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.
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