Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1875-08-12
Republicans Will Do Their Duty.


As We write the country Is preparing
for the great elections which are to come
off in the fall and there is so much to do,
and such weight of responsibility rest
ing upon Republican voters in the dis
charge Of their duty, that we are com
PEELED to warn them against n spirit of
| supineness, the indulgence of which
would be fatal to the best interests Of the
nation.
a public writer, in 4 solemn appeal to
citizens to perform their political duties,
says that every honest man who has the
| right TO vote has no right TO withhold his
| vote. In the great elections which peri
odically occur, the issues of which affect
SO deeply the national welfare every Re-
publican understands that he is the repre-
sentative OF principles which have saved
the country and raised it in the scale of
nations. That those principles shall tri-
umph IN the contest is his daily hope;
and to this lend the men of energy and
thought are willing to toll. They are not
only willing TO toll themselves, but, know
ing the value OF the ballot, they are
anxious, in an appeal to it, that the re-
Spouse of the people shall show the popu-
lar feeling and the popular desire. They
will, therefore, vote for their own candi-
dates; but their labor will not cease there.
Every Republican has influence with his
neighbors--an influence which springs le-
ultimately from the principles he profess
es--andhe is bound to exert that influence,
to exert every nerve to fix the wavering, to
rouse the sluggish, to find those who would
conceal themselves, and TO gather together
those that are scattered but accessible Re-
publicans of this class keep alive, in their
localities, the spirit of the party, and are
the honored instruments of much of its
success
There Is, however, another class of men
who also are Republicans by conviction
and are willing TO accept the results of Re-
publican prosperity, but who, from some
trifling cause, held aloof from the polls or
stayed at home. Here are men confessing
principles acknowledged to be the noblest
that ever led Ind governed nation, act.
ing through seltishness as if there was no
accountability for the assistance they gave
in the introduction Of political confusion.
discord and defeat by Il positive neglect Of
duty! They considered the elective fran
chise noble right, but its exercise a mere
matter of option. Soured or dissatisfied,
they desired to punish the party for what
ever they regarded as amiss, and so they
omitted to cast their vote! They now
see the work Of their hands. The dan
ger of restoring the Democratic party to
power in the nation is duly realized, and
they are not likely to repeat the blunder.
We have reason TO know that thousands
Of them regret the past and would do
much to undo it, But with the past now
we have nothing to do save to learn the
lessons it has taught namely: that neglect
Of political duty is offering a premium to
political misfortune. Politics will not
settle themselves satisfactorily if left to
take their own way. Nor will Demo-
cratic politician aid the Republican party
when Republicans leave him unopposed
to walk over the course. Republicans
who fail TO vote commit a breach of duty
against themselves, their county and
their God.
And what is the business of politics.
1t has been well defined to bc--the decid
ing upon the government and destiny of
our country; the settling the question of
war and peace offreedom ard oppression;
of religion and irreligion; the fixing
whether our lives and property shall be
secure and our very homes sacred. Are
not these vital questions? And are they
not involved in every great election such
as those now approaching? So that, in
the long run, great elections concern and
control the most sacred interests of the
whole country
1t is therefore every mans duty to vote;
for every honest man has claim upon
the vote of every other honest man; and
the Republican party has claim, direct
and imperative, on the votes of Republi-
cans. Then will our elections be the SOL
emn, majestic act Of mighty people; in
the presence Of the God of Nations, dis
charging the highest responsibilities Of
self-government the hottest rite of free
dom. Then will the triumph of the Re
publican party be assured and the peace
and prosperity Of the people lie in the
measures prepa I'd and proposed by the
men who loved the Union, who fought for
it and preserved it--Repubitc Magasine.