The Dallas weekly herald. [volume] (Dallas, Tex.) 1873-1885, 1877-03-31
PUBLIC sEayasrs.

or tltin-sk .nned people to accept public
positions, especially when the pay. il
either money or honora, is large For
people win talk, and that very frankly.
as they should, Of all Who ask aud re-
raivc at their hands positions Of trust or
profit The representatives OF Texas in
the United States Senate and House Of
representative only fulfill the engage
meut they made with the people when
they fully and truly represent the mo-
tires. feelings, hopes aud ambitions of
their constituency. When they have so
represented. thev haze filed the highest
duty which their selection and election
carried with it This state Of things
carries with it the obligation on the
part of the people to keep their repre-
sentatives fully informed as to what
public sentiment Is on given point of
public or governmental policy. This
brings Us to the nut Of the whole sub
ject--the paper, the voice of the public.
The press Of the State should he an un-
failing indice OF the sentiment of the
| majority OF its readers. 1t should never
misrepresent them, and thus mislead
their formal representatives in Congress
or the State Legislature, No paper
which misleads can long hope to survive.
| No representative who misrepresents
can hope for an extended career.
Public servants should serve the pub.
lie and not personal or private ends,
Under our American system the chiet
value Of public position to him
who holds it. is that ii is
the formal expression of the public
esteem and confidence. OF course il
follows that If position is achieved by
fraud, chieapery or force, this quality i.
lost, and the position is OF no value
When public servant faithfully servet
and obeys the people, he is entitled Il
praise; when he fails, censure he vii
and should, in every instance, receive
and that in no stinted measure
| Under monarchicai forms the kin,
alone rewards ar Furnishes, as he select
and appoints the servants Of the people
Officers are responsible. to him alone
and hence, one may serve the king yer!
faithfully, bat the people very badly
but here lie serves the essence and heat
,f c,,r s,,.,,.,, NJ host ,,sJ,o ss,,,,s, ~
people most, and he serves them mos
who obeys the public voice as it come
to him. When n representative ha
done that, fea*lessly, honestly an
faithfully, though the public judgmen
turns out to have been bad in an
instance. yet the public and not th
representative is to blame and il he
nothing to do but pocket quietly il
osn disappoin tment and take measure
to steer clear of like mistakes in til
future Here is another argument i
favor of an honest and unbought pres.
and its general patronage by the public
| Because, in order for the public to ac
intelligently, conclude intelligentiy o
decide so, It is necessary that it shout
be educated or these subjects, and it ha
no school ut hand which can or wi
serve the purpose so efficiently as til
press.
The conductors of the press are notl
ing more nor less than public servant
and they too are amenable TO ia
public in all they do and, to use an r,
I pressive vuIgarism, the public has " tn
p drop on them, for when they fail {
I refuse to answer public expectation
o public patronage can and will be witt
= drawn. In making up its verdict upo
V the recent action of the Texan deiegi
1 ton on the electoral commission bill
/ these principles apply with great fore
and the memory of them should yeI
much soften the general disappoin
] menr felt at the depiorable resui
Brave men, honest men and true repr
, sentatives, should receive praise, an
not blame, when they simply act upo
: instructions sent from home throuc
the columns Of the home papers, an
no attentive reader Of the Texan pape
during the time when the subject of Ii
electoral commission was first hroache
but knows, full well, that the propos
. ton was fully endorsed by the pre-
and people of the State.