The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1874-02-01
Morning Star and Catholic Messenger.
HHw ORLEANS. SUNDAY. FEBRUARY l, 1874,
Another Revolution Proposed.
SOME OF THE THOUSAND EVILS FLESH IS
HEIR TO.

Thackeray, in one of the delightful little
essays he was wont to scatter SO profusely
through his stories, points out the epor-
NOUS power of little things. The novelist
was specially illustrating their force in tue
household, as factors in making the happi-
the dignity of great calamities or great
sorrows, and, with q certain large mastery
of their natures, bow with submission and
patience. But the minor, teasing things of
life, the small antagonisms, the petty
irritations, the disturbances that arise from
causes too insignificant to Acknowledged
is these experiences that fret the brain and
nerves, as dropping water wears away the
marble, and render 80 many conditions of
life almost intolerable.
There has been q great deal of force and
enthusiasm expended in the name Of
liberty. Revolutions have risen, martyrs
have fallen, tyrants have been overcome,
society has been convulsed, all to secure
political boon which we have assumed to
be Indispensable to our personal dignity,
our happiness, and our welfare: And yet
how little government, even in despotic
countries, touches the individual person
ally! Men not aspiring to political careers
have pursued the even tenor of their labors,
rarely knowing by actual experience
whether they were ruled by king or
parliament /; whether the voice of the whole
or the authority of an individual presided
over affairs. And yet we know how
the world has been repeatedly convulsed
by the struggles of people to assert what Is
but little more than an abstract principle,
while all the time their real felicities have
things, which they have left uuheeded or
submitted to with patience. We have had
religious revolutions and political revolu-
tions, but have never organized revolu.
tion to reform many things in domestic and
every day life that have really made up the
or ,t,s Nf fIund
Whether tea should or should not be
taxed, possibly involved u very high prin-
ciple, but wlrat was it to the question, con-
sidered as to our practical comfort, whether
our neighbor shall or shall not empty his
ash-barr What was it to the question
now before us, whether we shall be per
mitted to buy real tea, or only iron filingsS
But let us assume that taxation in tea, and
all other acts of unlawful authority, inv olive
all the important issues they are believed
to do, these high principles are at least
settled; our liberty is established, with the
stars and stripes floating from our liberty
poles; 80 let us, having no other king to
overthrow, consider some of those social
tyrannies and minor evils thnt daily affect
our personal comfort and peace of mind,
and which q popular uprising ought to ex
tinguish.
1t is presumably the privilege of the free
and independent citizen of this great re-
public to walk the streets of the city where
he abides, Or even the city where he is n
guest, without fear of man. The law can
not interfere with his rightful pursuits,
and the law is bound to protect him in his
the browning glory of liberty. But the law
fails to protect him from hundred
nuisances that render the pursuit Of his
r1ghtfui purposes very great veNation.
Why, for instance, must ubiquitous ashmen
be permitted to gather their refuse &C all
H,nn Df ox,I Of t1,air r,ln
cover his well-brushed coat with the flying
contents of their recklessly emptied bar.
relsf Let us have a revolution that will
compel ash and garbage gathering to be
done at night.
But, when the ashmen neglect to dust
his clothes in this fashion, the street.
sweepers are toleraly sure to perform the
operation for him. The treet-sweepers
are popularity supposed to make use of the
watering cart before beginning their tasks,
but usually the preliminary sprinkling is
tradition, and the clouds of dust that are
lungs, ard arrested by our linen and broad
cloth, bear witness to our much suffering
from the fragrant disregard Of our rights.
The method and the processes employed
for the sweeping of our streets are exasper-
Ating enough to put every citizen into hos
tile attitude against the powers that be.
Let us have a revolution that will compel
street-sweeping to be done at proper
hours, under proper restrictions, and by
methods that have in view the rights and
comforts of the people.
Sometimes there is rain. In winter there
is frequently snow. Two wellknown
facts, but we state them for reasons. Now,
whether We have rain or snow, we are ex-
posed to hundred annoyances from a
chronic disregard of our privileges as citi-
Eens of a free republic. One man permits
his water spout to go unrepaired, and it
deluges every unsuspectipg passer-by
Another permits the accumulated snow to
remain on his sidewalk, which, in thaw,
accommodates us with wet feet, and when
frozen dislodges us from our perpendicular.
The streets often remain for days nearly
impossible after snow, even while we
have an expensive machinery under the
city government for cleansing and keeping
our thoroughfares in order. We want o
revolution that win compel both citizens
and officials to regard the rights and welfare
Of the community in this particular.
Shall We go on and enumerate the many
minor matters which affect our comfort 80 |
essentially, and yet which are so common
~ AinraUarda1 va not oil Rpouy