Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1880-10-07
Sound Principle Of Political EconO.

my.
1t is sound principle of political
economy that occasional changes in the
controlling power of Government are
essential to a sound and healthy admin
istration of the Government and to the
prosperity of the people. Especially
in Government like ours, where party
rule obtains to the extent it does, is an
alienation of public control between
the two parties, at intervals more or
less remote, essential to the public well
fare. Long and uninterrupted continu-
~nce OF the same party in power per-
petuates the authority of the same set
of men, and leads naturally to the
formation of rings and all sorts of cor
rupt combinations and abuses grow
up in the public service under such
conditions, as naturally and abundantly
as the scum and fungoid growths gath
er upon the surface of the stagnant
pond. 1t has always been question
upon which men have differed, wheth-
er or not the existence of political par
ties is not productive of more hurtful
than beneicent results to a country !;
but it is the general judgment that as a
means of securing rotation in office and
a careful scrutiny of the actions of those
having authority, whatever there may
be of evil in them is more than bal
anced. Certainly, the very end and
aim of political parties, the only thing
which makes them tolerable, is
that they may act as check
one upon the other, and preserve
the purity of government. by standing
in judgment upon each others official
acts; and in order that they may so act
it is necessary that the administration
of the Government pass from one to the
other at intervals. Human nature is
much the same in all parties, as it has
been in all ages of the world. and the
longer the same party or faction retains
the governing power, the more does it
attract to itself the vicious, the dishon-
est and the disreputable elements of
the country, and the more does the
government and the administration of
public affairs fall into the hands of those
incompetent and unworthy to exercise
it; and it becomes a necessity, in order
to purify what has become corrupt. to
correct what has gone wrong and to
make healthy what has become I'M
sound, to change the control of public
affairs from the party which has con-
troll to the one that has not. We be-
lieve that with the Republican party
this time has come, and that the public
interests demand and need a change.
The Republican party has been in pow
er for twenty years. which is about as
long lease of power as one party
ought to have. 1t succeeded the DEM
ocratic party in control of the Govern
Il L. 10. nl-o
to say but that change was needed
then just as it is needed now. The
Democratic party had been in power
for long time, and abuses had
arisen within it, as they will al
ways arise when the lease of pow
er exceeds its proper limit. The
time will always come in the history of
any party when its retirement from
power for a season is best for the coun-
try and best for itself. In its latter days
the Republican party has grown COR
rupt. 1t has fOstered rings and encOur-
aged abuses. 1t has attracted to itself
unprincipled adventures, and made
itself the refuge of demagogues. 1t has
engendered public scandals that have
brought shame upon us as a Nation, and
instead of Furnishing its criminals it has
defended them, or sought to conceal
their crime. The men who are prOmi-
nent in its councils, and whom it seeks
to elevate to places of trust and honor,
are not men in whom the people have
confidence, but are unworthy trickster5,
disreputable politicians, and men whose
integrity is, to say the least, doubtful,
and whose names are far from stainless.
There is grave suspicion that there are
many things connected with the adj
ministration of public affairs kept con-
cealed from the people that they ought
to know. The collection and expendi-
ture of the public money amounting to
hundreds of millions of dollars yearly is
something which deeply concerns the
people, andupon which there rests much
Obscurity. 1t has been asserted and
upon very high authority, that
millions of the peoples money have
disappeared and left no trace, that
the Treasury books and records have
remained so long in the hands of the
same men that the truth cannot be
reached while these men retain control.
tits said the books are full of erasures,
torn pages and similar indications of
crookedness. All these things call for
CuduSe. Lie puIliCsttiOH VI tuc puDItC
service and the interest of the country
alike demand it. Finally, the Republi-
can party through its long lease of
power has developed dangerous ten
denotes. 1t is always dangerous to en-
trust the same men or set of men with
power for too long time. Parties are
but aggregations of men and men do
not as a rule surrender power until they
have to. The tendency is always to
the perpetuation of authority. by law
full means at first, by unlawful means at
last. As 1nisgovernment becomes the
more pronounced, as corruption be-
comes more wide spread, and abuses
more rank, 50 does the very necessity
for covering up all these things prompt
the party to greater efforts to prevent
its adversary from obtaining possession
Of authority. The men who have now
through the Republican party posses
sion of the Government have been
guilty of what they do not want the
people to know. They shrink from the
that they know would
come if the Democratic party were to
succeed them in power. What is the re-