Lancaster daily intelligencer. [volume] (Lancaster, Pa.) 1864-1928, 1883-01-03


conscious at last of the unity of our
national life and destiny. In the natural
order of things, one would think the or
ganiZed ideas, in loyalty TO which the |
country was safely conducted through two J
such crises US We have encountered since |
1860, could look for IN almost uninter- |
rupted dominance in the public mind. |
Had the voters of Pennsylvania been
called upon to pass judgment upon the old
questions of principle, or even upon the
opposing parties in the entirety, there is
not the least reason to doubt that they
would have rc-asseTte1 their old Convic-
tions with even greater emphasis than be-
fore. But party leaders, like other men,
must adapt themselves to existing condi-
tions, or be annihilated by them. Prin-
ciples never perish, but administrations
aud Legislatures must never forget that
" a breath can make them, rs 4 breath has
made.'
In Pennsylvania the people have deter
mined upon change. What does this de-
cision mean? To this question three an
swers are proposed one cynical and des-
perate, another pcssimistic and hopeless,
and third patriotic and rc-assuming.
The first express cs the fleeing and wishes
of the professional politician. To him the
change is only L turn in the fortunes Of Il
game, whereby he has lost or won the
stakes for which lie plsyed-the spoils of
place and power. Accustomed to watch
| his luck and /" hedge as often as he can
| and dare, he is perplexcd by one of two
problems only how 10 retrieve his losses,
or how To spend his winnings. The preva-
lcncc of his view is not ut all surprising.
| This class OF statesmen dcspjsc the people
| I,1n rnl for
! their success even more upon the apathy of
the pure and the intelligent than upon the
activity Of the selfish and unscupulOus.
The second view regards the recent over
turn as mere caprice of mobile voters, II
public spasm, IL sentimental convulsiOn.
! 1t is to bc based, willingly or unwittingly,
upon Il latent dIstrust of the people; it i'm
ports Il low view of American manhood,
and a secret, but i'll disguised, disbelief in
our capacity for government. Ii it be,
indeed, we'll grounded, then there is little
hope for the pcrpctuity Of our institutions,
and for that magnificent industrial and
| political development which is the staple
of our nob,eSt day-,lrcams.
But the third view is more hopeful and
patriotic. According to it, this change
marks the beginning of q new epoch i'll our
political life Those who cherish it, argue
that thousands of our best citizens, rcliev-
cd of the pressure of national anXicties, and
unwilling to live forever in the past, are
beginning to study the nature and details
Of state and municipal government rs
never before; are awaking 10 the business
and scientific character of political prob
lens, and have determined to thrust aside
every individual, and every contrivance,
that stands between them and the manage
mcnt of their own affairs. They will no
longer be cont cnt with automatic activity
in politics they demand q conscious share
) in this noblest pursuit of intelligent men.
The people have come to claim their own,
without the intervention of middlcmen.
If this view be correct, then the occupa-
ton of the professional politician is gone.
He belongs to a doomed species he has
outliycd the only environment adapted to
: his nourishment, ard must shortly pass
away. That this is true, is indicated by
our lineage, our traditions, and the charac-
ter Of our recent progress. We are the
!: descendants of men who deticd kings and
rarliamcnts; we are the children of men
who destroyed the congressional caucus,
and created the national convention. Oul
citizens are meeting in their oranges and
/ trade-unions. in their industrial leagues and
" alive to the everyday bearing of politics
upon their own and children's welfare.
: Even the primary meeting, once treated
as utterly beyond the ralc of law, the sport
of the juggler and the rogue, has become
the subject of legislative enactment and
2 protection. Nay, more, even the promises
of party platforms conform to the quicken.
I cd senses of the people, and the necessity
Of other and better methods has received
& certain grave and reycrcntial recognition
in party deliverances.
: But Rome was not built in day, mol
can the political habits of q half century
he transformed by a single degree, ever
though registered at the ballot-boX. If
therefore, condemned political methods ARK
| TO become permanently disrcputablc, the
l thoughtful citizens of this commonwealth
t must be ever on the alert, ready at any
| moment to re-asscrt their strength, and tC
claim the fruits of their own victory.
S Politicians arc willing enough in tho
4 day of the peoples power But the leaders
| of a new epoch must be something more
1 than mere rellectOrs Of current thought and
c feeling. They must be sagacious and in
trepid, more ready to serve the people
| than themselves. Such leaders can live
c only in an atmosphere of intelligence ant
} civic courage. The people then mus
be prompt and generous in the support OF
S real merit; but at the same time they mus
4 make every public servant understand tina
he is servant and not 4 master, and tha
, each and all, the highest and the lowest
I whether paid by the year or paid by tht
; day, must render faithful and unremittine
service.
The people must tolerate no spuriOu:
L economies, 10 counterfeit reforms, nc
l. more partisan stratcgies, no judicial per
: versions, no legislative cXCcsscs, no admin
S istration in the interest of persons OF
classes, or even in the exclusive interest OF
Il parties. They must be quick to discern
!, swift to censurc what is clearly wrong
S and equally swift to praise what is clearly
/. right They must make the men in power
c feel that the eyes of thousands are upon
J. them, and that the day of judgment is al
8 ways going on. But above all, they mus
!. never suffer the conviction to take root
: that the recent changes were only freaks
= of circumstanccs-Only spasms of an un
/. stable public mind-Only the capriccs OF
p rritatcd and transient feeling.
k The Titans will never conquer the god:
e if the gods awake to the combat; tho
d baser forces of society can never pcrma
u ncntly ovcrmaster the purcr, it the purcl
l will only add to their convictions, courage
If their will power once becomes as &C
tive as their Intelligence. The enemies OF
good government will not be idle. Never
so very numerous, they multiply them
. selves Indefinitely by their unccasing dill
+ gencc. Their baieful influence can only