The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1883-03-15
DECAY OF Independent rhou ght

OCCdS VI l0ueDeuOenC InOu SnC
Fealty to party is the only me q rs
to success in a political contest,
and when q man is convinced that
that the general drift and pur poses
that animate his party are calcnla-
ted to do the people and the coun-
try more good than those Of the OPP
position party, his highest duty is
to forego his own opinions upon one
or more questions so that he may
help in the general result In our
opinion, caucus is supreme, after it
has decided. The evil, however,
comes in just here. Latter day eau
Gus expressions are not the result of
deliberate thought Politicians go
into caucus with precon-
ceived idea of what will be popular
and they decide questions and form
ulate policies solely with an eye to
what effect they will have upon
their political fortunes. There is
almost total absence of indepen-
dent thought-and men quake and
tremble until they can hit upon the
popular thing and then smite upon
their breasts and exclaim, "Behold
your trusty servantsr' There is no
longer any use for argument or elo-
quence Men bow in meek submits
sion before the awful majesty of
Public Opinion, afraid OF their own
shadow lest a constituent stumble
over it. We have seen our public
men gag themselves, and we have
seen our public prints gag them
selves, afraid to espouse or oppose
until they saw how the land lay, and
when they came into caucus or con-
vention, they gave ear to clamor
rather than right and let justice go
by default rather than risk their
popularity by speaking out for it.
In other days men conceived polit-
zeal opinions from considerations
of right and sought to promote the
greatest good to the largest num-
Der, forcing ideas into party rath-
er than lying lazily and sucking
the teat of popularity. There was
day when newspapers and politi-
clans could not whip through a
railroad commission bill, without
hlving some MAN to challenge. Po-
litical philosophy expresses itself in
"what do you thinkr' Indepen-
dent thought says so do l." Pa
triotism echoes, "me too" Saga
cious craftsmanship exclaims, "bul-
lyp Thus they go pell-mell down
the road to where they think the
'dear people" are assembled to APP
plaud them, while the real interests
Of the people, the country and the
party all go hobbling down to the
devil. II one ventures an opinion
on the tariff, he hands it in with
an apology; if he dares to have a
thought about the state debt that
does not exactly tally with the set
Element, when he expresses it he
lodges; if he is brave enough to
hint that the railroad commission
bill is unwise, he comes to a parry.
We need an absolute revolution
in political methods and an ousting
ing Of demagogs. The evils here
complained Of, in our opinion, CON
stitute the sole ground of our polit-
zeal troubles, and it is getting
worse daily. Machine politics sits
down on pptriotic free thought and
says; Submit! Follow me! Or
dier If a man has any convic-
tions and dares to express them,
he himself is convicted and shot
with pellets of paper and arrows of
abuse. When the party whip
cracks, every man drops. Cues
lions that were once decided by ar
gumert and thought and eloquence
are now carried through like driy
ing mules.
o for men and newspapers that
would stand up in meeting and
talk out without stopping to think
what the audience on the
back pews think! Show US
one and we'll fall down and wor-
ship And what is more, we be-
ieve the "dear people" will respect
and support the man who makes
politics for caucus instead of allow
ing the caucus to think for him.