The weekly Minnesotian. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. Territory) 1852-1858, 1855-04-14
MONDAY MORNING. APRIL Q. 1855.
The City morals and the Times.


and is very urgent for the newly elected Off,
GERS, from Mayor downwards, to do something
if not sooner, towards this praise
worthy consummation.
Very we'll. We do not demur. Not that our
st. Paul is such very bad place, either-still
there is no spot in christendom. however good
that could not be made little better by trying
Men are never perfect; and still less do cities
ever attain to sinless state of existence
Great cities are great Sores quoth Jefferson;
and we presume SMALLER cities like ST. Paul
are only more diminutive boils on the body
polite. To change, however, from generalities
to specialities: we are willing to admit that St.
Paul, though not equal to New York in size.
(there is no telling what time may bring forth)
nor indeed proportionabIy equal to it in vice
and immortality 1--WE hope time will never equal
ize us in these last respects,) has yet enough
of the i'll as we'll as the good characteristics
Of a city to make little moral improvement
not undesirable. Ho,v this improvement is to
be in part effected, we shall not quarrel with
the Times about. To be sure, the main conserv-
ators of the morals Of people are undoubted-
ly their religious teachers; still, we are among
those who believe that political rulers have
some responsibility in the premises. 1.-THE
world is governed too much" is political mot
to often urged in opposition TO this view; but
in this country. in free community, with an
enlarged elective franchise, the tendency is
rather to govern too little; to not enforce laws
when made, especially those of a sumptuary
nature; to shrink from the responsibility of Of
Tending any considerable minority, by the strn-
gent administration of the statutes.
And this brings US to advert to the state of
things in St. Paul the past year, as illustrating
this Sinking, shrinking, "do no harm" aud
" not any good " line of conduct in our rulers
A year ago David Olmsted was elected May
or of this city. During his term, every evil
that now exists, and to which the Times alludes,
iourished unchecked, though the laws to pro-
tect and suppress them were then on the stat
ute book the same as they are now. There
were gambling houses; there were whisky shops
and rum holes; there were beer saloons, and
there were places still less reputable; nor was
Sunday regarded by them differently from any
other day, except. perhaps. it was less regard
ed. The Times and Mayor Olmsted were then
good friends-they were brothers on the great
Railroad question-they fraternized in opposi-
ton to the "Frod." During all that period
we fail to remember" seeing word in the
Times relative to city "reform!" Not word
pointing out to Mayor Olmsted his duties as a
moral reformer, or rather his neglect Of duty.
- And then look at the scenes of the last
fall election. Who does not remember the wag-
ons on election day, hugely placarded against
the fraud" filed with drunken men, and driv-
en- from poll to poll. and from grog shop to
grog shop, rending the air as they rode along
with yells and blasphemy! Where was the
pious Times on that occasion! Did it point out
these signs of the times to Mayor Olmsted, and
urge him to abate the origin of such grievan-
ces!
1t did nothing Of the kind; and the natural
inquiry forced upon Us is. what has kicked the
Times on end now. and stirred up its brains
into such pitch Of perception I'D its morals
into such agonizing sublimity?
Perhaps we can explain this directly; for as
time wore on and Olmsted's term drew to
,lose.the people forced Gov. Ramsey to run for
The MayOralty, and gave him, more than two
thirds Of all the votes cast in the city Be-
tween his nomination and the election, but one
working day interviewed. The Times, follow
ing probably first impulses. or perhaps scarcely
deeming it polite under the circumstances to
oppose, hoisted Gov. Ramsey's name at the
head Of its columns, and endorsed the Peoples
Ticket; except that, to show its consistency
as a Wing paper, it struck off three Anti-Ne-
braska Wings from among the candidates for
Aldermen. and put in their place as many Ne
braska Democrats!
But Ramsey. Rohrer and Miller it emphati-
,ally endorsed as the best men I" nominated
Tor the positions they were respectively to fill.
It soon became apparent, however tina! the
Times had acted without orders from its own
ers or directors. Governor German took the
field in full force against the Peoples Ticket,
aud with so much feeling, that on Sunday eue-
ming he made bets that ramsey would be
beaten in his own ward!" Where was the
Tines moral thunder? Does betting on a
Sabbath come within the scope of its anathema?
Or does Gov. German being the bettor sanctify
the deed! Most singular, however, was the in
auence of Gov. Germans betting on the moral
an pious Times and its clique. To win his bets
and save himself from the modification Of de-
feat. he doubtless appealed to them for help;
and 10 and behold on election day they re-
fused to go to the polls and vote for those whom
they had just pronounced the "best men," while
Two or three of the clique who did vote, rest
under the strong suspicion, founded on the
of those who counted the ballots,
Of having cut out Gov. Ramsey's name from
their tickets!
But all was of no avail-Gorman lost bis
Sunday 6ets--for Gov. Ramsey had not only
majority "n his own ward,' Qhe Third) but
obtained more than two-thirds of all the votes
cast in that ward-a fitting rebuke to the unfair
means used to prejudice the popular mind and
defeat his election.
It would seem, nevertheless, that the end is
not yet--the hypocrites of the Times imagine
they have still an arrow in their culver, which
will SO straight to the mark, though all else
has failed. Excessive morality and extreme
anxiety for the observance Of the Sabbath (?)
% to be the new dodge on the part Of Gov. Cor
mans organ! And the best of the joke is, they
evidently think they are playing a cunning
game, and that no one pcroeives their Interior