Southport telegraph. [volume] (Southport, W.T. [i.e. Kenosha, Wis.]) 1840-1850, 1847-08-11
WHAT WILL THE MAGNETIC TELE-
GRAPH ACCOMPLISH

subjects of remark in No. of our paper-there
are other objects it will accomplish, a few of which
it may not be Improbable TO specify
1t will place the National Legislature as much
under the eye of the whole people of the country
it now is under the eye of the people Of the dis
trict of Columbia A representative may receive
advice and instruction from his constituents every
hour of the day and his action upon any and every
important question which may arise, be controlled
by expressions of popular sentiment. The sense
of responsibility the part of the representative
will be greatly increased, and the constituent power
from its greater facility to become aware OF, as
to influence and control, the dones of Congress,
will be led to watch with more interest the proceed
ings of that body, and to hold its representatives TO
a strict observance Of duty, and to more rigid and
prompt accountability This principle needs no
! illustration. That public men, men employed
in the transaction of business in the capacity of
agents, influenced by the presence and constant
| observation of those who employ them, it would
be superlluous to attempt to prove. The proyerb
of Dr. Franklin in Poor Richard, viz: The eye of
| the master will do more work than both his hands,
! will be found to apply here as pcrtinently and eff
{ lectiyey as upon plantation or farm. Public SER
| wants at the metropolis will be acting every day
and continually under the eye of their masters, the
sovereign people, and this to such an extent that
they can hardly vote, or speak, or move, without
its being known, almost at the instant, not only to
their constituents at home, but generally throughout
the community. 1t has sometimes been remarked
that men have two opposite modes OF being hid
! one by seeking solitude retirement, the other by
escaping notice in crowd The latter, to great
extent, is the mode pursued by our public men at
the seat of government The President heads of
department, the two houses of Congress- and other
important public lunctonarics, have heretofore act
! ed under the immediate eye of some portion of the
people OF the federal district and of those who
casionally visit Washington on business or from
motives of curiosity. The seat of government,
however during the sessions of Congress- is crowd
ed with people, nearly all of whom are too intent
upon objects pertaining to their own individual in
terest that of their friends to admit of their ex
ercisng very general supervision over public con
Germs. People in various parts Of the country re-
mote from the Capitol, will have the advantage of
almost instantaneous information OF what transpires
at Washington, aud the still greater advantage of
attending TO it, free from the dstracting influences
of the business and hustle attendant upon gather
ings at the metropolis. Or, in other words people
at the distance of one hundred or several hundred
miles from Washington, viii, in several respects
be more lavorably circumsanced to watch and pro-
various departments, than those III the immediate
vicinity of the Capitol. The consciousness of act
ing every hour under the immediate inspection of
millions instead oil hundreds cannot but have very
important influence upon the course and doings Of
men in all public stations
Again, it has been somewhat common for clques
of political leaders to manufacture false and spu-
rious public sentiment on the spot where they
convened which they manage to make effective in
the accomplishment of their selfish and partizan
designs The opportunity for this will he precluded
l,, the general lujroduction of the lightning speed
Transmission of intelligence.
Substantially the like train of rcmar, as the
above would be equally applicable to the do;ngs of
State Legislatures National and State Conventions,
and all important representative bodies wherever
convened throughout the country or for whatever
purpose
In this view of the subject, the lightning tele-
graph viii have a conservative influence in favor Of
genuine RcpubIicanism viz: through the virtual
presence and super, sion OF the sovereign peoI on
the spot Where their public business is transacted,
and their opportunity 10 approve or condemn at tie
moment the doings orproposcd doings of their pub
lie servants, OF every description and grade.
We have remarked upon the bearing which the
system of general communication by lightning viii
have on the course of public men, OF, in other
words, It's bearing upon political morality and may
we not suggest, in this connection, that it will have
bearings equally important on social and public
morals, aside from any direct political influences.
The lightning speed Of thought and intelligence en-
dows the human mind both individually and coec-
lively with a sort of ubiquty or omniprcscnce,
similar to that which the inspired poet ascribes 10
Deity" Whittier shall | go from thy spirit width
er shall flee from thy presence! Ii ascend into
heaven, thou art there; if | make my bed in hell
| behold thou art there If take the wings of the
[
thithcr shall thy hand lead [precedel me, and thy
| right hand hold me in its grasp. Ii | say, surely
the darkness shall cover me, even the night shineth
as the day. If say my thoughts [actsl shall be
concealed, behold they are understood aiaI off An
able and effective sermonizcr might readily furnish
volume of practical instruction and illustrations
of the moral influences OF the sentiments above quo
ted. To vast portions Of the community, however,
it is not the consciousness Of the inspection Of Del
ty but the apprehension of being noticed by human
observers, which is replete with regulating and re-
! straiuing moral influences. This system OF trans
hitting intelligence includes the capabty of pla-
cling any individual whatever, and wherever he may
be located at once in the intense burning focus OF
public observation. Can it fail to operate power
fully upon his regard for character reputation and
responsibility? Whatever an individual having an
ordinary sense of the worth Of character would wish
to pass for in the most public centre of observation
he is by this system of influence brought under in
creased necessity OF endeayoring to be- however re-
-. l. IL, l.. A.