The daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1848-1851, 1849-11-05


Il Is not infrequenilY that we hear persons say,
in tone Of selEoOmplaceney, that they rarely, if
ever, go to the polls. Such seem to regard it as
mark of superior good sense or philosophy to
keep themselves clear from all political excite
ments, and appear to consider all elections as
nothing more than arces, instituted for the purpose
Of gratifying the restless spirits of the age, and cal
cuated to carry off the energies which might other
wise lead to outbreaks and revolutions. These,
who keep away from the ballotbox, who avoid the
polls and shun the house for voting a noisy and
disagreeable place, are the enemies of popular gov
eminent, and the real injurers Of those institutions
which have descended to us as a birthright from
glorious and illustrious ancestors. The men who
have the right to vote and yet refuse to exercise it
treat with disdain and contempt the great principle
on which our Constitutions are founded. To be
careless in regard to the public veal is the first step
in career which may lead to disgust for popular
institutions and hatred for republican government.
They are but poor phiIophers who teach US that
the perfection Of wisdom is to have little or no
care for the circumstances and events Transporting
around us-that the great object of life is to pass
pleasantly and carelessy through the ever-shifting
scenes of world that has nothing real or substan-
tial in its cares its delights and they but
nominal patriots who practice sublime indiffer-
ence for what they are pleased to term the petty
[ squabbles and Insignificant discussions of party
| politics and electoneering maneuvres. In every
election, no matter how unimportant may be the
officer to be elected there is involved the great
principle Of general suffrage and the right of the
people to elect their own officers, If for nothing
else, then, our elections would be useful as afford
ing every man an opportunity to register his faith
| in the doctrines Of American democracy, and his
hope for the greatness the race is to achieve under
| the influence of its immortal precepts. But there
is rarely an election held in which this is the sole
important principle to be asserted and upheld.
Our political parties, wing and democrat, are no
matter what the skeptics of human excellence and
the scorners of human virtue may say, founded on
something more earnest and real than the desire
for Office and the hope Of gain. Politics is not a
mere huckstering for places, and the most success
full politician is not he who is most inscriptions in
the excitement of popular passions OF most plant
in his subservieney to whatever may be the domi-
nant popular prejudice,
In all elections, especially in those where the
party lines are drawn, and the votes are given in
strict accordance with party convictions and party
principles, it is important that every man should
go to the polls and declare what he believes to be
the policy best calculated for promoting the public
interest. To be silent is to avow an indifference
to the commonwealth unworthy of freeman and
really injurious to the community which has invest
ed you with the privilege Of assisting in the sslec-
ton Of its officers. You have been given a trust.
which you fail to fulfil, when you fail to let your
voice be heard in saying who shall administer the
public affairs.
Let us, then, fsllow-freemen, regard the right of
suffrage not as privilege which we may OF may
not exercise as it suits our pleasure or convenience
but rather as a sacred duty, which we must con-
siderately and carefully perform as an obligation
due not only to ourselves, but to the community in
which we live and the institutions by which we
are surrounded and benefited. To the polls, then,
each and every man land, as the elector places
his ticket in the ballOt-bo1 let him reflect, that on
the little piece of paper he has just deposited may
be written the fate of his children and his chdren's
children. Nor is it in the words alone of the ticket
that its whole significance rests. The letter NAV
| be death, but the spirit may give life The vote
may be cast for improper persons it may assist to
elevate unfit officers, and may be an immediate
injury to the public. But be assured, felow-citi-
zen, that if your vote is given with forethought and
conscence-if you feel the solemn responsibility o.
the ballot you have cast-the little paper, though
fraught with immediate evil and inconvenience
has in it the salt that is to preserve Our institution
forever. On the free, faithful and consideration
discharge of the duty of voting depends the fate o
this republic, and the interests and happiness 0
present and future generations.