Jasper County Democrat, Volume 8, Number 17, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 22 July 1905 — ENTER BRUSH AND PAIL [ARTICLE]

ENTER BRUSH AND PAIL

f Relegated Job of Whitewashing Resuscitated. THE VINDICATION OF MOBTON Mation Amased at Artlatle Manner In Which the Coat Wan Laid oa Former Head of the Navy—Hue of the Ethiopian Suddenly Chanped to Whiteneaa of Snow. When the “square deal” was inaugurated it was expected that the whitewash brush and pall would be relegated to the political property room, and for awhile It was like the big stick so laid away. But the exigencies of party politics have compelled whitewashing to be again resorted to, and, as if to make up for lost time, the coat laid on to Paul Morton, the late secretary of the navy, Is the prlmest and most artistic Job that has probably ever been accomplished. It has arnaxed the nation by the masterful way In which the wash was applied, and it has staggered the old politicians of the national capital by the sudden change from the hue of the Ethiopian to the vivid whiteness of the vindication. It Is seldom that trim political barometer, the Washington Post, becomes rattled at any sudden change of the political temperature, but even its general state of contentment and sang frold was overcome, for In its comment on this latest strenuous Job of President Roosevelt It said: *

°A fact that stands out in terrifying sharpness In the correspondence of the president and Attorney General Moody regarding Paul Morton and the Santa Fe rebate scandal la that the Santa Fe Is a corporation of uncontrollably evil propensities—a cold blooded, calculating, persistent violator of the law. On the other hand, the officers of the Santa Fe are not only observers of the law, but one of them, Mr. Morton, Is the champion who made it possible to secure an Injunction against the monster. The officers of the Santa Fe have done the best they could to curb the lawlessness of their corporation, but It plunged wildly on, while they stood powerless and aghast. They are no more to be blamed, says Mr. Morton, than If It were a case of a misplaced switch resulting In a bad wreck. They did their duty, and if there was a violation of law nobody Is to blame. ‘All of our orders were carefully considered and .carefully issued,’ he says, -but, so far as this particular ease Is concerned, seem to have been overlooked?

“When Attorney General Moody went outside of his department to secure the services of two eminent lawyers for the investigation of the Santa Fe scandal, it was a commentary on the evident scarcity of good material in the department of justice for such work. But the bold, almost overbold, official statement that these able gentlemen had been instructed to probe the matter to the bottom was an as surance that the task was a grave one, too difficult for the regular officers of the department of justice. It was also taken to mean that the investigation would be made without the possibility of a whitewash, which might have been the case if subordinate officials were to investigate a scandal Involving a member of the cabinet. "Messers. Harmon and Judson did their work thoroughly- too thoroughly by far. They appear to have taken their instructions too literally. They made the mistake, too, of confounding the Santa Fe as a corporation with the Santa Fe officers. Obviously they had no idea that the Santa Fe had burst from the control of its officers and was dashing headlong on its own pathway. *We have no doubt,’ they reported, ‘that the laws have been violated by the traffic officers of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad company,’ and they recommend prompt proceedings against them. Of course the investigators were set right by Attorney General Moody, and, their report being palpably disappointing, their resignations were accepted. “It is difficult to tear a monster away from Its feast, but Mr. Morton must learn to rule even if he Is forced to wean his company from a good thing. It is to be hoped that he will be successful in preventing a mutiny among his subordinates in the Equitable such as that which made the Santa Fe so uncontrollable. “As for the Santa Fe, it is a bad, wicked, diabolical corporation, which must be hunted down and punished at all hazards. On with the good work.”