National Republican., 1877-10-09
"EvERY MAN THAT Is A POLITICIAN l.
A THIEF"

That, with an adjective which we omit, |
is what friend of ours heard dccently-
dressed man say on Pennsylvania avenue
day or two since. Our friend, who is him
self politician, turned around and noted
the appearance of the speaker. lie was n
man about twenty-five years of age, and
seemed to be either workingman out for a
holiday, with his Sunday clothes on, or
street-corner loafer, who had succeeded in
beating" some store for suit of clothes
When the remark was repeated to us it
caused us TO reflect FOR time and think,
What is politician, that he should
Se thus spoken ofY" Thought travels
:lster than even the lightning flies or ARIEI.
.~'aveled round the earth, and politicians of
~ the past centuries fitted before us as the
GHOSTS visited King RICHARD the night be-
ore Bosworth's fatal field. Unlike these
ghosts, they "struck no terror" to our soul,
ut rather were pleasant and agreeable.
ON the dim and distant ages came the
commanding figure of MOSES, the Jewish
aw-givcr, who was one of the nblest politi-
cans following him came LYCURGus, AL
CIDIADEs ARISTIDEs and "a whole host of
Grecil.n WORTHLESS, while near them came
CICERO, CATO, MARCUS AURELIUs and 9TH
ers whose ability made Rome famous.
Fleeting shadows whose faces could not he
recognized carried volumes of the Zenddrcsid
to identify them, and the flowing robe
of mandarin showed CoNFUCTus was in
the throng Later we saw the figures of
CHARLEsV and LOYoLA, with SEXTus V of
Rome, the Dorias of Genoa, and some of the
comment" from Byzantine, mingling with
The Muscovite cap told when PETER the
Doges OF Venice and the MEDICI of Florence.
Great passed, and near him was "thc great
trimmer whom MACAULEY immOrtaliZed
with the Prince of Orange, FREDERICK OF
Prussia, VoLTAIRE, NAPOLEON and other
modern statesmen. The scene changed, and
we recognized FRANKLIN, Tom PAYNE,
JEFFERSON, ADAMS, MADISON, HANCOCK,
HAMILTON and scores of others who founded
this Republic, while viewing them were
BACON, LOCKE, BURKE, PITT and SHERI-
DAN. Then came JACKSON, CALHOUN
WEBSTER, CLAY, CHoATE, PISCKNEy
HAYNE, BENTON and host Ol
Americans of other days, followed by LIN,
coin, DOUGLAS, SUMNER, CHASE, STAN.
TON and those who have passed away in
our time Then the wmiths of the living
fitted by, and DIsRAELI, BISMARCK
METTERNICH, THEIRS, GAMBETTA, CA
YOUR, GLADSTONE, BRIGHT, with Thur
MAN, C0SKLING, HILL, LAMAR, HoAR
and hundreds of others whose faces
are familiar to us, passed on. The panO
rama of the dead and living politicians
ceased, and We reflected awhile. Thl
thought came to us, all these men were o.
are politicians why is it that they are thu,
characterized as thieves? They are, d
were, statesmen; is there any difference il
the two words, statesman and politician
None, when the latter is used in its jus
sense. Then, if this speaker on the Avenue
represents the feeling and thought of th
people, all these illustrious men were thieves
Can this be so? Do the public think thus
or was the expression merely the aimles
thought Of II fool clothed in language? W,
fear that it was too truly reflex of the un
thinking public. 1t has become too com
mon to denOunce men who enter into poll
tics as rascals and thieves. That there havl
been and are now such seeking or hOldin,
office and pretending to teach the public i
true, but what business or profession is FIRE,
from them? In proportion TO number
there are more fraudulent bankrnptcie
and deliberate swinders among merchant
than there are rogues in politics. There ar
short weights given by more farmers bogu
prescriptions of bread pills by NOR
physicians, fees taken on both sides b.
more lawyers, overcharges for work no
done by more mechanics, showing the ras
n,la LIN Ihnac hnsinesses than can be foun