The Arizona sentinel., 1876-01-15

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 ferent, might by their votes have
 changed things wonderfully fO
 the better. Everything depends
 on the interest and intelligence
 the citizen displays by his voice
 and vote, as to what principles
 shall be promoted and which mer
 elected to office. How is he to dC
 this unless he takes an interest ir
 politics |? Are not politics the groundwork of our form of gov.
 ernment The great stage of ac.
 tiOn where good and bad princi.
 ples clasp and struggle for the
 mastery, and where good men and
 great measures are voted up or
 down. The citizen owns the gov.
 ernment and his ballot is his deed
 to the share he possesses in it he
 is a partner in the firm, and if by
 carelessness or indifference he lets
 bad men run the machine and
 smash it up, and rnins his part
 ners as we'll as himself, the blame
 falls on his own head and he is
 not to be pitied. Look how ac.
 tive the enemies of popular gov. ernment are, how deeply inter- ested to witness its downfall, and
 how much better, I ask, is an in. different citizen than an open enemy. The history of the world goes to show that whenever and wherever a people once relapsed into indifference to their own and their country's welfare-however high they may once have stood among the nations of the earth in the fine Arts, science, literature and learning, and everything that raises humanity nearer to it's cre- ator-even though they may have stood on the tOpmOst round in the ladder of individual and national greatness, that moment marked a period in the history of their decline-it was the first step to. wards their downfall slowly but surely the once proud citizen sank lower and lower in the depths of depreciation and moral cOrruption; slowly but surely the once proud and mighty state fell from her lof- ty height into the sIoughs of ig- nOrance, degredatiOn and slavery. Therefore, 1 say, without fear of successful contradiction, that in- difference in politics is not only an individual sin but it is a na- tional calamity. It is worse for the country than open enmity Many a sublime cause has been frustrated, many bright thought nipped in the bad, many a bright | and promising young man dis couraged, blasted, and ruined, by the coldness and indifference of friends. A t h e saying is, "slaughtered in the house of their friends" when they might have fared much better among their enemies. When theSavior was on on earth, ,and afterwards his Apos- ties. they often severely rebuked their followers for their luke Warmness and indifference. How many men could America rebuke for the same cause, to-day ? How near she came to receiving the mortal stab How near to the death fall She staggered in the agonies of death If she ever does fall from her high position among the nations of the earth if the bright crown of glory is ev- CT torn from her brow, God grant that it may never be,) she will look up from the depths of her degradation upon her once proud and happy citizens, but now mis- erable slaves, with pitiful look Of rebuke blended with bitter irony, and say. "It was you that did it-your indifference did it. Oh, why did you do it? I could have overpowered your enmity, but your indifference broke my s4 (