St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1880-10-09
Political Printing.

The Claiborne Guardian has some
remarks, which we publish, on the sub
ject Of political printing. We have
never been expected here to print tickets
for nothing; and the Democratic party
as an organization, has always paid us
for the tickets ordered by it's represen-
tatives. But until recently elections for
federal, State and parochial officers have
been held at the same time, and tickets
were paid for because the election could
not be held without them, and local
candidates had too much at stake to let
it go by default. But now it is differ
ent no local officers are to be elected.
And we think it rather too much to
expect the local officers, who bore the
burden and entire expense of the last
campaign, and from which they have
not yet financially recovered, to bear
the entire expense of the present one.
They have no more interest and no
more duty TO perform in the matter,
than any other class of Democratic
citizens. The expense Of this campaign
should be borne by the entire party
and not 10y the local officers only.
The State constitutional convention
made grave mistake, we think, in
separating national and State elections.
They should be held at the same time,
as it saves time and money. And the
great interest which the people take in
local elections, makes them register and
vote and by holding both together, Il
full vote is assured for the presidential
and congressional candidates. 1t is not
human nature, and VIC can not expect
the local officers to do for the presiden-
tal candidates and for one congressman,
what they less than year ago did for
themselves: spend thousands of dollars
of their private means and impair their
healths by undergoing several months
of the hardest and most wearing of all
labor-poltical campaigning. Nobody
helped them, either with money or
otherwise; and they should not be ex-
pccted now to defray the entire expense
of the campaign. The printing OF cleo
ton tickets is generally small part of
the campaign expense here, and the
local candidates bear all of it; but this
time there are no local candidates, and
what money is required will have to be
raised in some other way. All that has
been done here so far, in keeping before
the people the political questions to be
decided at the coming election, has
been done by the newspapers; but job
offices are not attached to newspaper
offices here to print election tickets for
nothing, as seems to he the case in the
parish of Claiborne. The money will be
raised however, and thousands more
tickets printed than there are voters to
vote them. The office holders will pay
part, and that large band of hopeful
politicians, who arc now on the outside
but see "a good time coming" and
therefore desire to stand well with the
party, will help them out.
But to have good old fashioned cleo
ton, when no one will even think of
asking where the money is going to
come from, do away with this halfway
business, and elect all officers at one
time, from President down to ward
constable. The ward candidates in
their own wards are greater than the
presidential candidates, and they are
the men who poll the votes for them
selves and everybody else. They are
the wheels, the locomotive, in an eiee-
ton, and the parochial candidates are
the motive power; and an election
without them is very slow coach.