Worcester daily spy. [volume] (Worcester [Mass.]) 1850-1888, 1858-12-29
TIE NEW CITY GOVERNMENT.

4Az NEW IA Z bUfEhN hAAA,
Before the expiration of another week we
shall have entered upon new municipal sd-
ministratioa. The asperities which attended
the somewhat hotly-contested canvass are fad
ing away, and that Christian charity, which
was much abused. IS recovering its former
tone, as the old year draws to a close. Few
and foolish are they, who are willing to let its
sun 90 down upon their wrath At this time,
when the old books. with their losses and their
profits, are to be closed-when the new ones,
under happy and encouraging auspices, are
about to be opened, itis seasonable and proper,
FOR Us te examine the principles upon which
cur affaiEs are to be hereafter conducted, and
te speak an encouraging word for those which
will be most conducive to the public prosperity
and the public morals.
We have great confidence in majorities, ed
ucated under New England institutions That
which is fer the public good, generally finds its
expression on the day Of election. Men VIII
divide INFO parties, as long as human nature
remains as 1t Is. Bur, 1t does not follow, that
the public good is 10 look on one side Of the
line for It's friends, and On the other only for
its foes. In a community so enlightened, so
moral, and so prosperous, as our own, any re
spectacle body Of people, acting in public ca
pacity, may safely have the credit Of honesty
and Of fair share Of judgment Those who
succeed are not the only rulers. Those who
are defeated are, at least, not yanquished. For
the moral power of an honest and sincere op-
position affords restraint and regulation, to the
strongest and most triumphant of govern
ments. And, when it shows its power rather
by argument and example than by denuncia-
ton and captious rebuke, it is not for a mo
ment to be trihed with For che that ruleth
his spirit is GREATER than he that taketh a
city"
1t is the earnest desire of every good citi-
zen that the city Of his birth or his adoption
should thrive and prosper; that the laws
should be respected that morality and virtue
should triumph There is no security for
property; there is no pledge of personal safety;
there is no foundation for that genuine thrift
which underies all prosperous communities,
but in the willing submission of citizens to just
laws. The rights of the individual are limited
by his obligations to society. There is no law
to punish the suicide; but there is no cavern
on the earth, in which the homicide can hide
himself from its vengeance Individual vices,
reaching in their direct effects no farther than
the victim who INDUCES in them, has nothing
to fear from sumptuary legislation. But, what
excuse can there be, for those open violators
of law, those undisguised patrons of immorali-
ty, those panderers to dangerous vices, for the
sake Of gain, who have either found or made
opportunities to practice their trade in a COM
munity, whose large intelligence and elevated
morality has always been our joy and pride?
In large places, having mixed and chang
ing population the literal execution of a pro-
hibitive law is neither desirable nor possible
The article Of commerce which our law pro-
nounces conTaband, has so many and so va
ried uses, that its sale may be regulated, but
it cannot be destroyed. Thequestion thus APP
pears to be surrounded with difficulties, which
no casuist of reform has ever satisfactorily re-
moved But, it is at least practicable, in the
exercise Of a prudent and watchful care
over the interests of the community, to see
that open and habitual resorts, where laws
are violated, and morality put to open shame,
are summarily closed. Public sentiment has
patiently waited for this yirtuous application
OF the virtue of law but disappointment has
followed, about equally from the dilatoriness of
executive officers, the difficulty of obtaining
convictions in court, and the sensitiveness of
property-holders. The time has at length
come, when change should be made. If the
liquor traffic cannot be wholly abated, it should
at least be driven from the public eye. If
there must be a systematic violation of any of
the statutes, it should be done where the
public conscience may not be demoralized by
the example
To our municipal organization of the coming
year, elected by a vote much larger than was
ever given to municipal officers before, and
numbering, among its avowed supporters, our
most estimable men and useful citizens, we
look, with confidence for the institution Of
judicious executive system, and of new safe
guards for the public virtue During the
whole contest, while those who ought to have
been working together were indulging in the
most painful Of determinations, and while many
citizens, on either side, of eminent integrity
and singular purity Of life, were thought to be
proper subjects Of scandal and abuse, we did
not hesitate TO express the confidence we en-
tertained in the private and official integrity Of
the gentlemen who composed the successful
ticket. With confidence undated on the eve
Of their Inauguration, we again renew that ex-
preston, with the pledge of our most cordial
support Of whatever measures may be institu-
ted for the material and moral growth of the
cityof our pride.
DEATH or A SISTER or THE PoET BURNS