New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1870-10-22
now TO BE POLITICIANS.

cietieS where laborers assemble to discuss
the interests of their profession, there is :
constant incentive to thought and menta
progress All such societies meet with
our cheerful support We should be
pleased to know that each and every class
of laboring men in New Orleans had its
regular organization, and that the mem
bers We're sufficiently numerous and indie
pendent to support quiet and comfort
! able hall with good library in it. Sup
pose the carpenters and builders, who are
very numerous and thrifty in New Or
leans, had a meeting-room where they
could assem- BILE in the evening to discuss
the interests Of the business, and where,
when question of measurement, of sup
ports, of braces, of beams, or other
matter, came up, the difficulty could
| be settled by turning to the latest
| authority on the subject, either among
the older heads OF the profession Or in the
newest book on the subject. Hundreds
| OF young mechanics would have a place
to spend their evenings at with profit to
| themselves. Married men, too, who now
| 90 to the corner grocery and pass the
time by TAX ing sociable drink, would
| save their M oney and improve their leisure
hours in the company Of intelligent crafts
men or Of readable. books and papers.
There are five or ten thousand carpenters
in this city, and they no doubt have some
kind of an association, but we have never
heard that they had library, or even
meeting room. Suppose. too, that the
shoemakers had such place, where they
could meet and discuss the wants and in
terests of their profession, instead of be-
ing called together, as they were on
Thursday night, to be lectured by Small
wood and Johnson into kind of fever
about mattd rs which they can not rectify
except in given way.
Every me chanical profession that has a
responsible standing in New Orleans
ought to ha i've reading room and lyceum.
The memb ers who are too domestic to
spend their evenings at such places could
nevertheless make use of tie Lyceum as
resort to meet their friends on occasion.
and there also they could rely upon find
ing such books and such information as
every man sometimes wants in the course
Of his weeks work. Besides, it would
afford place for the interchange Of
thought and suggestion, which never
comes amiss in this world of activity and
intelligence. Fathers who are raising
sons to be mechanics, and employers who
are instructing apprentices, would have
place at which they could trust their
charges, satisfied that nothing immoral
would be seen, and nothing intoxicating
would be sold. How many inventors
might New Orleans turn out, and how
many fortunes might her children amass
if they only had the appliances to study
scientific mechanics as it is printed and
illustrated in the organs of the trade. 1t
is now almost impossible to find in the
city a reliable Or recent book on any of
the subjects that engage the attention of
our artisans
When mechanics of any class assemble
to discuss politics as branch of their
profession, they make a mistake. And
sad one, at that, for themselves, for they
are only playing a game which some
shrewd old office-hunter is watching to
take advantage of. Politics is greatly
misunderstood by the great mass of
people. Almost every man believes he is
fit to be a politician, and he not only
votes himself to be entirely competent to
run the State, but he is willing to trust
any of his neighbors to do the same thing.
This is great mistake. 1t is the most |
serious error into which the otherwise
clear-headed people Of this country ever
fell. Politics is a profession, and in pro-
viding for it's conduct society should be
more careful than it is in selecting law
yer doctor or a matchmaker, because |
the politician has to make laws to protect |
against the unfaithful lawyer,
doctor or matchmaker. If all the trades |
had reading rooms at which the members
attended for their mental improvement,
the craftsmen would soon learn that the |
evils in legislation about which they COM
plain so much do not spring from politics.
but from the want of it. A badly mended !
watch is never reported as the work
Of matchmaker, but of botch and so
It is with good and bad government.
Character is the main thing in politics. as
t is in every other trade. If politician
S reliable and trustworthy in private life,
here is no great danger Of his doing much
Evil in office but if he is unsafe in his !
personal relations, and if he is not q re-
liable adviser in general matters. there
ire great and overwhelming objections to
lis being fastened on the public as
POLITICIAN Mechanics ought to do one
hing, and that is to forget that they are
. class. Politics is designed for the bene-
it of all; and the laborer or the professional
nan who sets himself up as entitled to en-
oy its benefits is just the man to be
wooded. He develops selfshness III his
.gotistic claim, and whether he is shoe
maker, like Mr.. Mueller, or whether he is
. Democratic mouthpiece, like Mr.. Small
wood, he ought to be discountenanced