The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1869-05-07

i From tie New York Mercantile journal
4 WORD IN SEASON,

rccfcd to the Tendencies visible in the
poIitico socialmanagemcnt ofthccountry.
We teach our children that they have
been born under free Republican Gov
ernment, and that all have equal rights,
and an equal chance to acquire wealth,
and the honors Of the State. We aattcr
the masses BY continually telling them
that in them, and them alone, resides the
sovereignty Of the government, and that,
no matter what evil may betide, they
have it in their power to apply the i'm
mediate corrective, We proclaim to the
world that this system Of ours is the best
eyer devised by man, since it secures
liberty, happiness, and prosperity, in
tranquility, and that properly administer
ed. it is the cheapest, as well as the most
perfectly balanced form of government
Pyopcyly administered the proviso sug-
gcsted in the last sentence applies 10 all.
That granted, the rest is plainly a mat
ter Of course. The excellence Of our
written system cannot be contcntcd, and
the universal prosperity enjoyed until the
period of our civil war was guarantee
of what could have pcrpetratcd by wise
administration, conducted on the prin-
ciplcs that inspired and animated the
fathers-of the Republic.
But, we have fallen upon evil days in
this respect. Cliques, 'rings," knots,
and select circles Of men by the weight
of capital, audacity, and what is termed
Influence" (Which means species of
social and business terroism), do as alb
solutey control the country as ever did
the combinations of fcudal barons hold
away in the Old World, during the grow
ing years of the Middle Ages. There is
no intelligent observer who fails to see,
or attempts seriously to deny this and,
more than that, the toiling masses of the
people feel it in every loaf of bread, or
ell Of cloth they have to purchase. They
are not, indeed, ascriptac glebae-bound
over withthe soil-in parchment, deeds,
or royal rescripts, transferring small do
mains or mighty provinces with equal
GOODNESS, but they are subjected by the
circumstances of life that assimilate the
necessities of their condition to the serf-
dom of yore, and they know what pinches
them.
The community is not, then, unaware
ofthe bare faced disregard of every other
consideration but self interest, which is
the animus of transactions occurring daily |
before our eyes. They know that Off
ces and privileges are bought and sold ;
that the popular preference and the pub
lie welfare are dcfed; that even the sa
crcdncss of the ballot both is shamefully
invaded, and that remonstranccs is treat
cd with silent dcrision. The consequent
ces they have beheld in the stagnation
Of trade, and the impoverishmcnt of the
multitude, in the midst Of a smiling land,
teeming with agricultural and mineral
wealth. The future they foresee like
great black cloud oversprcading fair
horizon, and slowly, but surely, creep
ing to the zenith. Yet, by the effect of
a moral phenomenon, PECULIAR and " on
derfuI in the history of the world, the
nation, like man drugged and stupe-
fed, lies prone and motionlcss, an unrc
sisting, if not willing prey to those
who despoil it.
And is there TO be no rescue from this
decline We have been so wonderful
ly favored as people, by Providence;
we have been so accustomed, in former
periods of our national life, to see
s'things set themselves right )" We have
been, in fine, such petted children of for
tune, that most of us have wrapt the man
tie of Indifference around us, and slept on,
trusting to the good genius of America,
or some other vague abstraction not re-
cognized in the Divine arrangement of
cause and effect.
But, already has this dream of false
serenity been rudely broken. Panic
and notification were the first shocks it
received, and, at last, came the tolling,
long and loud, of that terrible "fire-bell
in the night" which summoned the PEG.
pie of the North and the South to mu-
tual slaughter.
Did our greatest dangers close :here +?
Are they buried in the graves, still
green, that stretch from the Potomac to
the Gulf Have all the evil vapors
been dispelled by that long shower of
blood and fire
There are solemn questions for each
patriotic citizen to ask himself, as we'll
as his neighbor, and the sooner they are
answered satisfactorily, the better for
our generation.
It's the high privilege of the journal
ist TO stand on a watch tower, whence
the fields of opinion, as well as of fact,
are all open to his view; and tits his du-
~, With all the ability that is in him, to
give others the benefit of his informa-
tion. With such consciousness upon
us, to day, VIC express the firm convic-
ton that unless the year now passing be
signalized by the dawnings of new
spirit Of inquiry on the part of the
American people, and widespread gen.
sraI agitation of opinion against the
buses that are clogging our whole ma
Ehinerv of government, and thence de-