The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1884-11-19

! comes the demagogue-tne quack doctor
of politics-and his foul breath and false tongue
cause honest men 10 hold their noses and stop
| their ears, IN his presence. If the good men of
| the country will take hold of politics, attend the
primaries and lift it out of the low grounds, and
bring it I'D to the higher plains of decency and
responsibility, the health of the body polite will
so improve that quack doctors will disappear;
and when a political campaign comes we will
have discussion of the principles involved in
the contest, and SANDER and falsehood will 60
with the demag0gue and the quack.
We think it was baPbarie for our ancestors, a
| few hundred years ago, when there was an
eclipse Of the sun or MOON to come out with
drums and kettles and make a great racket, to
scare away the eclipse. And so it was. But
how much less SO for political party to attempt
to drive the opposition from the field by having
the largest torchlight procession, and by yelling
the loudest and longest. Like the Indiana
drain our political pond We will have to es-
tablish a board of health for our politics alone,
and they can cooperate with the present board.
Again l can make the connection between the
alpha and omega of my subject. The late hours
of political meetings. the bowling and yelling of
our midnight parades, the drunkenness which
too often follows and is part of the revelry, I'M
dermining the health of the citizen, are proper
subjects for joint meeting of the two boards.
But neitherthe one board of health nor the other
nor both together, will, work out any reform until
the best mind and heart of the country can be
enlisted in the work. The enervating effect of
poisoned atmosphere and ignorance, or total
disregard of the laws of health, make the human
race easy prey to the pestilence that walketh
In darkness and waSteth at monday. When
the destroyer appears then men will cease
their buying and selling, and panic
stricken, will organize for sanitary
purposes But the enemy has the advantage.
How much better to anticipate his coming and
coolly and wisely prevent it. 1t is the dead and
decaying carcass that attracts the vulture. In
temperance, gluttony and filth in like manner
attract disease. You may think that it is not
just to thus portray our political condition, that
the picture Is too highly colored, that the case is
not desperate, and the danger is not so great;
that the diagnosis of political disease is not
| fairly made. If you so think, l hope you may be
| right and may be wrong l make it on this
| basis. The better citizen is animated with the
/ desire to promote the general good, while the
/ vicious element of society is led by some mer-
cenary and selfish motives. 1t is poor com
| pliment to our common humanity to say that the
latter is the more uncompromising of the
/ two. And yet such is the fact Nir-
/ tue is quiet happy and content Vice
| is restless active and aggressive In
| this land of universal suffrage it is easy to
\ be seen which element the aspiring politician
strives to placate Virtue comes with smiling
/ face and a conservative spirit to persuade, and
I with a reason to convince. Vice comes with knit
| brow and elenehed fists and demands; and while
virtue gently eXpostulates. vice boldly and with
I horrd imprecations threatens, and while the
| latter lack in numbers they more than make uD
! in clamor and political parties and politicians
/ yield to the more aggressive force rather than
risk their opposition, knowing that it is easier to
keep the good citizen in the party lines than the
| hummer. If the latter will not obey the behest
| of party, and rebels his fault is promptly for
/ given and his offense is condoned; but the good
citizen must vote unscratehed ticket every
time or lose his standing in his party If he re-
| bells for conscience sake, the brand of unrelia-
] bility is put on him, and he must wear it and
| abandon all hope of political preferment There
is fearful lack of combativeness in our political
virtue; and from this, more than any other
cause, comes the diseases to the body pol1tle. In
! hygiene we know that dead animal and vegeta-
/ BILE matter in the neighboring pond, under the
| rays of the burning August sun, is poisoning the
| atmosphere, but we conclude that in some way
the air will purify itself, and we go about our
| affairs and risk the consequences.
| In politics we know that the bad elements of
society are polluting the public virtue are con
trolling the legislation and terrifying the courts,
! yet correction of the evil would involve con
| tiict, and we say peace peace, when there Is no
peace and seem to think that In some mysterious
way the evil will correct itself Evil is
evil, and that continually. 1t never corrects it.
self. We are a nation of freemen. No portion
| of the American people are born with saddles on
their backs for another portion to ride on, and a
soldier with a bayonet to Keep the rider from be-
ing thrown. Every man is a sovereign, and
none are serfs- The responsibility of preserving
]
door, as it does of the public health.
/ Yea more, for he may not be able always to coll
troll the one, but he can aid to organize the bet
| ter elements; so, with firmness and courage, he
| can prevent serious disorder in the other. 1t
must be done now, before the health of the body
polite becomes so feeble that it will not rally
/ under proper treatment. If we wait until the
| poison has infiamed every nerve, and diseased
/ every muscle and fiber of our political system,
/ until the delirium of anarchy sounds the note of
[ dissolution
/ is near and certain. Do not put me down as
/ croaker. l am more of an optimist than pes
/ simist | do believe there is yet health and
| strength enough left in the patient if wisely ap-
| Piled to Danish the disorders that so impair
/ his vigor, and threaten his life. Assuming for
| the sake of my subject, that political board of
health has been organized and is now in session,
! is there no work they can do together9 Is there
Il no common enemy against which they can
mass their forces and fight to advant-
I agel Can politics and sanitation, Shout
| der to shoulder make a grand charge
/ on any of the enemies workss They can.
/ Look at that whisky saloon; out of it comes
I gaunt want and shrunken poverty out of it
/ comes ignorance, disease and discomfort. 1t is
/ the rendezvous of the idle horde that 60 from
/ thence to the caucus to vote down good men and
/ vote up their own class. Out of that comes the
Il mob to trample law and order under foot. Out
L OF that comes shattered health, broken eonstitu-
7 lions, derium tremeEs and DEATH Out of that
comes communism and crime. While it pOisons
the blood of its victims. 1t Is also corruptng the
life of the Nation. The treatment must be
prompt and heroic. The patient has yet vigor
enough to surviye-s., If the saloon can be
| closed and the vaS- sums of money that now
| flow into it can be used to purchase homes,
clothing food and school books for the families
of the drunkard, it will not be long until no
more tramps will be seen on their weary pilgrim
ages of want and shame Idle men
will not be seen shivering on our street.
corners, without aim or hope in life, and our
social and political fabric will not be in constant
danger from communistic earthquake, or of be-
ing buried beneath the red hot lava Of anarchy.
The ashes from the crater of the one may be
seen even now, failing here and there, and the
listening ear may hear the deep and portentous
rumbling of the other. Let politics and santa
ton join hands and wisely and firmly apply the
remedy. Let the citizen come out Of the prima-
ry department of parts anship up to the high
school of patriotism and philanthropy Let