The Madisonian. [volume] (Washington City [i.e. Washington, D.C.]) 1837-1845, 1839-06-19
From The Western STATE Journal
LoCO-FocolsM--ITs NATURE AND
OBJECTS

OBJECTS
! LocO-iocoism bears no more resemblance
70 genuine Republicanism than an English
hawthorn to Newtown pippin. Loco-foco-
ism is a wild uncultyaled scion eoyrafted
upon a once pure stock at the root, by which
both stock and branch have become unnatu-
rally vicious. The roots sends up no more
shoots of the original growth, andih fruit Of
the tree is so depraved that il could not be
supposed to be nourished by juices from
wholesome sources.
Loco-focoism is schisnatic in its origin and
tendency. Ii pretends TO more wisdom and
virtue than was ever incorporated into the
original belief. Your Loco.foco is Phari-
see, who contemporary bids the fathers Of
the church "sfand by, for am holier than
thou " 1t is fanaticism which discovers
new meanings in the book of faith, interpolates
spurious passages into the common text, and
regards the old professors with more deadly
animosity than the heaihenish idolaior II is
animated by the spirit of persecution and in
Tolerance, and wastes its energies by blind
| fury which makes no compromise with cir
cumstances, and heated zeal which con-
sumes itself without difiusing its warmth 10
others.
| Loco-focoism is the false light Of an exha-
lation.. Follow it and you are led into quag-
mres and morasses. II hoyers over .hideous
wastes and desolate places. Ifyou approach
1t, il eludes your grasp. Il is never seen
within the bounds Of cultivation, but the poor
borderer, the unfortunate outcast Of society,
who, solitary and alone" inhabits an out
post on the confines of civilized society, is
the frequent witness Of its balefnl illumina-
| ton, and regards it with superstitious awe.
| Loco-focoism is Of Gothic and Vandalic
descent. II holds the conveniences and COM
forts of life in contempt. It's rude hands are
exercised in pulling down and oyerturning
what il can never build up or establish. 1t
dlsdains the arts of peace, and delights in
the ravages Of war. Issuing from wild haunts
and accustomed TO extreme privation, it can
not appreciate the institutions which learning,
industry, and commerce have reared, but ig-
norantly levels palaces, temples, academies,
villas, triumphal arches, columns, and monu-
ments, with the dust.
Procrustes was the first Loco .foco. He
possessed an iron bedstead, upon which he
stretched his victims, and, whenever their
limbs exceeded its length, they were hewn
off to the required standard and if they fell
short they were heightened by the screw
and puly to the prescribed dimensions.
Loco-focosm abors to equalize the condi-
ton Of all mankind by dwelling every thing
downward. Because some men are poor, it
seeks TO make all poor alike. Because some
are vicious, it would take away the rewards Of
virtue. Because some men are ignorant and
deprayed, it would confound the distinctions
Of knowledge and rectitude. Because some
men prefer idleness and cold meat it would
discountenance industry, soup, and warm
bread. Because all men cannot wear gold
watches, there should be none manufactured
but of pinchbeck. Because all men cannot
get their notes discounted at the bank, there
should be no banks. Because some men
never have much money, none should have
more than the rest. Because railroads, trans
porting passengers at three cents mile, are
such odious mnnopolies, people ought to
travel in post-coaches and pay six.
Loco-focoism is a " dsorganizing and re-
volutionary" spirit. 1t is never contented
with the existing state Of things. II is con-
stantly fomenting anarchy, and breeding dis
cord. II is reckless innovator, and for the
love Of change is ever varying its purposes
and pursuits The machine that was erected
yesterday, and operated TO admiration to-day,
4
some new experiment. 1t is the deadly foe
of order, harmony, and system. If il could
control the planets, it would set them all rum
ming in cometary orbits. 1t would impart to
water the double property Of running uphill
as well as down. In cold weather it is in
favor Of hot. and in summer il signs for the
blasts Of winter. Its motto is" Man nerer
is, but al,pays to be best" Let well enough
alone" is detestable sentiment, in its OPT
Mon 1t pants for novelty, and though it
conducts the Government and the people
from bad to worse, it pretends that the spice Of
variety gives fresh flavor to every succeed
ing Formulation.
Loco-focoism is theorizing agent. 1t re-
jects the results Of experience, and leans upon
the spun sophistries Of the Imagination.
1t is a firm believer in the dreams Of poets
and enthusiasts, and reads old romances for
veritable history. Its great men are project
ors and inventors. It is persuaded of the fact
Of Captain Symmes' hole and the FL Dorado.
| 1t believes in the transmutation OF metals by
the philosophers stone, and holds that gold
may be made as plenty as iron. 1t credits the
story Of the man in the moon, and thinks that
the art Of balloonng will eventually be carried
so high as to afford the means OF communi-
cation with that luininary.
! In short Loco-focoism is an odd fish, and
whoever trusts himself to the sea of politics
upon the Tritons back will soon find himself
Hpundering among the rocks and shadows, or
resting upon the soft ooze at the bottom.