The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1873-08-09
OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.


OUR WASHINGTON LETTER.
WARRINGTON, d. G., August ., 1873.
EDITOR CHIEF:
Livery patriot, every lover of his
race, and every truly honest man, he
he Republican, Democrat or Liberal,
is opposed to official corruption. l
think it would not be far from the
truth to say every man in this broad
land is, ut heart, opposed to filing our
positions of public trust and honor
with men who would steal. No one,
can wish for all men to be thieves
and scoundrels. On the contrary,
every rejecting man must wish from
the bottom Of his heart that his fellow
beings were all upright and pure.
Every thinking person knows that if
such were the fact, this life would be
u paradise as compared with the pres
ent struggle for existence in which
nine out Of every ten in the business
world will get the best end of the bar
gain in q trade if they can. We are
all more or less selfish and although
in theory We believe in justice, truth
and right, we all come short Of acting
up to our best convictions.
This selfish principle within us rem
ders us liable to temptation, and in
our anxiety to swim safely over the
waves of fortune we forget that we
are crowdlng other souls down into
the depths Of poverty and wretched-
ness. We are almost sure to discover
this disposition in Others before We
see it in ourselves. We are slow to
recognize and acknowledge our own
faults. 1t is in that class who in some
way represent our own interests that
we discover such faults most readily.
Hence it is that government officials,
who represent the interests of all, be-
come the target of all. Their deeds,
exposed to public view, become so
prominent, if bad, that we are apt to
forget the many who are similarly dis
posed in our own community in rRi-
vatc life.
A few mistakes in the popular &C.
lection of officers, few examples of
official corruption, almost invariably
suggest the propriety Of organizing a
new political party in which none but
pure minded men are to be selected
for office, and each party in its turn
finds its ranks polluted with vicious
recruits hungry for aplace in the pub
lie service. Is it not about time for
us to learn that honest officials are
not made to order by political ma
chinery7 Is it not manifest if we
want honest public servants, the hon
est citizens at home must be promi-
nent among the choosersi What can
we expect in the way of reform so
long as our primary meetings are con-
trolled, as they almost invariably are,
by little knot Of professional Office
seekers No change of party names,
no amount of professions, no we'll
worded platforms, are ever going to
remedy these evils so long as the solid
masses.of the country arc not part and
parcel of the actual machinery as well
as the source Of power in our poll
ties.
We must cultivate a higher sense
Of honor in our private relations if we
would witness the same in public life.
So long as we make the Goulds, the
Fisks and the Vanderbilts the sub
jects of f1attery and distinction in pri-
yate life we may expect to see such
characters in high places officially.
But when we learn to frown dishon-
esty, injustice and corruption out of
existence in our home circles, it will
require no New Departures and Flu
sions of political parties to insure
purity, patriotism and honor in the
public service. One of the most pow
e1ful means of improvement in these
particulars, so far as united public ac-
ton is concerned, is to be found in