The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1869-01-13
The Public Generalization.

The UNITED STATES E~coNoMIsT, a COM
mercial paper that uniformly sustained the
late war and the course of the Abolition adj
ministration in commencing and continuing
it, has come to the conclusion that the war,
instead of the good it was believed by the
loyal to be, was a curse of ifreparable mag
nitude. That paper confesses that at no
period in the history of the country has
there been such a general and utter depra-
walton OF public morals as now exists, and
summarizes the present condition. The
rights OF property and of person, the obliga-
lions of truth and the a~acredness of social Vir.
tue appear to be losing their Wonted hold up
on the public mind; and as a people we arc
rushing into a condition OF social anarchy
and casting sway all the bonds that hold
society in healthy cohesion. The evidences
OF this deplorable tendency are apparent on
every hand. Chine abounds everywhere.
Shooting has become a common method Of
aVenging the most trivial wrongs; and every
day brings its list of brutal murders, COM
mitted for the sordid object of acquiring a
paltry amount of pelf or to satisfy an un-
bridled passion for revenge. In the South,
we have a society, with extensive ramniica.
tinns, the object of which Is to a~ssassinate
citizens On account of their political opin-
ions; and even whole districts are subjected
to plumber and murder for weeks by an or
ganized "militia, - without semblance of
law or authority. In the North We have
voters corrupted by tens of thousands to
carry the elections by fraud. The young
men of the country are corrupted by the in
ordinate thirst Of wealth and the extrava-
ganee of private expenditure, and as the
consequence are resorting to forgery and
defrauding their employers, to an alarming
extent. The revenue officers of the Cow
ernmsnt are shown, by constantly occurring
revelations, tO.be little better than an army
of plunderers, enriching themselves by col
lusions with fraud and robbizg the -tax-pay.
ers to the extent of untold millions every
year. Even our largest capitalists, who
from their great wealth might be assumed
to be above any d~ishonorable expedients, are
found using their positions in the manage
ment of large corporations for the purpose
of augmenting their private fortune, at the
expense of the stockholders and of the in
terests they hold in trust. Wrongs of this
character have now become so common,
that transactions which ten years ago would
have consigned their authors to infamy are
regarded as shreWd financiering and excite
but q passing remark; a fact which striking
ly shows how the general moral sentiment
of the public has deteriOrated.
This ~dpplorable condition of thlngs-as
our cotemporHry .admits-is to be regarded
as one of the natural consequence of the
late war. War, and especially civil war, is
essential baTbaFism. 1t is a barbaric method
of settling the question of civilization. The
same passions are called into operation, and
the same ~ascendsncy of brute force over
truth und right obtain, as in the case of wars
between barbaric races; and when hostilities
cease, the IaWless and violent habits Of the
public mind unconsciously run on in the
same direction, producing just the state of
things we are at present passing through.
AAosC DADdAC OOANOASAOS US INV IunnlAS
through every FamifcatiOH of our social life
and are retarding much more than we are
aware Of the progress of civilization. There
is danger that q remedy for this course of
things should be sought in increasing the
restrictive powers of the general govern
menti this, indeed, is more than q danger;
We see the result being actually accomplish
ed OF a large scale; but this is clearly not
the true remedy, but an aggravation of ex-
listing evils,