Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1873-06-19

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POLITICAL CAMPAIGNS.
One among the many privileges afforded by
such a government as that of the United
States, is that the people are permitted by the
Constitution to elect their own officers. 1t
must be evident that such form of govern
ment, when this rights properly used, possesses
decided advantages over government IN
which the chief magistracy is hereditary. In
all hereditary governments, the ruled may be
afflicted for years by worthless and wicked
chief. 1t matters not what may be the char
acter or capabilities of the heir to the chief
position in the government, he is born to be
ruler and it matters not whether he was born
with the endowments of ruler or not. For
one generation, or during the life time of one
sovereign, the people may be governed very
we'll; but during the life time of his son, the
subjects may be grievously oppressed. In
such government as the United States, if
the people are oppressed with bad or incom-
petent officers, they themselves are to blame
The choice of all the most important officers,
either directly or indirectly, is in their own
hands. individuals are placed in office, not
on the ground that their ancestors were off,
GERS but by the votes of the majority of the
people.
This is certainly great privilege. The peo-
pie hold the reins of the government in their
own hands. There is no necessity that bad men
should get into office; or should they succeed
in obtaining important official positions, there
is no necessity that they should remain in
them. The people have it in their power to
remove, in a very short time, the highest Off
cial and degrade him to the rank of an humble
citizen, and the people have it also in their
power to exat the humblest citizen to the
highest position in the government.
1t will be evident to any one, at least upon
little reflection, that the people of the United
States are, by the Constitution, sovereign.
The mass of the people constitute the ruler.
Now, as one single individual may become
corrupt, and instead of ruling with wisdom
and prudence, may exercise his hereditary au-
thority and power so as to oppress the ruled
and impoverish the country, so the people
may become corrupt and may so rule them
selves that they may groan under their self
imposed burdens.
In government like ours, several things
are needed. There is needed intelligence of "a
high order, generally and thoroughly dissem-
mated amongst the masses. There is also
needed healthy state of morals. No people
which is ignorant or immoral, can safely en-
joy or rightly exercise the privileges which
the people of the United States are granted
by the Constitution. Hence designing men,
fully aware of the ignorance and vice Of the
masses, by scheming, often obtain the highest
and most important positions within the gift
of the people. These bad men are the indexes
of the mass of the people. They are the rep
resentatives of the people in every sense. If
the multitude of officials are bad men, it ar
CUES that the multitude Of the people are bad.
1t may be said that party politics have
something to do with bad men obtaining office.
This is readily admitted. The people, in the
heat of political campaigns, forget the power
they hold in their hands; but this only shows
the corruption of the masses Of the people.
The wire-working which is often resorted to
during these political campaigns is proof Of
the want of intelligence and moral rectitude
amongst those for whom these traps are set.
If the people understood their rights and had
the moral courage to assert them, these nets
would not be set for them. Political CAM
paigns are predcated upon the fact that the
people can be influenced to sell or misuse their
privileges. The notion is firmly fixed in the
minds of the leaders Of these campaigns, that
the people are ignorant and can be fooled,
and that they are corrupt and can be bribed.
SOUTH CAROLINA NEWS.
Peaches are selling at fifty cents per dozen
in Charleston.
j. Eli Gregg, Esq, prominent citizen of
Marion county, died at Mars Bluff on Sun
day last
Planters in Marlboro and Sumter are
paying from $3.50 to s5 per acre for hands to
clean their cotton.
"A new engine for the Charlotte, Colum-
bia and Augusta Railroad, was received in
Columbia few days ago.
Rev. Tilman r. Gaines has been appoint
ed agent for the sale of lots at the embryo
city of Port Royal.
Il. Cass Carpenter, formerly editor of the
Union, and sheriff Yocum, of Chester, left
Columbia last week for Europe.
Small pox has appeared in the neighbor-
hood of Florence, on the Wilmington and
Columbia railroad.