The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1883-11-16
SPIRIT OF THE PRESS.

THE fact remains that q very large percentage
of the voters in thai State Massachusetts fail
70 vote through apathy and indifference. They
do not feel that interest in public affairs which
is the first dnty of every good CITIZEN. And this
is as true of the people IN every other State as IL
is of those In Massachusetts. 1t is not an encOur-
aging fact, but it is a significant one.-New York
Herald.
THE sentiment favorlng prohibition may be
led or reasoned with, buJ III cannot be safely de-
spised. antagonized or ignored. 1t is "the great
unknown quantity" of our politics and will, very
likely, he n stumbling block and a snare to tho
very smart" politicians. Only an honest heart
and a clear head can meet successfully the new
situations that will he developed by the temper
ance 1ssues.-New York Tribune.
For their own good. convicts should be pro-
ductively emplOyed ID, and there IL no reason
why their labor should not he so directed thnt
it will pay for their maintenance. II this is
done, the products Of their labor mu5J in some
way enter the same markets with the prOdu Is
of other labor. Nobody can work without COM
peting with others who work, but it is for hO-
body's benefit that others should he maintained
in idleness at the general cost.-New York
Times.
ALL devices to better'the condition of the de-
graded poor i'll all lands Will fail lust as long as
the causes that make men poor and degraded
are upheld. 1t is vice and the persistent gratih-
cation of base and infamous habits which breeds
this array Of social rnttenness that testers in ALL
great cities, and no mere change in the cnnsIruc-
ZION of tenement houses, or Increase of apid
transit, or of homes with pleasant surroundings.
established and upheld by law, will uproOC the
evil.-Phliadelphia Press.
THE aggregate extent of illiteracy in the whole
country is so great, and lis possible evilinfuenca
upon the future of The country so powerful,
that If it were allowed to continue tho effect
would be appalling to think of. In every state
some effprt is being made to educate the masses,
but it is IA work for II generation rather than for
a year, and the limited resources of the ednca-
tional systems in many of the States serve to
discourage the workers under those systems.
while the number of ii!iIerale voters Is not less
ned.-L0nisviile Commercial.
IT has become rather stale business 10 exhort
the United states government TO keep faith with
the Indians. There has been preaching of that
sort ever since the country was settled. and tho
best we can say is thar matters are rather better
now than they ever were before. The treatiuent
of the indians furnishes Il fair example of the
kind of government people without representa-
tion are III the habit of receiving, and it is nor
unfair to infer that, had not rhe Southern no.
groes been enfranchised, they would nave been
considerably worse off than they are.-ot. Lou's
Globe-Democrat
"a TARIFF for revenue only' is not now the
sentiment of any great party, and the party that
iuclineS to such a dOgmaw viii be beaten out OF
sight in both North and South at the next presi-
Dental election. 1t was most unwise for tho
free-trade madcaps TO force such an issue in the
choice of Il Speaker; but since they have decreed
that Randall must stand or fall on :ne issue OF
free trade as the cardinal policy OF the Demnc-
racy, the defeat OF Randall for Speaker would
be the first, if not the fatal, Democratic blun,eF
in the Democratic suicide of 1SS4,-Philader
phia Times (Dem.)
THE colored orators who are denouucing the
recent decision of the Supreme Court as 'dia-
bolical," because it has merely defined the con-
stitutiunal limit between federal and State au-
thority, would do a service 10 their race by drop
ping the agitation for equal privileges at the
dinner-table long enough to attend to this vastly
more important matter of equal privileges at the
polls. The law gives black people the same pO-
litical rights as white people, and the Same
means OF defending their rights and it is only
necessary for them to stand up and take what
the law allows.-New York Tribune.
AT this time the sheet-anchor of the Demo-
cratic party is Mr.. Tilden. He it is who is sure
of carving New YORK.. and either 0f those TOdI.
ana Democrats, Mr. Mcdonald or Mr.. Hendricks,
can be counted upon In season to carry Indiana.
President in 1884. SO, whether the ordinary
sensible Democrat regards Mr.. Tilden as a can
didate or not, he has the profunndest respect for
the fact that 1t is Mr.. Tilden's physical health
alone, as reflected in the doubt of his candidacy,
which stands between tde Democracy and vic
tory. The man who occupies chat position holds
the key of the minor political situatiOns.-Luuis-
vile Commercial.
MIR. ARTHUR will clearly have the advantage
of having been tried and not found wanting,
and OF having made a creditable, clean and re-
spectacle administration. He has seen his sal
walton in civil-service reform, and has accepted
it very heartily. He has dickered with Malone
disgracefully, having had q wreUched example
set him by the United States Senate, but kind
Providence has interfered for his correction. He
is not SO great a man as Edmunds or Thurman,
but ne has the happy advantage OF having done
better than he was expected to do, q virtue
which is more captivating than even first-class
ability. If events should beclOud his present
rather serene prospects,, Edmunds and Lincoln
would make a ticket which would more than ill
the vacancy, and would take care even of tho
colored vote at the South.-Springfeld Repui-
lican.
IT is the higher law throughout the States of
the southern COnfederacy that the right of suf-
frage extends only to voting the Democratic
ticket, and that the true intent and meaning OF
Democracy is the subordination of the people at
large to those who were engaged in the rebellion.
Whatever may he the liberality of the people of
the United States, we think 1t is not their pur-
pose to accept the rebels who had to lay down
their arms as the ruling class. The young men
of the North were Impressed with the enOrmity
of slavery, because in sought to impose upon
them political inequality. Now, shall the South
ern rebels gain power in Congress through the
acknowledgements of the blacklist Shall the ex.
confederates vote for blacks and whites, so that
the vote of one Southern white man shall count
as the votes of three or four white men IN the
out ain o,, nooo,to