The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-11-07

| abuses that disgrace and burden the land; but
who is to blame? In ten cases out OF dozen,
the patriot, the man Of conscience and the payer
| OF taxes are themselves more to blame than any
| BODY else. They are not guilty of actual wrong
doing, but, what is in effect equally cupable, OF
doing nothing, by individual action, to prevent
| the wrongs.
| We leave too much to the mere politicians
and the mere politicians, selfish by nature and
interruptions by habit, manage to take care OF
| themselves, regardless Of our interests or OF
present or remote consequences We permit
them to get control of our legislative bodies;
we perm them, as legislators, 10 make the laws
| to suit their own interests, and TO multiply the
Offices and the methods Of their sef-enrichment
| at the public expense; we permit them to get
possession of those offices, not public servants,
but as leeches who gorge themselves upon the
lIfe- blood of the body polite. Men of that claas
who make politics profession, and ofice-hold-
| ing bushes So, are selfish and greedy.
| Being permitted by the good citizens" to do
as they pleas they generally please to ma Ike all
the money they possibly can out Of their offices,
not only for themselves. but likewise, in order to
70 t:fy Themselves in their positions, for their
title armies of helpers, strikers and hangers-on.
Result, enormous salaries, petty ''steals," and
innumerable STAT jobs" in the shape OF corrupt
contracts ana sinecure appointments. The in
evitabls consequence is enormous expenditures
for the public service and huge tax levies, that
make the good citizens" pay the fiddlers with
| out doing any Of the dancing, or having even the
poor privilege of seeing the inside OF the ball
room.
| To all who look into and understand the naodus
operdndi of our latterday politics, it is notorious
| Of the very worst elements of the population,
have become our rulers, and that the notion that
We, as people, are our OWL rulers, Is a deuslon
That ought to be and can be self g. verned ls
unquestionably fact but, strangely enough, it
| would seem that we don't choose to be! We own
the house we live Init Is our home and our cas-
tie; but instead of managing its affairs ourselves,
we complacently and lszily permit the hired help
down in the kitchen and out in the stable to man
| age the house and all its affairs for us.
| Now, if, as a result, we shall become bankrupt,
| and our hired sculions shall, by and by, become
| the owners of the house they have so long been
permitted to "run for us, who will be to blame
Who but our own 70 fish selves? We may groan
and grieve and cry aloud, but what good would
| that do?
five should save and p9rpetuate our system
of self-government as fact as well as in theory,
we-the good citizens, who are really ia the
maiority-muot take the time and the trouble to
| do 1t ourselves. If we shall. as most Of us now
do, ermt the professionals in politics and their
| following of ignorance, stupidity aud depravlty
/ to govern us, we shall surely be mlsgoverned,
oppressed, robbed. and the community and the
| country at large will be demoralzed and ripened
| for despair anarchy, and-that will be the end.
| The time has been when the rule in this coun-
| try was-the better man, the more active and
Influential he is as citizen IN politics. his rule,
it would seem, has go far changed as to warrant
us in stating it, as it now stands, thus the
| better the man, the more reckless and recreant
he is citizen in the performance of his political
duties. 1t is a sad-nay, an alarming sign OF our
political retrogre ssion and we do not hesitate to
say that our evils of government are directly
traceable to this-to the fault Of the "good citi-
zens those who, in their devotion to the god
| Mammon, "cant find time" to attend their
political ward csucu-es or townmeetings, where
the good or the mischief, whichever it be, is
generally done, or who are too nice or too good
to minge with the ,mmon herd Of humanity in
| the political primaries or conventions, at which
the Candidates for Office selected, or who are
| either too iLdclent, too reckless or 'too busy
even to attend the polls election days. to help
choose the best men for the offices or public
! trust and responsibility.
| Our political system of self-government is be-
coming farce, not because We, as people, are
| not moral enough, brave enough, or intelligent
| enough to govern ourselves, but only because so
many of us are "good citizens"-too good for
their own the public good wickedly neglect to
take active part in our politics. There are
| breakers ahead, sgood citizens, and if you do
not waken to a sense of your political duties
pretty soon-not spasmodicaly, but permanently
down you'll go, ship, master, cargo, crew and
ali!