Columbia Democrat and Bloomsburg general advertiser. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1850-1866, 1865-12-23

land with confusion and misery without
delay import into those t,Co States at least
one million Of those homeless destitute
creatures in order that they may be cared
for by those who ought to consider them
selves their natural protectors under exist.
ing circumstances
Another fearful sign of the times is the
general dem oralizatiou which we find
meeting us on every side. 1t may, indeed,
be said that "iniquity abounds," and yet
what Indifference there is to the increase
OF crime. The press teens with murders,
frauds, defalcatons, robberies, SABBATH
desecration, drunkenness, basphemy, and
general lawlessness. Some tell US that
this is the necessary result Of increase Of
population, but that cannot be. We have
lost more men by the war than we have
gained by emigration. Not is in q great
measure owing to the four years OF blight.
ing, desolating hostlitcs through which
we have passed in which all the evil pas
sions of men,aud l blu'h to say,of women,
too, have been called into action and kept
in constant play, and which have so COM
pletely gained the mastery over us as 10
refuse now to be allayed This alarming de.
moralization runs through all grades of ESQ,
ciety. Who does not know that in our leg
islative halls we are largely represented
by corrupt and venal men, and that it is an
understood and accepted fact that in many
cases it is but necessary to offer bribe
sufficiently large 10 order to have your
point carried ? The ballot box, of which
we boast so much, is rotten to the core,
aud our independence, in which we appear
10 glory, is little more than farce. 1t
is fact, as patent as the MONDAY sun,
that free Americans can be, and are
bought upon election days as readily as
you can buy sheep in the market, and
that the party which has the most IN oney
is the winning one. The tyrant too, who
employs labor will compel his employees
to vote in the vay to suit himself, or dis
charge them from their places. And this
employer calls himself free American
"a lover and promoter Of civil aud relig-
ioas freedom ! Aud the mon who thus
obey his behests are called frcemen, and
challenge the world to admire the liberty
of thanking and acting Tor themselves,
which the institutions Of their country
guarantee to thoml Am | wrong in de-
nouncing this so-caled freedom as a farce
when such things can Oo cited as facts
What significance, tao, has the common
expression which many of you have heard,
Gle can be approached. ." What does it
mean, but that the man is in the market
and up Tor the highest bid My hearers
if we do not awake to full sense Of our
danger, we will be swept by this tide o.
averoe, of grasping cupidity, which is wi
dening aud decpuiug every day, into the
maelstrom Of irrecoverablc ruin, And
then, too, let US see what is the stye, aut
what the char 'cter of the men who art
selected to represent US in the law making
as well as 10 the executive departments
What is the first question? Not, els hC
a man of great moral worth-ol spotles:
integrity and unflinchng courage in the
discharge of his duty-of the proper intel
lectual calibre or educational fitness ?
Alas, it is ouly, els he available q! Car
we by any means, fair or foul elect him 2
Hence it is that the variest dolts ant
most illiterate Of men are elected to FL
places for which they have not one quail
fcatiop, unless il be to receive pay fo
their votes. Look 10 upon your councils
BY whom are those seats filled? b
your best cltizens-your experienced ant
staid men our most honorable and ca
pabie inaUciurs-men whom every citz9
would be proud to call cur city fathers
not on account Of their eminent qua(lfea-
tons and fitness for place But alas
this is not the case. In many instance
half dedged and not half educated, young
aud inexperienced men, who have nothin
at stake and nothing to lose but every
+ thing to gain, and who very rarely hav
the moral courage to resist the outsid
pressure brought to bear upon them, whe
for example a pet scheme Tor contracts
before the people, aud who can be ar
prOachsI-such say, are the person
elected to fill Offices Of public trust anon
US. Then, again, look in upon the Con
gress of the United States of to-day an
compare it, if you have sufficient temeritS
with that of thirty years ago Call up t
your remembrance the mighty men, til
: Intellectual giants who then composed thl
: body -nen oil sterling worth, OF uniu
y peachable integtlty-meu, the dash