The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1876-08-19
Notes from Egypt.
ALTAMoST, Aug. /

have had occasion to travel through large
portion of the southern part of this STATE anu
have had good opportunity to ieei inc po'
litical pulse of those with whom canc III
contact. As my business is entireiy u'scon'
nected with politics, l am in position where
| can more correctly elicit the real sentiments
of the people than l could under other Cir
cumstances. l hope, therefore, that VIII pe
excusable fo- sometimes, when found 1t ne.
cessary to get at the bottom OF the heart OF
some good, kind republican soul, to play
little deception; that is, talk little Hdysey
in order to get him to speak out what ne pro-
baby would otherwise have allowed to remain
untold-buried in the dark recesses of his
| inwardness.
BY pursuing this course l have become
convinced that strong current Of dlssats-
faction and distrust flows deeply through the
concealed convictions of the honest portion
of the republican party. They all confess,
privately, that their leaders are corrupt That
they are now, and have been Tor years, using
their official positions for no other purpose
than for profit and plumber. That they care
nothing for the public veal, but devote
themselves purely to their own individual
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. But, knowing this to be
the case with the leaders of their own party,
and witnessing the fall and disgrace Of men
in whom they have heretofore reposed the ut
most confidence-whom they have regarded
for years as shining lights-as model states
men, and whose WISDOM and counsel has
been their guiding star through war and
peace, they have los: all confidence in hu
man integrity, and are fast settling down to
the belief of that worst of all errors, that there
is no more honesty among parties or men
and thereby excuse themselves for still cling
ing to those political thieves, who they admit
have disgraced our government not only al
home but among the nations of the world
on the delusion that they would gain nothing
by abandoning them for nothing better among
their opponents.
] The terrible state of corruption which has
grown apace ever since the advent of re
publican rule has had strangely democrat
lzing influence upon the minds of the people
1t has gone far towards destroying all faith
in mans honesty, and has created convic
ton, especially among the more honest por
ton of the republican party-and with pur
pose too-that all political organizations art
equally corrupt, and that the exposure of the
rascaites Of one set of politicians is only the
nf not apntbpr will do Iyhor
they get chance. So imbued has the crdl
nary republican mind become with this, the
thief's argument, that it is almost impossible
to convince them to the contrary; and thous
ands of candid men among them, with theil
eyes wide open In broad daylight, staring
with terror at the vast pyramid of vice and
corruption which has been unveiled by the
recent investigations of the democratic house
will deliberately march to the polls and de
post their votes Tor the continuation OF thi:
same rascality for tour years more, SIMPLY
because il Is upheld and defended by the
leaders of the party to which they belong
There is a mystery about this attachment
to party! The great body of the people Ger
tainly want the affairs of the government ad
ministered honestly. They want those II
whose hands they confde the offices to ad
for their private profit But the masses o.
the people do not constitute the political par
ties They are simply the factors which il
the hands of politicians and demagogues art
made to shift and move from place to place
in order to swell the aggregate by which they
may be kept in power. The professional Of
flee seekers are the party, and their patriot
Ism is always gaugeable by the amount o
salaries paid or the chances offered for steal
ing They make platforms upon which TIT
devoted partisan is expected to dance. Thes'
platforms are always studied up and put to
gether long before they are promulgated anC
are designed solely for the purpose of de
celvlng the honest voter, and to perpetuat'
his blind attachment to his party; and no Sc
of men ever understood this better than die
those corrupt schemers and tricksters wht
manipulated the Cincinnati convention. The,
we'll knew that the bulk of their party do no
understand, or Try 10 ma out, tue secret pro
cesses by which campaigns are managed, ant
til at thousands of them vote blindly with thu
party simply because they belong to it. Blu
al republicans are not slaves to the party o
leaders. There are hundreds of them WHIT
are sick of corruption and are determined OF
a change. | meet with them every day, an'
II is a marked fact that they are the pures
and ablest men among them. Silently bu
resolutely they have made up their minds Il
unload this foul incubus of corruption; and
although they may still entertain doubts as IL
whether the democracy will be able TO re
form the civil service, yet they hope for al
improvement. Tilden's great letter has in
, spired them with hope and they are deter
} mined TO give him a trial.