Morning journal and courier., 1883-04-16
goarnal aIlo Gourisr.
Monday, April 16, 1883.
AS GENERAL RosHcRANs SEES IT.

General W. S. Rosecrans takes 8 rather doleful view of the working of free govern ment in this country. As he sees it public faith in free government is undermined by the continual public assertion of the mon strous solecism that the people. can govern only when organized into party instead of body politic backed as this assertion is by the actual fact that our government has be- come one of party under which opposing parties have no rights that the dominant one is bound to respect. Our public Ieeislation has given us innumerabls crude and often conflicting laws; loaded us with debts, muni- cipal, State and national, large percentages of which result from ignorance, recklessness of responsibility and corruption in expendi- lures. It has burdened us with direct and indirect taxation almost too great to be borne even by a people full of life and energy, blessed with the riches of still virgin soil, unrivaled. timber and mineral resources, and continually reinforced by a strong annual influx of vigorous and trained industrial immigrants from other civilized countries. Public employments are very generally be- slowed for personal partisan services, and administered with the primary object of se- curing and maintaining party and personal ascendency, instead of for the public inter- ests and are multiplied to pension party ser wants at the public expense. Everywhere large sums are spent to secure offices of mod crate salaries in expectation of regaining the money with compound interest indirectly, and by ways unknown 10 the toilers and tax 0,1k oE rvl ,o1I During election campaigns immense amounts are expended to disseminate partial, errone- ous and false information, designed to obfus- cate and ensnare the public judgment to buy the votes of those who, not having been taught that they are trustees, care little who rules-all with the firm determination that these amounts, and much more eventually, shall be gotten back out of the people.
 This describes very bad state of affairs and there is enough of truth in the descrip- tion to make it impressive. But how shall the evils General Rosecraus complains of be cured He has plan which he thinks will work. In his opinion the indispensable du- ty of every State and Territory in the Union is promptly and at it's own expense to make out and keep always accessible and convenient for reference lists of the voters ; to provide for and furnish each voter with authentic and timely expressions of public opinion and public intelligence as to the char acter and qualifications of persons to be voted for; to facilitate final expressions of the will of the voters through the ballot box ty nlak- ing voting easier and less expensive than it now is to the voter; to provide cheaper and more convenient ways of getting the views and legal expressions of the intelligence and will of ths voters on aH inannrtaut naasars Of political and administrative interest
 General Rosacrans would thus haye much political work which is now done by party managers and their henchmen, and very thoroughly done, too, done by the State. His idea is that ''the voter is trustee crea- ted by law and must exercise his trust &C., cording to law and the best of his judgment and conscience for the common veal ;" and that ''the commonwealth, for whose benefit he exercises it, is bound at it's own expense to furnish him every needed facility for the exercise of this trust" It is very doubtful that his plan if carried out woull result in such an improvement as he thinks it would.