Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1874-08-28
Political Common Sense.

Political Common Sense.
When human nature attains per-
lection we may look for political
party without faults. The best Or
ganized ever devised by man has had
its weak points. Even the church,
an organization where purity and ex-
cellcncc should be found, ifanywhere
on earth, has its shadows which at
times darkens the light Of it's holy
teachings. Yet no ore abandons
the church because few of it's fol
lowers prove unworthy of its name
and become stumbling blocks in the
path Of religious truth; few fall but
many press Oh, holding aloft the
standard oftruth. The ignorant and
vicious may sheer at the church be-
cause its robes covers at times hyp-
ocrite and rascal, but the intelligent
and virtuous look, not to the one who
disgraces himself by falling short of
his profession, but to the ninety and
nine who adds to its glory by living
upright and Christian lives. What
we apt to call the faults of the church
are simply the shortcomings of a few
Of its members. The church is no
more responsible for them than the
sun is responsible for the clouds
that occasionally darken the earth.
Its teachings tends to elevate, purify,
and if practiced by all would trans
form world Of wickedness into
perfect garden of love, peace, and be-
nevolcnce. But in the face Of human
depravity we must accept things as
we find them. We must bear with
the faults of our neighbors, remem-
Der our own. We must do the best
we can. Perfection is out of our
reach-improvement within it. To
so live that by our example we shall
do good, elevate mankind, make the
earth better for our having lived
and acted, is the sum and substance
of mans duty to him self, his country,
and his God.
AS it Is with the church and all
moral organizations so it is with the
political parties. We must judge
them, i'll the aggregate, by the results
they produce on the community,
State and nation. 1t is possible for
bad men to creep into power in a
good party, and equally possible for
good men to be found within the
compass of bad party. There is
no rule known by which the one can
be kept o or the other prevented
from staying in. A thief may break
into sanctuary and despoil its altar;
a saint may labor in a prison in hopes
Of converting its inmates. We may
punish the one when caught, and
urge the other to extend his labor of
love, but the facts remain the same,
and can not well be changed. To
judge the Republican party by the
character f IA few rascals that have
been caught plunJering its altar
would be as just and sensible as to
sit in Judgment over the Creator be-
cause a few of his children had gone
astray. Never since the birth Of the
nation has party been as quick and
willing to investigate whatever had
the appearance of wrong, and.to pun
ish with even-handed justice the
wrong-doer, as the republican party.
1t has carried this spirit of justice far
beyond the demands of political ne
cessity, and has been censured by its
own friends for prosecuting its inves-
LEGATIONS beyond the requirements of
its inveterate enemies. But it stands
justified before all men for the purity
of its intentions. 1t came into power
to watch over and preserve the Gov
eminent, and it has never lost sight
Of its original mission. We chal-
lan@e the political history of the
world for a party of equal merit; for
a party which has done so much to
elevate mankind and secure personal
liberty; for IA party that has left SO
broad an impress for justice and hui
manity Oh the civilization Of the age
in which it had existence. TO per-
nit ambitious politicians, soured
statesmen, or the open and avowed
enemies of the Republic to break up
this grand organization would be to
welcore-a calamity whose approach
would be ruin, whose presence would
be death to our peace and prosperity,
whose end no man is wise enough to
forecast. 1t matters little whether it
falls before the sword of Democracy
or goes down by the treacherous
blows of those it thought its friends;
its fall will be the samc-the break
ing down of the only loyal barrier
that guards the liberties Of the peo-
pie from the entertainment Of
that despotic power that oEce
held in the chains of slavery four
, million human beings.-RepubHc.