The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1879-02-20
Newark American
On Which Side?

That our editorial in the American of
January "a, on "The Press and the Pull
pit" should have caused some discussion
is no surprise to us. 1t is precisely what
we anticipated and what we desired
When appalling dangers threaten the So
cial fabric, seek to muzzle the press and
the pulpit, and to debauch and demoral
ize our homes, it is time that earnest
words were spoken, and that all men and
all women should declare on which side
| they mean to stand in the impending
conflict. There is nothing so much to be
deprecated and dreaded as Indifference
1t is in the dead calm of inaction where
in is generated the malaria that produces
disease and death. We need the winds
and storms that sweep over the land, to
purify the air we breathe in order that
it shall give health and vigor to our bod
les. So. also we need the storm agita-
tion and discussion to purify the moral
and political atmosphere, and thus drive
out the evils that portend dissolution
and death. And there is no time to be
lost. From one end of this land to the
other the air is foul and fetid with fraud
and corruption. From the lowest doggery
in our city to the Capitol of the Nation,
knaves and demagogues have made mer-
chandise of the highest and dearest right
of an American citizen,-the right to a
fair and free ballot. And the price has
been all the way from a glass of mean
whisky to multiplied thousands in green
backs. And the shame is that we have
all been consenting-consenting by si-
lence, by indifference, by inaction. We
only repeat what the leaders of religious
thought in this country are reporting
when we say, Christians have been con-
senting. This is not said by way of rep
rehension. We have all gone down to-
! gether. Let US therefore work together
to remove the evils by which we are en-
vironed.
In this work party names and sectarian
names must be in some measure discard
ed. The work is not one TO be accom-
plished by one party or one sect. Fight
with your own party and sect if you will;
| but require as a condition precedent
thereto that no man shall lead your col
umn or division, or receive your support
for any position, high or low, unless he
give substantial evidence, not only by
his profession but by his life, that he is
heartily in sympathy with your work
and will labor increasingly for its accom-
plishment. There are men whose cor
ruptions are an affront to the moral
sense of mankind. 1t is high crime to
SO far confound moral distinctions as to
vote such men, no matter what party
names they may wear, into any position
of honor or trust. And the party, wheth-
er Republican or Democrat, that know
ingly sets at defiance the wishes of the
decent men in it's ranks by asking their
votes for such candidates is utterly un
worthy of support This is question Of
far more Importance than the success oil
any man or any party. 1t involves the
purity of our religion, the sanctity of our
homes, and the life of the Nation. And
indifference and inaction means the loss
of all these, and the barbarism of the
dark ages. The power is in the hands o
the decent people of this country. They
can defeat all unfit nominations, if they
will, in either party. Isn't it about time
that they were heard from?