Sunbury American. [volume] (Sunbury, Pa.) 1848-1879, 1874-06-26
A GLANCE AT THE SITUATION.

power must reside with the people them
selves. They are the constitutional electors
of the men who are to represent them in
the high places of the land. They will
shape the policies and decide upon the
materials which are TO form and direct the
entire government machinery. The quality
Of the machinery and IFS adaptation to
work out the ends of good government, will
be precisely what the people make it. lu
relation to this, every individual citizen
has n sacred duty to perform-a duty which
he owes to himself and to the country of
which he is a component part duty for
the faithful discharge of which he is solely
responsible, and for the neglect of which he
is entirely without excuse. Every intelli-
gent elector is capable of forming some
kind of independent Judgment upon the
living Issues ofthe day. His judgment will
not only be formed, but declared, and that
declaration will at once commit him to a
specific line of action, to which, as an hon
est man, he is bound to adhere, so long as
his professed sentiments continue un-
changed. If it be said that this implies
partisanship, then letit be so. Adherence
to principle must mean adherence to party
nothing more or less. 1t cannot be other
wise. If party embodies right principles,
every honest man who holds those princi-
Piles is bound to side with that party /; he
cannot escape from it without violating all
sense of moral obligation and forfeiting the
last shadow of a claim to confidence and
respect. He is attracted toward it by the
inevitable force of moral affinity, as natur-
ally as water seeks its level, or like affili-
atcs with like.
Men holding the same political creed may
differ as to some of its minor details, but
where Il wise discretion prevails in the
counsels Of the body, circumstantial diver
sity will not necessarily weaken the bond
of essential identity. The opinions Of men
may widely diverge, and policies may as
sumo an endless variety Of forms as TO the
real and practicable adaptation to the ever
varying exigencies Of a progressive age, hut
the grand primary and vital principles
underlying every system of good govern
ment are as immutable as they are immor-
tai.
The Republican party was reared on the
broad principle of freedom against slavery.
Embodying the mos. liberal and enlighten-
ed views of sound constitutional govern
ment, it was openly committed, at the out
set, to line of policy from which it has
never swcrved. The grand purpose with
which it started was adhered TO with un-
swerving steadastness until it reached at
zen 9Th its legitimate results. The final
contest was fierce and bloody, but its VIC
tory, fraught with blessings TO millions in
the nation, is of record in the hearts of our
people and the annals of our time.
We do not deny that its cOunsels have
sometimes been misdirected and abuses
have obtained in its administration through
the influence of men who have prostituted
u. a4--eI f..s.ia..- af aa;oo ~ ti,v
plishment Of unworthy ends, out the his
tory of the last six months affords unmis-
taxable proof that the Republican party
has no disposition to shield evil doors with
in its own ranks from the punishment their
misdeeds incur, and that by searching in
vestigation, aud exposure Of wrongs
amongst its own members, it has vigor and
moral courage enough TO work out the
needed, publication ard reform.
When the Republican ship has been
lashed by the waves of corruption or en-
dangered by the tempest occasioned by
the malfeasance Of political adventures
''for whose cause all this evil has been
brought upon her," no sooner have the
"Jonahs" been detected by the ''lot'' of
impartial investigation, than they have
been thrown overheard. Nothing like
this has ever been doue or attempted by
the Democratic party when they have been
in power The most scandalous abuses
lave been winked at. Unblushing frauds
have been defended, and their guilty per-
petrators allowed to go unwhipped of JUS
tice. When an outraged people have been
sharply snubbed, or met with the insolent
response: "What are you going to do
about it ?'' When men within their own
ranks have seen the danger from ''break-
eIs ahead" and have courage enough to
advise reform by tightening the ship by
casting overheard portion Of her contra
band freight, they have gagged them with
a bribe, or if they persisted, uncermOnious-
ly cast them into the midst of the sea. The
contrast, as will be seen, is a striking one,
and will furnish matter for profitable re-
fectioa for those who are croaking about
the disintegration and declining hopes of
the party in power.-BugaIO Express.
FATHER OF THE ANTHRACITE TRADE.
Very few uersOus know that the father of