The morning journal-courier., 1908-10-06
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LETTERS FROM THE PEOPLE,
The snsplcInns Man.

To the Editor Journal-Courier
 The suspicious man dsbelleyes that honor or virtue Is to be found In man or woman He it Is who starts scan dalous stories because to him they seem likely 10 be true He follows the advice of Robert Burns;
 But when ye feel your honour grip,
 Let that ave be your porter"
 He follows this precept because his honour never grips" him He does not disregard the sentiment, for 1t Is non existent for him. and one cannot disregard a feeling which he cannot perceive As Shakespeare has shown in lago and Edmund in Lear, such man may be the prince of good fellows, superfcially attractive and always in good spirits and physically in the best ot condition, for no conscientious scruples worry him, no nerves interfere with his equanimity or his digestion
 AS we all do, such man judges oth- CTS by himself A man in public place he thinks ls a grafter, for he knows what he would do in his position. Now certain amount nf suspicion Of strangers is undoubtedly justiHahle and lsc the result of experience of the world But congental and universal suspicion fig worse than blind trust in ones fellow men, for society depends on mutual confidence on taking it for granted that the probability is that t,n t. th ,a,t and fair, and not believing that his prime object is to cheat and steal in secret, or considering man fairly honorable i'll he is proved otherwise. This fundamental trust is quite com patlble with the Knowledge that men arc weak and should be surrounded with checks and not subjected to un. due temptation, especially in office IL is mental attitude very differen, from assuming that all men are liars and it may be united with caution and prudence in dealing with strangers, or in conhding in friends before their adoption is tried |
 MT billey seems to be one of the Fundamentally suspicious men He took 1t for granted that his colleagues in the house were prima-face grafters How much evidence he had for this no one knows To justify himself he should now bring forward some incon- testlblc ground for his suspicion, some thing besides words If he has it Ht was not allowed to examine the books of the Submarine Boat company for there Is a rule of law that applies tc politicians as to everybody else, that man is supposed to be innocent till he Is proved guilty, that prosecutor must establish prima -facie case be- fore he Is allowed 10 search the pri- vate records of the defendant for evi. dence, His case rested on the assump- ton that sales 10 the government Are presumably tainted with fraud Sucr an assumption cannot be admitted in trial before a congressional commit tee You cannot safely probe for ar ulcer tin you have shown something or the surface, and hidden corruption al. ways shows on the surface.
 But how can a consistent man vott for both MT. Lilley, who says that Mir ! sherman helped rascals conceal theil l fraud, and MT sherman, who says tha' MT. Lilley brought a reckless, malig ! nant and unfounded charge against his colleagues and failed to make good 1 Both horns of the dilemma are pretty l sharp, REPUBLICAN,, | Hartford oct ,, 1908