(4 of 5)
Harvard Law Professor James Vorenberg, who was one of Archibald Cox's top lieutenants, believes that "in a sense the corruption at the top reflects too great a trust on the part of the people in the leaders they place in power." It is generally agreed that farther down the ladder the public has less trust in those who run the statehouses, city halls and police stations, and with good reason. William Saxbe, the Attorney General-designate, thinks things are better than they used to be, and remembers Ohio in the Depression, when people had "to pay to get on relief or a job on the streets." In those days, when Government employees were less well paid, it could be argued, as Ben Franklin once had, that "it is hard for an empty sack to stand upright." But Paul Douglas believed that "men will not be saved from temptation merely by being paid more money. Desire always outruns income."
Just how many ways there are to be corrupt is evidenced in the $1,750,000 study issued last month by the National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals, which may be one of John Mitchell's few lasting contributions to law-and-order. The commission, headed by Governor Russell W. Peterson of Delaware, poses 74 questions to the citizen about his own city and state government, and suggests that yes answers argue "the presence of corruption or an atmosphere conducive to corruption." Some of the questions:
"Do well-qualified companies refuse to do business with the city or state? Are municipal contracts let to a narrow group of firms? Is competitive bidding required? Do turnpike or port authorities or governmental departments operate with almost total autonomy? Are kickbacks and reciprocity regarded by the business community as just another cost of doing business? Are court fines regarded as a source of revenue for the municipality? Are records of disciplinary action against government employees closed to inspection? Do business establishments give certain public employees free meals, passes, discounts and the like?"
The 74 questions read like a reader's guide to misconduct. The commission, after dutifully noting that "most people in public service are honest," seems more aware that "corruption results in a staggering cost to the American taxpayer" and has wider effects, such as spreading a lawless cynicism among street criminals (from a passage about the failure of prisons to rehabilitate men: "A sense of injustice is endemic among prisoners, and it stems in large measure from the inmates' belief that they are the unlucky victims of a hypocritical system that tolerates lawlessness among its officials but makes scapegoats of less well-placed offenders"). It cites estimates that about 15% of the money spent for state and local election campaigns—some $20 million —comes from the underworld. Engineering firms holding highway construction contracts, holders of state liquor licenses and race-track officials have traditionally been generous campaign contributors. Beyond that are the kind of direct payoffs that Spiro Agnew thought had become offensive to ordinary citizens only in "the new post-Watergate political morality."