The prairie news. [volume] (Okolona, Miss.) 1851-1875, 1859-03-24
Henry Ward Beccher on the yy,..,n
Tragedy ana the Duty ofNcwspnper..

It Our NATIONAL Capitol stands in our a
n fairs like some fretful crater, which boi
: ing and seething forever within ever
IL now and then shakes the land with som
l. terrible eruption. and belclcs forth i
l. furious contents. Bad as the horde
n States are, and unrcstained as are III
e passions of men who herd together There
y it can scarcely be said that morals an,
: conduct are so debased and brutal as a
r Washington. W. .
+ We do not doubt that the resident non
4 nlatlon' not connected with the govern
) lnent, present worthy contrast TO tn,
' mere soJourners there. But thither flock
} every session, thousands Of men whom
no principle controls, no shame restrains
no fear daunts. They are corrupt, and
forever seeking corruption. Nor are
there merely the loose and floating fell.
lows that abounds in all large cities
hogues are sent there on public errands
Men are there by official commission who
have eluded courts and cheated tails.
! That this Sodom has many more Lots
than It's prototype We firmly believe; but
thtat old Sodom and Gomorrah had, for
their day, as many men as bad. and. com.
pared with the civilized condition of the
community, half as bad, we do not be-
iieve. Corruption, compatibility, bribery
and venality, brutal passions and auda.
clous violence, in the street, in the halls
of legislation, in offices, in every post and
passage OF government, are known to ey.
list. We do not believe that ever before
was there so little senSibility to charges
of most ruinous wickedness. Not only is
there the most depraved wickedness, but
there seems very little sensibiity 70 if
when exposed. The extremity of the
evil, we believe, will work remedy
We hope that we are near the bottom
and that any change will be for the bet.
ter.
When jobs are so many and lucrative,
when the treasury is assailable ON every
side, and boring ayarice may grow rich
by scarcely disguised robbery: when
just claims are withheld, and public debts
dishonorably deferred for whole life.
time, but money is poured out like water
upon managing rogues and ulconyicted
political felons; it can scarcely be hut
that crowds of evil men will haunt the
perlleus ofnational legislation, and fattpn
upon plumber. When before did rumor
almost without periplrasis or inuenJ,
but by open threat, charge home unon
the IN highest members of government the
ilsgrace of personal corruptions and off. |
;ial venality?
Out of this boiling and uneasy crater
uSt now comes fiery flash, a rain of :,
mud and black clouds, full ofsound and !,
'olls' hang about it. Pride has reached "
ofth hand OF lust, and Vanity has clasp :, :"
d IT, Then comes Assassination TO de. !"
troy the guilty plight The papers are D D
'aded down with the matter. There is :" ;"
OF hamlet or rancho on the continent =!
which this sore of depravity is not u,
bout to drop its ichor. u
Is it to be taken as thing settled, tben a,
lat our great daily journals of news, and r.
u our weekly papers, and all moral and :
'iigious newspapers, are to report the 81
hole news of the criminal calander, and q,
! the shame of corrupt society What
ID Is gained by a long and minute dis
osufe OF the secrets of iniquity /! 1t
QUA seem as If the rivalry of papers
as not a sufficient reason for maxine III
EN- the common sewers of human de. al
avlty. The prurient details of divorce Sc
ses at disgusting length req itious col. u
ms OF news from the prize fighters m'
lg' the police court reports, the details WI
salaclous scandal, and the hateful his. III
RES of disipated life, in which men are WI
n, no one knows how, tester in loatb- !
me vices, and break forth in disgraceful ga
mes-must we have this stream Of WI
mnation passing through onr families o.
'rnlng alter morning, or else go without KIT
beneflt OF papers that have become we
Indispensable element of civilization ven
there is any moral end to be gained loo
VIII submit to the pain and nausea so'
we have failed to see any argument pet
cred for such course, excent the Leg
tement that it is the province of n OF
Vspaper to chronicle all public events syc
lch the public wish to read. Has "a the
gpaper right to promote prurient Gu put
'lty to cultivate a barbarous taste . IRE
'ander to appetites which all men con. gus
an? '''o" eo''- fav,
consider how universal are newspancrs anu
They penetrate every nook . uu'
corner of society. No other element e .ne
covers has such sphere. The pulpit ' e,'s
court, the lecture, compared with the , t,as
spaper, touch society in but few pla- u ,uat
lhenewspaper in the United States WIZ, VIII
niversal. 1t reaches within and with. a nen
from surface to core /; it travels every t anu
re- Is bought by everybody, read by . .ne
'lasses, and is wholly or nearly the :; an !;
reading of more than half our nom. ! IS
n Its service to good morals and n oLiu
,telllgence among the people is meal ~ 49, ~
Die. All the Libraries of Europe are MOI"
'f as much service to the nations of "a va1 ~.
lpe as the neWSnaner is IN fiji; $780, thoii