The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1882-10-31
PREACHING ON POLITICS.
A Scathing Arrangement Of Our
Governmental System.
The Dishonest Practice of Former
Years Political Bosses
Growing BroOd-Gehen-
ma America.
From q Sermon by Talmage.

From a sermon by Talmage.
Il use The symbol of the condition
of American politics, Gehen#a, which
religious writers use as q symbol OF
perditiOn GebenDa was a valley out.
side Of Jerusalem, where the carcasses
of animals were thrown, where Offal
was deposited, and where fires were
kept burning. But our Gehenna ex-
lists not in the suburbs, but in the CEN
tire Of every neigbborhood. Of every
town. village, city. Its carcasses rot
on the steps of city balls; its fires siss
and simmer and crackle through the
long night of Gfficial corruption. Those
who have noticed how the bodies and
minds and souls 60 down under its in
Auence need not he told that, like the
valley of Hinnom in my text, it is the
valley of slaughter.
1.-The condition Of state and nation
al politics is appalling. Ispeak with
on, allegiance to any political PARTY.
have all the time purposeIy kept
myself aloof from partisan organiza-
tions. that 1 might independently dis
cuss every moral question pertaining
to them. Bv this 1 do not mean that
l Sit OH the fence in matters OF pol
itics 1 have always voted ever since
was Of age. But never vote what
is called the straight ticket ANY al
fusion to a straight ticket makes me
think Of the man who bought bar
rel of apples and then boasted that he
ate them all not only the good apples
but the wOrm-eaten, the gnarled. the
rotten, so as to be consistent [ pro-
pose to select my apples. Within my
,nemory each party has bad suprem
acv i'll nearly all the states, aud it
seems to me that there has been a
gradual descent in corruption. In
stead of promised reforms we get only
a new set of officers. Hark to that
crash What's the matter now The
great machine f the democratic party
or the republican has been crushed to
pieces. We thank God for the demo-
lition, but before long another cleo
ton comes, another machine is I'm
action, a machine is in action, a ma
chine with large cranks and strong
wheels and wide hubs We have
KILLED POLITICAL BOSSES
for the last fifteen years. and there
never were so many political bosses as
to-day. These young men that 20 forth
into the political arena snust 90 with
ehovels and spades to turn under the
carcasses of the Gehenna of modern
politics. As an illustration of the de-
basement of politics, look at the fact
that Aaron Burr, the debauchee. came
near being president of the United
States. He got as many votes as
Thomas Jefferson, the patriot. The
election was thrown into congress. and
Thomas Jefferson beat Akron Burr.
the dehauchee, by only one vote.
When Jefferson was inaugurated the
Boston Sentinel wrote an obituary of
the American nation. with a monu.
mental inscription. Expired yesterday,
regretted by all Americans, the fed
eral administration of the government
of the United States, aged II years
This monumental inscription to the
virtues of the deceased is raised by the
Sentinel of Boston, President Van
Buren, was always pictorialized as a
fox or a rat. Horace Greely, who serv
ed this land with all the energy of
body and soul was
PRACTICALLY TUT TO DEATH
by American politics. The chief cam
paign document against President
jackson was q picture Of twenty cof-
Ems, i'm allusion to the deserters he or
dered shot. People we're surprised at
the spirit Of assassination that murder
ed Garfield. but the same spirit tried
to assassinate President Andrew Jack
son on bis return from a funeral, and
the president would have been slain
but for a gentleman beside him. who
struck down the assassin. The same
spirit attempted to poison President
Buchanan the day before his insugu-
ration. Tn 1852 General Houston. OF
Texas, attacked member of congress
for some words, and the president APP
proved of it. saying members of con-
gress will learn to have decent tongues
in their heads. The political parties
Of thirty years ago we're slain becausp
of their corruptions. But why should
we go back when the blacklist year OF
American politics was the year be.
tween October 1881. and October
1882! Lonk at the Yorktown celebra
ton. To the great majority of public
men it was q drunken carousal. The
celebration was conducted by politi.