioist a crony upon the commission
II all would have thought It a job Peopl
;; would have said that Jackson or Grant o
u Mckinley never made a more fragrant mis-
Y use Of public funds to take care OF a friend
They would have pointed out that MI
n Bishops first appointment as "agent q
]
E, indoicnsihle, and then the President, j
W his anyhow spirit had set about max
e ing him a place at the same salary, III
b ness or no fitness. But this would be TO q
Pr the President wrong-to overlook his pre-
e found conviction that any friend Of his L
ipso iacto, capable of adjoining any pos
'r ton. The long line Of Rough Riders an
g. old guides whom he has appointed {
I'd Office does not prove iavoritism, but onl
p his firm determination, as he says, TO <,
he the best man. Only, with Secretary Sha
ie be regards best man as synonymous wit
friend. Il all depends upon the point
a view. If President Cleveland had bee
d caught in such an abuse of patronage
m the Bishop nomination, Mr.. Roosevelt {
& stern insister upon Roman virtue in
ne Democratic executive, would have mao
rs the heavens ring But Mr.. Cleveland ha
I'd not the great administrative gift Of fee
S- ing in his heart that be was impeccab
rs and his friends necessarily beyond crit
ne cism.
M Interested.
An English magazine tells a cou
as story. A counsel in the middle OF h
cross examination was handed a tel
NI ff D. 4