Vermont farmer. [volume] (Newport, Orleans County, Vt.) 1870-1877, 1876-03-17
What are we Coming to 7

ejaculation which we often hear nowadays
as the report Of some newly disclosed fraud,
bribery or other act Of official corruption
comes to the ears Of the people. 1t is the
same when the report comes from New
Hampshire that large sums Of money we're
expended in the sate election TO influence
votes, that money was openly offered and
openly accepted. Aud not only in New
Hampshire, but in other states, also. We
have remedy for these evils 10 our very
midst, If it can only be made available, aud
active. 1t lies in that class Of men, "the
salt Of the earth" the bone and muscle of
heightened morality and noble character,
who, in a great measure, have withdrawn
entirely from the political arena, or profess
to engage in the strife Of parties to the least
extent possible, and exercise the rights of
citizens. The withdrawal of their influence
from the field leaves it in possession of dem
agogues who have no honor and no aspira-
tons above their own selfish interests.
1t is true that the mass of the people do
not appreciate superior talent, and are not
sufficiently intelligent to understand what is
for their best good. They are Inclined to
pass by men of eminent worth for men whose
attachments are little superior to their own
they prefer that those should represent them
in public stations, whom they feel that they
have made and put forward rather than
those who by natures gifts aud their own
acquisitions are far above them. Hence, if
our best men engage in political life with a
view to political preterment, they are usually
disappointed and become disguised and soured
by the injustice Of popular favor. They per.
coive that, as a rule, an inferior class of men
ride into Office on the breath of popular ap-
proval, and that in order to participate in
this approval, they must PROSTATE their tai.
euts and their nobility Of character low in
the dust, and become political coxcombs aud
fawuing sycophants. We rejoice that we have
men whose characters are above such baseness,
and who despse and reject with disdain all
avenues to distinction which compromise the
noblest possession which can be bestowed
upon man.
To this class, also, belong men who, though
not aspiring to political houOrs, retire from
active interest in political affairs on account
OF their vile associations We can but ad-
mire the inclination to keep aloof from the
muddy stream of party strifes from fear of
its communicating influences, but we question
their Judgment. For this whole class there is
duty which they owe to their fellow men
and their God. There is an obligation i'm.
posed upon them which to shirk is an iujus.
tice to themselves aud wrong to their fell
low men. 1t is the duty and the privilege
Of this class to rescue politics from their deg
radiation; to become the champions of true
civil liberty F.; to rescue the government from
its present crippled and degraded condition
to do this chserfully for the sake of truth
and humanity, with no expectation of reward
other than the reward which always accom-
panies exertion and sacrifice for the right.
A spirit of political philanthropy is what
these men ought to have in these times.
The issues between political parties have
been carried to an absurd extent Parties
should not be as they have been styled, ''nec-
essary evils" Ga the contrary they should
cOnduce to the highest good Candid dis
cussion Of principles of government is the
su-est and quickest way to arrive at the
truth. But when parties lose sight Of prn-
ciples and make personal interests, and the
corruption of men the issues of party contests,
they make the government an object Of pity
or contempt among enlightened nations.
Crime and moral turpitude should be con-
sidered as entirely distinct from the princi-
pies upon which the parties are constructed.
Parties will be what the individual members
make them, and to say that ono party con-
tains more depravity than another is to make
an unwarranted and foolish assertion. The
misdemeanors Of United States citizens dis
grace the nation, and the nation must bear
the shame and administer the rebuke.
1t is time for parties to rise above m can
personalities and ordinations aud recrimina.
tions. The times demand that we have some
great parties. Great parties cling to prin.
Ciples rather than to their consequences, to
ideas and not to men they are distinguished
by noble features and generous passions by
genuine convictions and open conduct Our
country was blessed with such parties for more
than score of years after the organization
Of the government in the times when Jeffer.
when the former party was a synonym Of
extending the power of the people aud the
latter, of limiting the same on constitutional
grounds. But to-day we find general dis
like or indispositiOn to grapple questions of
constitutional principle. Our parties are
deficient in good faith A.; are not diguifed by
lofty purposes are selfish timid and rreso.
lutte in their conduct. "The means which
they employ are as wretched as the end at
which they aim" They are fired at times
with spasmodo zeal to disclose corruption in
each others ranks. And all important bust
ness is dropped in the halls Of Congress to
give place to a discussion as to which party
is the more corrupt and which shows the
more determination and candor in prescott,
ing cabinet officer for high crimes and mis-
demeanors.
There are questions Of national concern
to-day, worthy the serious attention of great
parties. Questions growing out of the late