Volcano weekly ledger., 1856-06-28
aThe Proper Persons for once"

ny the ABOVE neaulng-uTleHy uluueu " iost
week-without few additional remarks
If volume were written upon it, and treH
written, it would be a most proper and prol-
table study for the people in the present Gay
and generation. Some such book should be
read by the old man and by young men; it
should be taught in our schools, so that our
boys might grow up to understand and ap-
preciatc the Importance of selecting the
proper persons for Office. This is strong
feature of republican governments feature
upon which must depend our stability and
prosperity-and yet it is one which we as q
people would seem to have lost sight of en-
1irely.
Why is it that in vast majority OF in
stances the best men are passed by and their
interiors elevated to official power and possi-
ton? As an instance that holds good from
the topmost round in the ladder to the bot
tom, why is it that in latter times it has beer
found impossible to place our ablest and
best statesmen in the Presidential chair?-
Why is it that to hold an Office has become,
in many parts of the country, reproach and
by-word? These questions are easily an
swered Politics has become trade or a
profession if you please The people as a
mass have ceased to take an active part, and
consequently comparatively few have the
management of affairs in their own hands
The highest as we'll as the lowest offices are
played for as it were at game of chance,
and the most expert at shuffiing and dealing
are the winners. The best men do not en-
gage in this thing-they are not political
gamblers Good men withdraw in disgust
from the company Of these professional poll
ticians, and the field is left to them undispu-
ted
Now what is the duty of the people in the
premises? What shall be done to cure this
disease of the body polite? o, says every
body, elect good men to Office. So far so
good-that is just exactly what is wanted
but how will it be accomplished? How
shall we go to work to keep bad men out
and put good men in? What new plan shall
be adopted. There is the rub. We cannot
depend upon any proposed Improvement in
the machinery Of Party; for that engine is in
the hands of political stockholders, who
cause it to run fast or slow, heavy or smooth,
according to the exigencies of the times, hav-
ing constantly in view their own especial de-
sres and interests and seldom if ever catch
ing glimpse of the real wants of the
country. There is but one remedy, and that
remedy is the people themselves. They seem to
have forgotten that every voter is a sovereign.
Among those who are most interested in the
welfare of government in a pecuniary point
OF view, you will find perhaps majority who
never mention the ballot-box except in terms
Of dersion and contempt. Oh, say they, we
have business to attend to- why shall we
trouble ourselves about politics and elections?
Precious little, indeed, do we care who is or
whether anybody is elected. to Office! Now
this is the very class of men at whose door
should be laid all of our present troubles in
California. They have failed to perform the
highest and most sacred duty of citizen;
and as consequence we are in a state OF
confusion amounting almost to chaos. In
the earlier days of the Republic, the people
revered the right of suffrage, for which they
fought and bled on the field of battle; but
this rich privilege came to us easier-it was
bequeathed as legacy to us-and we have
failed to properly appreciate the boom
Instead of spending "one day for our coun-
try" when au election comes around, we give
up the polls to the management and control OF
the dissolute, the proaigate-to men who
make use of the ballot-box as the instrument
of their own aggrandizement, at the expense
of the States and the Nations welfare ano
prosperity. As well might we stay away
from the polls altogether, and acknowledge
ourselves dependent and not Independent, al
permit the control of destinies to remain il
such hands.
1t is at least to be hoped that the people
of California will learn wisdom from tn,
present disordered condition Of affairs snd
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