Vermont phÅ“nix. [volume] (Brattleboro, Vt.) 1834-1955, 1876-04-21
THE RING, THE LOBBY AND THE
ca UCUlS.
The Three Enemie. of the Nation.


man TO anict his soul7 Is 1t TO bow down his head
like bulrush, and to spread sackcoth and ashes
der him i? witt thou call this fast, and an acceptable
Is not this the fast that have chosen to loose the
bonds Of wickedness to undo the heavy burdens, and
10 let the oppressed 90 free and that ye break every
yoke 7"-Isaiah, $3.50.
This is the theory of Fast Day as given
by the prophet Isaiah. 1t is a day in which
10 put down tyraHts and oppressols-to
break up bad combinations of wicked men,
10 hold anti-slavery meetings, and 10 de-
nounce sins, public and private.
dare say that when Isaiah expressed
this opinion about Fast Day, he was accused
of preaching political sermon. "That is
not my religion" said the Pharisees Of his
day, "that is politics. Religion and poll
tics are two different things" So they went
on as before, and tasted the old fast, which
the Lord had not chosen. They continued
ostentatiously TO abstain from meat, and
made long prayers, and bowed their heads
very penitently, like the omblcmatic bull
rush, and said that this was the fast the
Lord loved.
So when Jesus came, and did not have
any fast day for his disciples, the Pharisees
of his time were scandalized, and their pi-
Gus feelings were much hurt, and they said,
"What sort of a fellow is this? l do not
call him a prophet at ALL Only see His
disciples never wash their hands, sacra.
mentally, before dinner. They never pray
at the street corners as the i've Pharisees
do. They do not keep fast at all. 1 don't
call that religion; l call it mere morality
and morality, we know is Il very danger
Gus thing"
So also in the old antislavery times when
some of us utilized the Governors fast by
preaching agains: slavery, how often were
we told that "people did not go 10 church
to hear politics; they went TO hear relig-
ion." So we were obliged TO comfort our
selves by the words of Isaiah, and the ex-
ample of Jesus, and be satisfied if we had
the prophet and Saviour on cur side, even
though the church and the world were unit
ed against us.
But "new occasions teach new duties"
We must keep abreast with the need and
duties OF to-day. We must not talk about
the sins of the Pharisees, or the sins oil
slavery-those are over. We must talk of
present evils, as Isaiah would do, as Christ
would do, if he were here. And as the
chief dangers and evils Of the present hour
in public affairs, 1 ask you to consider the
"Ring," the Lobby" and the Caucus"
THE RING.
The phrase "Ring" is new one; but the
thing itself is old as covetousness and kna-
very. Merivale, in his "IIistory of the Ro-
man Empire" describes the Roman Sem
ate, nineteen centuries ago, as a ring, the
object of which was public plumber. Hume
tells us that James l., of England, by
granting mouopolies, had put almost the
whole trade of England and all that of Lon
don into the hands of about two hundred
citizens, "who were easily enabled, by conf
bining among themselves, to Tx whatever
price they pleased both for the exports and
imports of the nation" Macaulay describes
similar rings existing in England in the
time of William III, and the history of
their successive detection by the commit
tees of the British Parliament reads like
chapter out of our own time. He tells us
how great had become the habits of pecu-
lation and venality among public servants
and high officials, and how the day of ret
ribution at last arrived; how The first dis
coveries were made of officers in the army
who plundered the pay and subsistence of
the soldiers, leaving them the choice of
starving themselves, or plundering the peo-
pie. These offences were discovered and
punished; but he adds that the whole adj
ministration was in such state that it was
hardly posi- BILE TO track one offender with
out discovering Ten others. 1t was found
that member of Parliament and SecreEa-
ry of the Treasury had received bride of
two hundred gnineas; and that the hack
ney coachmen of London had been bribed
by the Parliamentary Board placed over
them. These offenders were punished.
"But by this time," says Macaulay, EDELIN,
quents far higher in power and rank were
beginning 10 feel uneasy. AT every new de-
lection the excitement became more in
tense. The frightful prevalence of bribery,
corruption and extorlion was everywhere
the subject of conversation" The political
world was compared TO a city in which the
pl ague had been just discovered. 1t was
found that two OF the wealthiest corpora
tions in London had been spending large
sums in bribing great men.
1t was found by the Commons that the
Speaker OF their own House, with salary
OFFS 10000 year, had increased ii by corrupt
practices to $4,000 year. He was expel-
ed from the House. The Prime Minister
himself was impeached for receiving brides,
and only escaped conviction because the
principal witness against him had been in
duced TO leave the country and could not
be reached; but he was removed from Of
fee by the King and became dsgraced
man.
We see that the .prccess we are going
through is not new one. There have al
ways been rings-for ring is only cor
rupt combination of several persons in
power to unite their strength for purposes
of plumber. Men holding office, uniti,,g to
rob The pu6lic-this is the definition of a
ring. Tweed's ring TO pluuder New York
was composed of the principal officers of
the city government, some OF the city judg-
es, and some members of the New York
Legislature, assisted by eminent and we'll
paid lawyers. The ring to rob the tax pay
ers of Washington city was arranged in
like manner. So there are railroad rings,
consisting of the principal Officers of the
road who give contracts, taking a share of
the money-making bargains with them
selves-like the Credit Mobiler ring of
the Pacific road, or Fisk's ring in the Erie
road. And the term "ring" is suitable
one, for 1t resembles a ring in this, that
when broken at a single point il is wholly
broken. If one of the conspirators turns
States evidence the whole rascality is ex-