The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1907-03-30

Give me the man who is honest SIM
Nv because it never occurs TO him,
and never could occur to him, to be
anything else. That is Woodruff
There is. to be sure, another kind
If instinctively honest mamie who
iisregards loyalty as well as self in
crest in his uprightness. But there
are 20 few of these in practical life
hat they may be disregarded.
Perhaps / should say something
here as to the finances of my com
bine, though it was managed In the
main precisely like all these polit-
icaI-commercial machines that con-
troll both parties in all the states, ex-
cept a few in the south.
Ny assessments upon the various
members of my combine were sent,
for several years. TO me, afterward 10
Woodruff directly. in $1,000. So,ooo
and $4,000 checks, sometimes by
mail. and at other times by express or
messenger.
These checks were always payable
to bearer; and / made through Wood
ruff. for | kept TO the far background
n all my combines affairs, an ar
rangement with several large banks
in different parts of the state, includ-
ing one at the capital that these
checks were to be cashed without
question, no matter who presented
them, provided there was a certain
flourish under the line where the
amount was written In figures. Some
times these checks were signed by
the CORPORATION, and sometimes they
were the personal checks of the pres
ident or some other high official
Often the signature was that of per
son wholly disconnected. so far as
the public knew. Once, / remember,
Roebuck sent me a thousand-dollar
check signed By distinguished Chi
cago lawyer who was just then coun-
sci to his opponent in case involvE
ing millions. a case which Roebuck
afterward won.
Who presented these checks?
could more easily say who did not.
From the very beginning Of my con-
troll / kept my promise to reduce the
cost of the political business to my
clients When / got the machine thor
oughly in hand | saw l could make
it cost them less than a third of
what they had been paying on the av-
erage. for ten years. | cut off, almost
at a stroke. a horde of lobbyists, law
yers, threateners without influence,
and hangers-on of various kinds
reduced the payments for legislation
to a system, instead of the shameless,
scandalcreating and wasteful auc-
pioneering that had been going on for
years.
In fact. so cheaply did | run the
machine that l saw it would be most
imprudent to let my clients have the
full benefit Cheapness would have
made them uncontrollably greedy and
exacting, and would have given them
a wholly false idea of my value as
soon as it had slipped their short
memories how dearly they used to
pay.
So | continued to make heavy as
sessments and put the surplus in
reserve fund for emergencies. I
thought, for example. that l might
some day have trouble with one or
more members of my combine; my re-
serve would supply me with the NUM-
tions for forcing insurgents to return
on their agreements.
This fund was in no sense part of
my private fortune. Nowhere else,
I think. do the eccentricities of con-
science show themselves more inter
estingly than in the various attitudes
of the various political leaders to-
ward the large sums which the exig
encies Of commercialized politics place
absolutely and securely under their
control. have no criticism for any
of these attitudes.
have lived long enough and practi-
cally enough to learn not to criticize
the morals of men any more than /
criticize their facial contour or their
physical build LAS many men, so
many minds'-and morals. Wrong,
for practical purposes. is that which
a man can cajole or compel his con-
science to approve.
It so happened that | had sense
that to use my assessments for my
private financial profits would be
wrong Therefore, my private for
tune has been wholly the result of
the opportunities which came through
my intimacy with Roebuck and SUCH
others of the members of my camoine
as were personally agreeabie-or,
perhaps It would be more accurate to
say. not disagreeable. for, in the cir
cumstances. / naturally saw side OF
those men which a friend must never
see in a friend. / could not help
having toward most of these distn-
guished clients of mine much tne
feeling his lawyer has for the guilty
criminal he is defending.