But King Graft wears the crown of the pretender still, and there are
few of his fighting enemies who are disposed to rest upon their arms
in either truce or armistice.
The war against graft is led by the president of the United States,
who stands as the foremost foe of grafting--political, financial or
social--in the world, and behind him is a phalanx led by Folk, Jerome,
Riis, Lawson, Hadley, Miss Tarbell, Deneen, Monnett and others of
their type, fighting the nation's most crucial battle.
The grafters have declared that the objects of some of these men were
selfish, but, no matter for what object they fight, they are routing
the grafters in many fields and showing to the awakening public the
peril of the situation; revealing to a commonwealth the worms gnawing
at the vitals of the republic.