The oil scandals in America may possibly transform the whole
course of the Presidential Election. Intense political passions have been aroused. The character of any public man even in the remotest degree assailable has been assailed. It has been said that the motives at work are mainly political in origin, and that Americans, whether among the attackers or the defenders, are not really so surprised or shocked as they appear to be by the wholesale rumours of corruption in high places which are filling the air. We prefer to believe otherwise. The out- cry represents for the most part a sincere desire to have dean politics. Very likely a great many of the charges which have been made are without foundation, but when the evidence has been sifted, when the guilty have been punished and the innocent acquitted, the atmosphere will have been cleared by these electrical discharges and a good deal will have been gained.
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