The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1913-01-03

theft to secure the means wherewitn to blscken
the character of another is natural and right.
There is something the matter with those
who have any respect for such man. To
allow that contempt for an individual to blind
one to the plain meaning of the evidence, and
to let it create sympathy for the one exposed
may be natural to some, but it is not right
So when Leste's Weekly allows its inherent
dislike for W. r. Hearst cause 1t to lose sight
of the deep significance of the STANDARD Oil
letters which politically damned Senator For
laker and Others and to see only the necessity
for Furnishing the thief. while letting the guilty
writer escape, it writes itself down as too pre-
JUDGED to Judge rightly. In reference to the
discovery of the fact that Hearst dickered
with negro employe of John D. Archbold
to secure the notorious letters written by the
master. Lesle's says;
Thief! liar and thief go together.
Nobody trusts either and the man who re-
ceves stolen goods or who profits by lies is
mo better than the thief or the liar. The
public is indebted to ex-senator Foraker. Of
Ohio for disclosing that the so-called Arch
bold letters printed by Mr. Hearst were
stolen by a couple of negro employees of the
Standard Oil company. and were sold for over
100000. There isn't business man in the
country. and very few private citizens who
amount TO anything whose personal letters
4 stolen and printed under glazing headlines
might not be misconstrued or misunderstood
But regardless OF this theft of private cor
Irespondence by trusted employe instead of
being encouraged should be most severely
punished. The Investigating committee at
Washington should not rest until it has laid
ite hands upon the thief who betrayed his
trust and for bag OF dirty dollars lent him
self to wicked conspiracy to defame his
employer and 10 destroy the reputation of
men of prominence in public life. Let us
have the whole truth about this conspiracy
and let no guilty man escaped"
That there should exist in private life a
man who would stoop low as Hearst APP
parently stopped in this instance is regretta-
BILE, but hardly surprising There are many
more like him in the country With these,
however, the public cannot concern itself
greatly just now 1t is far more regrettable
that In public life there should be servants
OF big corporation. II is of more import
ance that men who betray their constitu-
iences should be whipped into retirement than
il is that one thief should be punished. The
Clapp committee has nothing to do with how
Heart secured those letters 1t has much TO
10 with the facts which they disclose Let
no guilty man escape" says Leslie's- Well
and good Let none of those guilty Of bust
mess relations with the silent partners OF the
government escape defeat, and let the Clapp
committee see to it that impeachment pro-
ceedngs follow where the evidence justihes
ill., II Mr. Archbold wishes to deal with those
who stole his private correspondence he has
trecourse to the courts Congress has nothing
to do with it, but it has something to do
with those who are implicated by the pub
Ilication of the letters. 1t has something to
do with Penrose.
What is in those letters, that they
have knowledge of it, is the business of the
Ecommittee, congress and the people of the
United States. How those letters were OBJ
Itained is the business of owner, thief and
the courts.