Herald and tribune. [volume] (Jonesborough, Tenn.) 1869-current, 1874-03-05

my iast' l VIII proceed 10 givo my views
upon the subject of qualification and ct,
ness for official position, and in order that
the reader may appreciate his response.
bility, | will say that whenever we cast
our vote for a man and thereby assist in
giving him position, we endorse his char
acter and are responsible for bis influence.
Let me repeat this thought, that it may
be properly understood. If the people
call a man from the quiet, obscure walks
of life and by giving him Office and pc.
siticu, give him an influence be did not
exert before, and that influence be evil,
those who aid in bis promotion are NOR.
ally responsible for the evil he may do.
However remotely we stand from the
crimes he may commit, we are particcps
crimini8.
We will also state that it is not every
good man that would make a.good officer.
We know not how to better express our
self on this point than to say, there should
be an adoptedness of the man to the Office.
A mar may have business capacity and
qualification and be unsuited to the par.
ticular Office he is seeking. 1t is clear
then that'men must be selected with a yi,w
to the Office they are expected to gil.
No proposition is clearer to my mind
than this, that no man should be elected
to any position of trust or honor, who is
himself a v%iolator of the law. Not only
should he keep the civil law, that he is
sworn to sustain and uphold-but be
should be required to refrain from the vi.
olation Of the moral law. If, as l have
said in a previous article. the Office hold.
ers of the county arc representative men
and give character to the county, and, as
stated in this article, we are partakers of
their sins by virtue of having placed hem
where they are have we not the right to
demand that they should be good men.
The Good Book tells us that "when the
wicked rule the land mourn,." Just
think of . man who Ivy virtue of his Office
is a oonsorvator of the peace and at the
same time lives in open violation Of the
law himself Can such a man execute
aud enforce the law? Will not the mem.
orr Of his own misdeeds pa-alize his en-.
ergies and make him shrink from the per.
Torrance of his duties? Are there not
enough Of virtuo1s, sober, moral men in
the county to elect good men to Office?
Righteousness exalteth a nation, but
sin is a reproach to any people,"
Ny attention has been called to a COM
munication 10 your paper of the 26th of
February by 1.-TWO Voters" taking me to
task for my articles on conventions. I
will disabuse the mind Tor minds) Of Two
Voters by saying l am not a candidate
for any Office, nor of kin or counsel to
any one that is. These articles are not
written in the interest of any party or
person, and if by them l can get the pub.
lie to thinking of these matters. l have
in some degree acco nplished my purpose.
Will Two Voters deny that he is seeking
Office or acting in the interest ofsome one
who is? His Tor their) article establish
es the truth of my assertion, that conveu-
tions are not for the good of the people
but for personal and party ends. Arc the
people to be dashed into the support of an
incompetent man, simply because he has
had nothing to do but to run over the
county anc scare up a convention Of his
friends-persons perhaps who have an 'ax
to grind" l call the attention of the
public to the fact, that those who favor
conventions are seeking Office themselves
or they have some one to elect who they
expect to make subseryient to their pur-
poses. Men who love party more than
principle and Office more than prosperity
will object to allowing the people to
choose their own officers. The plan he
speaks of is plausible enough upon its
face-but don't work practically. The
masses have no time to devote to the pri-
mary and county conventions, and if they
had, unless all were in attendance and
understood fully the matter Of holding
conventions, they could be imposed on.
Let the people think of this and no set
of tricksters will be able to deceive them.
You may again hear from ed
A VOTER