his turn remembers that the attack is of use only if it is
absolutely truthful. The liar is no whit better than the thief, and if
his mendacity takes the form of slander, he may be worse than most
thieves. It puts a premium upon knavery untruthfully to attack an honest
man, or even with hysterical exaggeration to assail a bad man with
untruth. An epidemic of indiscriminate assault upon character does not
good, but very great harm. The soul of every scoundrel is gladdened
whenever an honest man is assailed, or even when a scoundrel is
untruthfully assailed.

Now, it is easy to twist out of shape what I have just said, easy to
affect to misunderstand it, and, if it is slurred over in repetition,
not difficult really to misunderstand it. Some persons are sincerely
incapable of understanding that to denounce mud-slinging does not mean
the indorsement of whitewashing; and both the interested individuals who
need whitewashing, and those others who practice mud-slinging, like to
encourage such confusion of ideas. One of the chief counts against those
who make indiscriminate assault upon men in business or men in public
life, is that they invite a reaction which is sure to tell powerfully in
favor of the unscrupulous scoundrel who really ought to be attacked, who
ought to be exposed, who ought, if possible, to be put in the
penitentiary. If Aristides is praised overmuch as just, people get tired
of hearing it; and overcensure of the unjust finally and from similar
reasons results in their favor.

Any excess is almost sure to invite a reaction; and, unfortunately, the
reaction, instead of taking the form of punishment of those guilty of
the excess, is very apt to take the form either of punishment of the
unoffending or of giving immunity, and even strength, to offenders. The
effort to make financial or political profit out of the destruction of
character can only result in public calamity. Gross and reckless
assaults on character, whether on the stump or in newspaper, magazine,
or book, create a morbid and vicious public sentiment, and at the same
time act as a profound deterrent to able men of normal sensitiveness and
tend to prevent them from entering the public service at any price. As
an instance in point, I may mention that one serious difficulty
encountered in getting the right type of men to dig the Panama Canal is
the certainty that they will be exposed, both without, and, I am sorry
to say, sometimes within Congress, t