OCR Text |
Show MORE ROTTENNESS. It i? obvious that the administration if being impo?ed upon by tome of those who succeeded in thrusting themselves forward to "help win the war." The letters and tclerms read to the fv. er-'j. trade, rommifsion by Mr. HeneV f-;rnish ample proof of the f a . We do not know that the. individual? mentioned men-tioned have. j,een able to accomplish very much for tb" packer?, but it is eziy enough to discern the intent. Herbert Her-bert Hoover is general- given credit 'm being a ierv able man, and it should bo a difficult matter to rob the govorn-meet govorn-meet under bii wat-bfn eve. Future developments will probably furcii-h all the fa:ts in the case, and until the situation sit-uation is full'.' cleared up the, employees of tiie root .ackers v. ho are "helping" the. food administration sbould not be allowed to tranr-fft any business for the government. If proof of wrongdoing i; uncovered, let the nivhinory of the law bo put in motion and the offenders pla-f4 behind the bars. The people of the f'nit.ed States stood abait v.b"n tho German e pionage vi-tm vi-tm in thin eountiv was fir:, I brought to their attrition, but in the light of recent, re-cent, events it appeair' to be true that x-rtain liimii''" inteie ti keep paid -.pie in ',';i?l:iii,'1on and hl. every moi-1 niado by tho adini nii.t i.tl ion m closely watched. So successful are these spies that they frequently obtain advance ad-vance information as to appointments and policies to be inaugurated, thus giving giv-ing their employers an opportunity to thwart the purpose of the administration, administra-tion, if it be possible, and to cover up their own tracks. This information is gained in various ways, from various sources. Senators and representatives who owe their election to such interests, of course, can be depended upon to betray be-tray confidence reposed in them. It is probable that men have been "planted" in all the departments, for the purpose of making use of their eyes and ears and reporting to the master spy as soon as they get a line on anything of importance. im-portance. Under such circumstances, it is utterly impossible to prevent government gov-ernment secrets from leaking out. This system has probably been in vogue for many years. But with the entrance en-trance of the United States into the war, the men who have heretofore profited prof-ited by advance information increased the number of their spies and listeners, and as a result the national capital is honeycombed with treachery and deceit, and it is high time for a houseeleaniug. The unfortunate part of the whole wretched business is that most all of the so-called captains of industry have taken up war work and are giving the country the best of service. These meD are not all engaged in profiteering, and it would be manifestly unfair to place them in the same category with those who seek to "make their bit" by employing em-ploying the most nefarious methods or by downright theft. There will be an outcry, however, against- the patriots as well as the purloiners. and every capitalist cap-italist in the land will become an object of suspicion. . This will be both cruel and unjust, for patriotism is not eon-fined eon-fined to the people who are moderately well off or to the poorer classes. We cannot indict labor because certain leaders put their unions before their country, and we should not indict capital capi-tal because certain interests are shown to be reaching out for more wealth while our boys are dying in the trenches or sinking beneath the icy waveB of the Atlantic. Nevertheless, we expect to hear the demagogues rant and rave and call in question the honesty of all the bankers, manufacturers and other rich men engaged en-gaged in war work. We expect to hear an outcry against the administration on account of the fellows who have wormed themselves into important places. This will also be unfair, for there is no means of discovering a rascal until he commits com-mits some overt act and is found out. Americans who proclaim themselves to be patriots and volunteer for work which they are better fitted to perform than other men must be accepted at their face value, because the government has no cause for suspicion and also because be-cause such work has to be performed. But there will be good ground for criticism criti-cism of the administration unless something some-thing is done to check the abuses now known to exist. One redeeming feature fea-ture so far as the president is concerned is the facte that he ordered the inquiry into the packing business at a time when the packers supposed they weYe safe from the prying eyes of government agents and prosecution in the criminal courts if evidence of transgression is found. The president has likewise ordered or-dered an inquiry into the alleged profiteering profit-eering at Hog island, about which so much is being said. The facts are being be-ing brought to light in the case of the packing industry, and we have no doubt but what the truth will be known regarding re-garding tho expenditures at the fabricated fabri-cated steel shipyard. If prosecutions follow, it will be up to the federal judges and juries to inflict the proer punishment. , There never has been a war without more or less profiteering, but, as the present conflict is the most mighty clash at arms of all time, the opportunities opportu-nities for grafting are a hundred fold greater than ever before. Some men commit murder for money. Others hold up peaceful citizens on the highwav or burglarize hanks, stores and I'cusjs. Still others obtaiu their ;old by lying and cheating. They do these hin's in time of peace. So we mus not expert absolute honesty in time of war, Tben billions of gold are being pnurel out to furnish our army and navy. Tf wo do we shall be sadly mistaken. Vet, in the face of the.se facts, it is foolish ;md wrong to assert that every m.-n who has anything to do with the erpeudirur.; of money for Uncle, Pnm' is a thief. It is not so. Still, we can see, the very best of reasons for keeping watch on everything that is going on find insert ing the probe vhonover hei-- is reason rea-son to suspect that everything is net on the level. That appears to bo about the ouly thing that can be done except the prosecution of those who are shown to have taken that which docs not belong be-long to them or to have entered into a conspiracy to violate the Vj.w in aDV manner whatsoever. A few convictions vould stop profHoerinc |