The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1907-03-05
CURES MORAL AsTIGMATIsM.
Recent Financial Exposures May u
timateIy Bear Good Fruit.

From the New York Journal Of Commerce.
Perhaps the greatest gain 10 the world
at least 10 America, arising from all these
government Investigations. viii be the
purging Of the moral atmosphere in high
financial regions and the re-establishment
Of the kingship of truth. Persons priv
LEGGED to know the inward workings Of
the minds Of such men as John d. Rookie
Teller Edward H. Hartman, and certain
high insurance officials, declare, with
charity, that these men suffer with moral
astigmatism. These magnates, their
close friends declare with all seriousness,
cannot see wherein they have erred. John
ID. Rockefeller thoroughly believes he has
led ar honorable. Christian life, and Mr.
Hartman. as was demonstrated by his
demeanOr on the witness stand. IS not
conscious Of grave wrongdoing toward
his fellow-men A pernicious system Of
/ financial ethics has developed in this
country. and its adherents have hereto
/ fore remained in ignorance of the con-
demnadon in which their ideas and ac-
tions are held by all right-thlnking
citizens. Americas scandals Of The last
/ that brought about the disntegTatiOn OF
the Roman empire. In recent years
there have been revelations of, to use
a modern phrase. graft" in various
countries. particularly in connection with
army contracts, and occasionally a Whit
aker Wright has been exposed, but IN no
country has there been such persistent
unearthng Of malfeasance IN high quar-
/ ters as there has been here since the
/ insurance plunderers quarreled over their
/ ill-gOtten sp0ils Perhaps IL may be that.
/ as "a well known bishop recently remarked,
/ America is the only nation that washes
| its dirty linen in public and that other
nations require the cleansing process quite
as much Be that as II may, a reform
movement was unQuestionably called for
/ in the United States without il socialism
/ would have quickly become dread
! reality. Public opinion has returned an
unmistakable verdict against dishonesty,
robbery. and all forms Of cficanery. That
/ the same public opinion which placed an
/ unknown, but honest man, in the highest
/ seat OF government in this State. and
which holds up the hands OF the President
/ OF the United States IN his herculean night
against grasping. Iawbreaking mOnOpOlists,
/ has taught men Of the Hartman stamp
4 that Machiavellian lust for power cannot
/ be INDUCED IN with impunity even though
! Supreme Courts may by narrow MAORI
/ ties eXculpate the WrongdOers. These
men have been tried before a higher tri-
/ bunal. the highest in the land, that Of the
/ whole body OF their fellow-men. and the
1 ringing verdict Of guilty" that resounds
/ from every quarter Of the republic cannot
| fail 10 sting the most pachydermatous 70
I the quick. Social ostracism not long
since was effectively applied IN tie case
/ Of one man who robbed widows = nd or
phans. and scheming fnanciers who have
/ inglOriOusly enriched themselves at the
/ expense Of their fellow-men are learning
{ that this nation will not tolerate human
/ mOustrosIties, IoWever vast their fortune
/ and however great their power II
I therefore the humilities that these men
I have brought upon this republic lead to
! the regeneration of moral ethics IN the
/ highest quarters. IT, instead OF Jesutical
/ Discrimination and juggleTy there be ush-
/ cred in a reign of honesty and fair deal
1 ing between man and man. the present
/ Affections viii prove but national bless.
L iugS In Disguise