Idaho semi-weekly world. (Idaho City, Boise County, Idaho Territory) 1867-1868, 1868-03-18

| ali whom poEt11anGn1P Q066 not renuel
blind. The theory Il a. simple rs the
practice is manifest IN proportion q
suifrags q pxte,aea8 doHnwerdA the
|amount Of igporanee and prejudice il
tie aRRfe8afe votisg bod is increased
with ne direct consequence that politi
clans will become more and more dem
agogues-men who appeal to ignorance
and 'preiudice and not. 70 knowledge
and reason. There is no escape from
this tendency or IT. result. The pro
gress;, like that of stream, may be
swift or slow and sometimes tortuous,
but the natural goal will be attained
as inevitably as that stream seeks and
finds the sea. Who can doubt that
the public mind is becoming more and
more educated to the idea of submit
ting to the rule not of the worst neces-
sarily, but Of the coarsest and lowest
intelligencein the community I A short
time since the two individuals who, in
their official capacities, we must recog-
nize as the foremost men of the nation.
had o difference. A correspondence en-
sued between them, afterwards officially
submitted to the United States Senate,
in which each practically gave the other
the lie. This correspondence has been
published throughout the country. 1t
has been accompanied by direct charges
of habitual drunkenness against both
parties in the controversy, eachof whom
stands in the position Of being . candi-
date for the Presidency. These charges
and counter-charges, emanating, as they
respectively do, from bitter political
foes. we would gladly disbelieve. That.
however, to which we would call atten-
ton, and which is equally pertinent.
whether these allegations are true or
false, is the apparent insensibility of
the public mind to the shockingness of
the situation. The most exalted per-
sonages of the nation are charged with
two Of the grossest vices that can dis
grace o gentleman; yet no one seems to
think either that this will or ought to
affect their chances for the Chief Magis-
tracy of the nation, or that it is worth
while to have any investigation with q
view to determine the facts.
An optimism prevails, even among
the more intelligent classes Of the coun-
try, that is fraught with peril. A pros
perity that was partly the resultant Of
previous political forces, and partly
that Of physical advantages, has been
mistakenly attributed to the perfection
of o system. Because the machine has
run on through thick and thin tolerably
well fora time, it is supposed that II
will never run down. It has gone ut q
rapid pace during the last ten years,
and itis assumed that, as it can scarcely
be put to . seyerer strain, its strength
and permanency may be regarded as as
sured. But it remains TO be seen wheth-
er this very acceleration has not hurried
the country to crisis that might 9TH
erwise have been deferred. Ii has GER
tainly hastened it toward the adoption
Of those leveling principles Of universal
equality which are the logical ultimates
of our system. That we have not yet
completely solvedourproblem. has prob
ably been due to certain Partially or
incompleteness in its terms; but we are
likely soon to be in . position to know
whether the greatest good Of the great
est number can really be brought about
by themselves.