Jasper County Democrat, Volume 8, Number 19, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 5 August 1905 — AN EPIDEMIC OF SCANDALS. [ARTICLE]

AN EPIDEMIC OF SCANDALS.

A Democratic House of Represents* tire* Needed to Investigate. As fast as the Republican part; tries to dispose of one scandal another appears upon the surface. The postoffice scandal is still on deck, and only a few of the minor accomplices have yet been fried and punished. The land fraud cases are in court, and all the Republican delegation in congress from Oregon except Senator Fulton have been Indicted. Land frauds in California are said to be of greater extent than in Oregon, and nearly every western state has more or less trouble of the same kind. The asphalt scandal In Venezuela has been settled on the surface, but the real merits of the case have never been investigated. The main question is. Was the administration backing the trust, which is charged by Venezuela with furnishing arms and aid to a revolutionary faction to overthrow our sis ter republic? The Santa Fe rebate scandal has taken a more serious turn since Attorney General Moody has refused to carry out the recommendations of Judge Hannon and F. N. Judson, who were appointed by the administration to investigate. They seem to have struck a warm trail that led in the direction of Secretary of the Navy Morton, whose forced retirement from the cabinet involves the administration in the scandal.

The Santo Domingo scandal has been confined to the scandal box, and a special government agent is sitting on the lid. The cotton report scandal is still under investigation, and the scope of the investigation is widening. The scandal in the treasury department in selection of postofilce sites has already led to the indictment of Special Agent Blanton, and tjie facts will be more fully exposed when his case comes on for trial. Hardly a week passes but some new scandal develops that involves some Republican official. These facts show that, however much President Roosevelt may wish to clean up the Augean stables, the task is beyond his power unless he will make a clean sweep of some of the bureaus and departments. That, of cburse, be cannot do for party reasons, as if the truth were known of all the grafters, great and small, the voters would demand a new deal. The most necessary reform is to elect next year a Democratic majority of the house of representatives, who would then have power to investigate the scandals. The party in power never can do much to get rid of its parasites, for they all hang together, and many of the partisan leaders protect them, fearing exposure will hurt the Republican pasty.