Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1873-03-19
Abused ~Ieglalatares.

Abused .sglslatures.
Tho Twcaty-Scventh General As.
sembly OF the State Of Missouri
promises 10 provoke the usual amoun,
Of hostile criticism from the mouth.
pieces Of the minority, backed up by
what seems to IT'S an undue share Of
grumblitg on the part oil many claim.
ing to be representative Democrats.
The habit Of systematic growing At
public u%nctioaaries Is not peculiar TO
Americans, but tho unreasonable ex.
tent to which we as a people carry II
IL not only ridiculous, but is positive.
ly mischievous. Persist for any cor.
siderable length OF time in general
and indiscr,minate abuse ofany mar,
aud IL YOU do not thereby secure for
him the sympathtes Of people, there
will at least be cugcndcred q general
Indifference to accusations against
him. What has been the effect of the
universal dcuunciation of Ben. But
Ter? That doughty demagoguc is
to-day, confcsscdly, the most influen.
tiai man In congress, aud snaps his
fingers contemptuously in the face OF
tho entire newspaper world. He
fsels. and justly, too, that he has a
-nrte blanche TO scheme and act as
%corruptiy as he chooses, since in his
case, the press by injudicious use has
btunted every weapon by which, i,
properly directed, his prcsumptuous
~rascality might have been punished
and checked. What is true of Ben.
Butler aud individuals of his ilk,
applies also to various legislative
bodies collectively. When such bodies
assemble, it is understood before
hand that their acts will be indis-
criminately condemned by tho press
OF the party iu the minority, and
legislators reason among themselves
that there is no need of any p~articu-
lar scrupies in their operations, since
they r to be equally abused for
them, whether good or bad. The
unboundcd license of abuse INDUCED
in by the generality of newspapers,
undoubtedly defeats what should be
enc Of the main objects of a free
press, viz: the exposure and proven
ton of official misdoing. In England,
where they manage things better,
officers recognize their responsibility
(" the public, and when arraigned by
the press for misconduct, are com.
PEELED to vindicatc themselves before
i''cir constituents. They do not dare
to remain silent under charges affect
ing their characters as honest men
and faithful officers. Nor, on the
other hand, is the press permitted to
indulgei in loose sweeping accusations
without being held to o strict &C.
countability therefor. Consequently.
the public sentiment of the country
responds promptly to the criticisms
Of newspapers, and regards it as an
indictment to which parties accused
must plead ''guilty" or "not guilty."I
Let the London Times, the Morning
Post or other of the leading papers
intimate that all Hon. Member OF
Parliament has been guilty of bri5ery
or corruption Of any kind, and moth
lag more is necessary to provoke o
thorough investigation of the matte,
hy the proper authorities. How diff
ferent the state of things which exists
i'll this country. Here, no sooner is a
legislative body assembled than num-
crous one-horse slandering machines,
with which, as the late Mr.. Greeley
said, an inscrutable providence has
seen fit to curse this land begin
throwing out injurious insinuations,
which gradually develop into
open charges of incompetcncy and
corruption. These charges may
or may not have foundation
in fact, but most generally |
are entirely groundless. The result,
however, is the same; it is not long
before people cease to pay any regard
whatever to them, and when more
honest and considerate representa-
'ives of the press endcavor to direct
I.ublic attention to the dclinquencies
of officials, they find their efforts arc
dIisregarded OIL account of the contin-
nous and senselcss gable ofirrcspon-
sihle sensation papers.
Already the legislature now in ses-
sion at Jefferson City has been de-
nounccd in various parts of the State
rs incompetent, profligate and cor
rupt; and those d%cnunciations are rot
confined to Radical papers, but GER
tain nominally Democratic sheets fill
their columns with abuse of Demo-
cratic representatives. In everything
they do, there's somebody to see ras-
cality, and consequently, if occasion
should arise for newspaper interior
ence to protect the state against i'll
furious legislation, there will be no.
body to give heed to just complaints.
Our present legislature doubtless is
not tho wisest collection of law
makers ever assembled, and being for
the most part inexperienced it isuot to
he expected of them to dispatch bust
ness with the facility of old parlia-
mentarians. But for common dcccn-|
cy's sake, let us give them credit for
heing actuated by pure motives, at
least until the contrary is shown. No
man or set of men do their work bet
ter for being all the time grumbled
at. We arc willing to believe our
representatives are doing the best
they can, and until we see good evil
dence TO the contrary, shall not feel
called upon to denonnce them as q
pack OF imbecilcs and rascals.
The newspapers Of Berlin, Prussia,