Standards Of Morality In The Public Service

Every little while some public official like the man Hedges of the postoffice department, goes wrong and then proceeds to advance some theory in extenuation of his thieving conduct, the wrong doing generally lies in stealing in some form of public money, which tends to jolt the public mind out of all previously conceived ideas of what constitutes integrity. To illustrate. This man Hedges charged up and collected from the government per diem for visiting various places and performing various public duties, which places he never visited and which duties he never performed. Then, when called to account for the falsification, he acknowledges the charges, says that the practice is general and simply says that that sort of thing has never been passed upon as to its regularity, implying of course that it is all right for government officials to do the thing until its irregularity, if it be irregular, is passed upon by higher authority. In other words, it is all right to falsify one's reports and rob the public through dishonest claims for services and per diem, services and time never rendered and never spent in the performance of public duty, so long as no higher official has said that such practices are wrong. But this is undoubtedly a kind of easy virtue very characteristic of the government service. There is one standard of morality for private life and another for public. It is by the public standard of morality no crime to swear falsely, to steal and betray a public trust, none at least unless one gets caught in the commission of such acts and then the offense lies in the getting caught rather than in the acts themselves. The public in fact is regarded as an entirely fit and wholly legitimate subject to work "get rich quick" schemes upon. And anyone who thinks such schemes are not being constantly worked is too unsophisticated for this world.

Up to the time the investigation of the postal department began, this branch of the government service was regarded as a model by the people and apparently by public officials as well. But recent developments in this branch of the service have shown that the only reason its rottenness did not smell to high heaven was because of the use of means to deaden the odor, rather than the absence of any rank and odoriferous presence. What is true of this department is in greater or less degree, probably, true of all others.

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It is to be hoped union labor will not go into a fight with the United States government. Just why there need be any union among government employees does not appear to the ordinary citizen. The government hours are short and none of its [employees] are held down to starvation wages to enable the government to make huge profits. If government [employees] wish to join a society the government interposes no objection, but when it comes to the question of protection, from from whom and what do government [employees] need protection? It does not seem to the average citizen that any of the reasons which cause men to organize labor unions in private employments obtain in the government service. There is no temptation or reason or incentive apparent why the government should deal harshly with its [employees]. Congress is the agent of all the people in fixing the salaries and hours of all the men who work in all the departments and it is liberal to a fault in fixing hours of labor, salaries, etc. To force a fight, therefore, with the government over a bookbinder would seem to be the [height] of folly. Such a move would be most unpopular destined to defeat before begun.