Evening star., 1951-09-27
Wanted: Some Honest Men

If a Diogenes were to appear on the current
scene he might be hard put to decide where to
start his cynical search for an honest man. Ger
tainly the grist that has been running through
the daily news mill would be of little help to him.
A subcommittee headed by Senator Hoey of
North Carolina has been unfolding a story of
corrosive corruption. Nothing conclusive has
been established as yet concerning the relation
ship between Democratic National Chairman
William M. Boyle, jr, and the American Litho-
fold Corporation. But relationship has been
established between Lithofold and employees of
Government agencies including the Bureau OF
Internal Revenue which should be an affront to
any mans sense of integrity. These men ac-
cepted money for lining up clients for the cor
poration-clients who could be subjected to pres
sure by the Federal employees. And yet one Of
them had the effrontery to say that he did not
feel that he had done anything wrong This Is
the same corporation that retained MIR. Boyle
and paid him for services, the nature Of which
has never been clearly defined. In view of the
other disclosures 1t would be interesting to know
precisely what Mr. Boyle did in return for the
payments made to him.
In New York, Kings County grand jury
has called for the dismissal of all top police Of
f1cers concerned with vice and gambling for the
past 10 years. 'The evidence before u.s." said
the grand jury, demonstrates that there is
within the police department discernible hier-
archy of corrupt officials who have nodded them
selves into tightly knit organization, Of a per-
verse but devastating efficiency, to protect the
gambling fraternity for graft" And the grand
jury evidently believes that this hierarchy has
been operating for at least 10 years.
On Staten Island, former CT, who lost
a leg in Italy, told how he had paid Richmond
County political boss 81 500 as bribe to obtain
a liquor store license. And the former CT was
but one of several witnesses who gave similar
testimony. t5s-.
No doubt careful search of the news would
reveal additional reports Of comparably odious
dealings in other parts of the country. But three
in one day are enough.
Senator Mcclellan an Arkansas Democrat,
says the evidence before the Hoey committee. is
rather frightening" and indicates an alarming
deterioration in ethical standards"
That is no exaggeration. A deterioration in
ethical standards has set In throughout the whole
structure Of our society. 1t is reflected in the
fixing" Of college basketball games The West
Point scandal is another example. In city after
city and in State after State there have been
revelations OF petty graft and chiseling. For
long time the Washington story has been a
story of smart operators, who have no ethical
concepts, but who manage TO stay just within the
law, and of few who have gone too far and
who have been caught
There is evidence, and it is heartening evi-
dence, of growing revulsion throughout the
country toward this sort of thing. There are,
after all, many honest people in our society who
are sick and tired of the cheating and the chsel-
ing that is going on. They are outraged by the
liberation of conduct that violates all the laws Of
decent behavior, but which manages to stay
within the letter Of the statutes. These people
would welcome some vigorous and determined
move by the President to clean out the termites
in our official household. Unless this is forth
coming there is no reason to expect anything
except a continuing deterioration in ethical
standards" and in an accelerated erosion OF
confidence in our public institutions.