Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1876-05-25

speak with terrible plainness. and still they are
adding TO the scandalous exhibition
Inc address goes on 10 say that sach state OF
Things Is most deplorable, and peculiarly so at
luis time, when we are about to celebrate the one
nunoredtn anniversary OF our National existence,
and have invited the nations o. the earth 10 visit
our land. and to witness tue evidence of our ma
terlaI progress as well as the working and effects
ago our fathers founded.
The Centennial anniversary OF the Declare
ON OF Independence, being in so many respects
10 al Americans day of sincerest pride and re-
Joicng Is felt TO be in other respects not without
self-reproach and humiliation. Of this the cor
ruption revealed In our political life is the cause
10 the honor of the American people be It
sad, every patriotic citizen feels the burning
shame OF the spectacle presented in the Centen-
MAJ year-there the mementoes and monuments
vi tne virtues OF the past. and here the shocking
evidences of the Generalization and CORRUPTION
OF the present.; there the glowing eulogies pro-
no91ceo on the wisdom and purity of the fathers,
ana mere, IN hooking contrast. the verdicts of
courts and records of legislative bodies llustrat-
ing The political morals of to-day, and this before
all manklho soIemnly summoned as witness to
the exhloltlon and guest TO the feast. Never
was tnere cause Tor keener modification, and
keenly does 1t strike every patriotic heart
Ihe question Is then asked, How we avert
such dangers and wipe off such stain? By prov
ing (says the address, that, although the Govern
ment machinery has become corrupt the great
body of the people are sound and strong at the
core and that they are honestly determined to re-
form the abuses of political life, and to over
throw at any cost the agencies of evil that stand
in the way.
After alluding to the great importance of some
of the questions involved in the impending Ma
tional election the address saws:
Grave as they are, still, in our present situa-
ton W. must, as American citizens recognize If
as our most pressing duty to re-estabIish the
moral character of our Government and to eIe
vate the tone of our political life < our
discussions and struggles about other great cues
tions and principles will appear like mockerv
and farce if we permit our public concerns to
drift into that rulnous anarchy which corruption
must necessarily bring in its train because il de-
stroys the confidence of people in their self
government, the greatest calamity that can befall
republic 1t is simple question of life or death
A corrupt monarchy may last by the rule of force
a corrupt republic cannot endure. 1t is useless
to console ourselves with the idea that the cor
ruption among US must be ascribed solely to The
immediate effects of the Civil War, and will
without effort at reform, soon pass away
There is another cause which is not transitory
but threatens to become permanent. 1t is the
system which has made the offices of the Govern
ment the mere sport of party victory; the system
which distributes the places of trust and respon-
sibility as the reward of party services and the
bounty of fayoritism; the system which appeals
to the mean impulses OF seltishness and greed as
controlling motive Of political action: the sys-
tenn which degrades the civil service to the level
of a mere party agency, and treating the officer
as the hired servant of the party, and taxing him
for party support, stimulates corruption, and
places it under party protection the system
which brings the organization of the parties I'M
der the control of the most selishly-interested
and therefore most active, elemenU-the place
organize a standing army OF political mercena-
res, to be paid out of the Treasury Of the Govern
ment, who, by organized action, endeavor 10
subJugate the Will OF the people to their ends,
through the cultivation of a tyrannical party
spirit.
:" Every student of our political history knows
that since the spolls system was inaugurated cor
ruptlon mas steadily grown from year to year, and
SO long as this system lasts with eli it's seduc-
lions and demoralizing Tenderness, corruption
will continue to grow in extent and power, for
T2tr ana
crowded out of political life by INSCRIPTIONS self
ishness.
1.-The war has only given sudden stimulus to
this tendency, but without the war it would have
grown up, and will not cease TO grow as long as
the hOtbed of corruption, the SPOTS system, lasts
The skill IN corrupt practices acquired by one
generation of spOilsmen will only be improved
upon by the next. The result we know. We
have already reaped SO great harvest of dis
aster and shame that, we repeat, it has now be-
come the first duty of the American people to re-
establish the moral character Of the Government
by thorough reform.
What can we do toward this end in.the impend-
ing National election? In this respect fellow
citizens, we consider it our duty to speak very
plainly. Never were the cause of good Govern
ment and the honor of the American name more
Immediately dependent on the character. ability
and reputation of the men TO be selected for the
| highest offices. In view of the grave circum-
stances at present surrounding US, we declare
that the country cannot now afford to have any
man elected 10 the Presidency whose very name
is not conclusive evidence of the most unCom-
American DeOOle
to make this a pure Government once mere Our
duty in this respect is plain and imperative The
WORKOUT Claptrap of fair promises in party plat
forms will not satisfy it; neither will these fine
professions on the part of candidates. Not mere
words are needed, but acts; not mere platforms
| but men; and we therefore declare and call uDOn
all good citizens to join US. that at the coming
Presidential election we shall support no candi-
date who, in public position, ever countenanced
corrupt practices or combinations, impeded their
| exposure or punishment, or opposed necessary
| reform. M ondi
date who, while possessing official influence and
power, has failed TO use his opportunities in eX
! posing and correcting abuses coming within the
reach of his observation, but for personal and
party ends has permitted them TO tester on; for
such men may be counted on not to uncover and
| crush corruption, but for the party sake merely
| to conceal 1t more.
I'VE shall support no candidate, however con-
sp1cuous his position or brilliant his ability, III
whom the impulses of the party managers have
shown themselves predominant over those of the
retOrmer, for he will be inclined to continue that
fundamental abuse-the employment of the Gov
eminent service machinery for personal or
party ends We shall support no candidate who
however favorably judged by his nearest friends
Is not publicly known 10 possess those qualities
OF mind and character which the stern task of
genuine reform requires, for the American peo-
pie cannot now afford to risk the future of the
Republic in experiments on merely supposed
virtue OF rumored ability, TO be trusted. On the
strength OF private recommendation.
In one word, at present, no candidate should
be held entitled TO the support OF patriotic citi-
zens OF whom the question may be fairly asked,
Is he really the man to carry through
! thorough going reform of the Government? Can
he with certainty be depended upon to possess
the moral courage and sturdy resolution to Crap
pie with abuses which have acquired the
strength of established custom, and To this end
frmly resist the pressure, even of his party
frlends! Whenever there is room for such Ques-
ton, and doubt az TO the answer, the candidate
should be considered unfit for this emergency.
This is no time for sOcalled availability spring
ing from distinction gained fields of action
foreign TO the duties of Government, nor for that
far more dangerous sort of availability which
consists in this-that the candidate be neither so
bad as to repel good citzens nor so good az to
discourage the bad ones. Passive virtue in the
highest place has too often been known to pre-
vent the growth of active vice below. The man
to be inlrusted with the Presidency this year
must have deserved not only the confidence of
| honest men. but also the fear and hatred of the
thieves. He who manages TO conciiate the
thieves cannot be the candidate. Every Ameri-
can citizen who has the future of the Republic
and the National honor sincerely at heart
should solemnly resolve that the country
must now have President whose name is al
ready a watchword OF reform; whose capacity
and courage for the work are matters of record
rather than of promise; who will restore the sim
Dlicity Independence and rectjtude of he carly