The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1871-06-27
INDEPENDENCE IN POLITICS.

The very idea of republic presupposes that
it is the duty no less than the right of every
citizen to take an active interest in the admin
istration of the government. Those who by
the habitual neglect of their duties allow the
doors to be opened wide for corruption in
every shape are scarcely less blamable than
those who take advantage of their neighbors
negligence to WELD the powers of the State for
their own individual benefit. The man of
business who enjoys all the advantages that
q free government can afford for the accumu-
lation of wealth at least owes it to himself
and to his posterity that his influence shall be
given in favor of liberty, law, and Justice, so
far as is possible, by showing an intelligent
interest in politics; and those who neglect
their duties in this matter are enemies to
society, no matter how honorable and
virtuous their private lives may be. If
it were possible to do so, every
citizen who possesses the right
of suffrage should be compelled to exercise
it, and it should be considered disgraceful to
shirk duty upon the proper performance of
which the safety, honor, and welfare of society
depend. 1t is not only citizens duty to vote,
however, but it is his duty to vote. intelli
gently. When man arrives at the age of
one-and-twenty years, it is time for him to
dispassionately consider to what extent
his peculiar opinions are the results
merely of education, or are based
upon sound principles that commend
themselves to his impartial judgment. A
man who is Republican or Democrat merely
because his father was one before him is only
dead weight in politics, and his principal
use is to balance an equal amount of stupidity
on the other side. man who affiliates with
certain political party, and who, havin 6
made his choice, sticks to it through all its
vicissitudes, no matter how much the
times may have changed or
the ideas which once gave it
vitality may have become obsolete, is little
more than a tool in the hands of political
traders who do not hesitate to prostitute
the greatest principles if they can obtain SO
much ready cash by SO doing. 1t is not only
essential for citizen to choose particular
class of political ideas to which he may give
his adhesion, but also for him to narrowly
watch the changes that are continually
taking place, which bring new ideas
to the surface, and which frequently
make party names the merest burlesques.
Political parties are necessary, not merely for
the aids they afford for keeping the ma
chinery of government in motion, but for the
opportunities they offer for the discussion
of political principles and for preserving the
balance of power, but mere blind partisanship
is as contemplate in an educated newspaper
reading citizen of a free country as is the
intriguing and wire-pulling of the trading
politicians who seek to take advantage of it
for the promotion of their own ends.
At every election every citizen has, to q
greater or less extent the control of the re-
suit, and each one sho uld vote with the same
sense of responsibility as if he knew that his
ballet would be decisive. A man who is fiji
at all to exercise the right of suffrage owes il
to himself, TO the community of which he is a
member and to the cause of popular liberty
to seriously ask himself how the
interests of the public at large and
of himself in his relations as
citizen of great nation may
best be served, and then, having fully made uI
his mind, to cast his ballot as his best judg
ment and conscience may dictate, If ever!
citizen did this, party lines might prosabl.
be as distinctly drawn as they are now, seem
ingly antagonistic principles and interest
would marshal men into opposing ranks, bu
political contests would cease to be mer
games of chance between rival aspirants TO
office, and the opinions and wishes of thepeoplt
would be represented in oar municipal, State
and National Governments in very differen
manner from at present. Let it be an assures
thing that majority of the voters cannot b
relied upon to follow the lead of certain poll
ticiars who arrogate to themselves the func
tions Of party managers, and the scamps VIII