The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1879-02-20

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members. One Of the great factors In
the moral deterioration Of the American
| people has been the breaking down and
overriding Of the laws that govern society.
advocate an aristocracy in society and
in State. Not an aristocracy Of wealth
nor blood, but an aristocracy of m,iul
1oorth. take the word, not in its per-
versions and abuses, bat in it's original
| sense. 1t meaus government whera the
best, past moral and pure bear rule.
Should not the purest, most cultured,
most genteel in society make laws for the
government Of the body3 Should not
the moat moral, most intelligent and most
| capable rule the Commonwealth ? The
evils of the destruction of caste are far.
reaching. Our children are brought UP
to think ono calling or condition as hon
orable as another. We allow them 70
| associate with all people promiscuously.
The moral sense in them, i. o., the chill
dren, becomes blunted while Il is imma-
ture, and they will moro naturally glide
into vice and sin since we, by actions, at
least, tell them that one way of making
money Is "a honorable and respectable as
! another. EVIL communications corrupt
good Manners" He who associates with
tho uDchaste will himself, more than
likely, become unchaste too. He who
associates with thieves will have nil the
germs of dishonesty within him put into
hot-bed and rapidly developed. He who
puts the bottle to his neighbours mouth, !"
for living, will almost surely learn to
put that same bottle to his own mouth.
We may palliate sin and gloxe iudecency
till we cease to condemn them in our own
hearts. You may allow profanity and
blasphemy to so unrebuked, till you
forget that it is as heineus in Gods sight
as dishonesty and adultery; but one is
just as bad as the other. Let us not con-
done otfenses in any one, anywhere !;
neither in society or Church or State. If
we do, the moral recoil will be sad for
us, and God will visit tho iniquity of
these things on our children. Well did
the poet say:
''vice Is o monster OF such hiAeous mein.
That TO be hated, needs but TO be seen;
But seen too oft, familiar With tho face,
We hrst endure, then pity, then embrace"
Woe with the day when society or
Church fold to their bosom the vile, the
sinful, the reprobate.
3. Reforms are also demanded in COM
non honesty. TIE war, among the many
evils that It generated and developed,
produced the monsters, laziness and dis
honesty. For years men "drew rations"
and clothing, working one day in fifteen.
They learned to 1.-Two without work.
Many of them arc trying to do tho same
thing yet. They say: "The world owes
me living, and I intend to ho., it,"
When hear man talk that way, and
live on in idleness, I inssinctively feel to
world owes no one living. The God of
Nature has blesaed men With s.rsIEtthh
and intellect, and has ordained that In
dustry and economy shall not fail of their
| reward Int a healthy, s..:onE heggur in
this land is an unmitigated nuisance.
| To-day labor ranks higher than cotton or
corn or sugar or bacon or clothing. I'M
migration societies are encouraging labor
| to come among us. Any man who will
can lease land and make himeelf farm.
Theee things being 80, laziness is crime,
end ought to be punished. The armies
of tramps that infest the land are but
ulcers on the surface of our demoralized
| body polite. While the feeble, the
widows, the orphans and the helpless
are to he assisted, do insist that it is a
ain to assist those who can work and
won't, There is no charity to God or
m an in giving bushel of corn to a man
who is able to work for it and yet is un-
willing to do IL. Paul said: eff any
would not work, neither should he eat.b
"a Thea. 3:l0.) That doctrine sounds
healthy to me. 1t should bo put into
practice rigidly. Laziness lives near
neighbor to theft, for he who must eat
and won't work, and has no money to
buy with, must be sorely tempted to
4 break the eighth commandment. The
Prodigal Son deserves higher respect
than people are wont to give him. We
place his reformation at the point when
he was obliged to live on husks with tie
swine, and since no one would give him
anything better, he decided to 90 back
and live on his old fathers bounty. Not
80. Go back to the time when the famine
arose, and he "6egdn to be in want"
Here was the crisis and point of turning.
Did he say, s'the world owes me living,
and / must get it somehow" Did he
curl his nose at any rough or menial
work? Did he fear to soil his soft, 'lily-
white" dainty hands? Did he sit still
and "wait for something to turn up i''
| Did he turn tramp and make it ais trade
to live off of others? No. lie niether
turned thief nor beggar. He took the
first work that came to hand. II was
base, low, degrading to Jewish sensibil-
ity, but it was honest. His manlines.
comes ont here: "He went and hired
himself to citizen of that country, and
he sent him into the fields to feed swine y
and he aren't. He was honest, and there
was help for him. If he had not been
manly enough and honest enough to
work, he never would have found his
way back to his fathers house penitent
There is hope for mana tramp-ii
there be manliness enough in him to in
duce him to work. Let this be the true
test "If any would not work, mother
should he eat" When all the men, and
women, too, who are able to work for 9
living, are induced by law or moral sua.
sion or necessity to go at it, yon wi! ;5ss5
moral resumption in honesty, industry
manliness aud selfrespectl "In the
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread
Too many people are trying 70 eat theil
bread in the sweat of other peoples
faces.
Il. In the last place, there is med o.
reform in political and governmental
circles. The words statesman and poll
tician enght tn he made sssaenJ;-::.s. sssaenJ;- :..c:; c:;s
We ought to elevate our purest and
ablest men to Office. It is sad com
mentary on our government and people
that the men who will stoop to spend
money and encourage intemperance car
control more votes than the higii.toned
sober, capable man. "Ask ye for the
old paths, where is the good way, ant
walk therein" It was Henry Clay whC
said, "I would rather be right than Pres
identp And when cnr own (yalhcur