The Jackson standard. [volume] (Jackson C.H., Ohio) 1847-1888, 1884-06-12

| we MuSG U6COHIe SOOu men, take al
interest in public affairs, and see to i
that they are conducted Justly arc
wisely. 1t is not simply the citizer
whose legal and natural rights hav,
been denied to him, who is wronged
but when he is wronged the Govern
ment is defed, the law disregarded
the honor Of the Nation tarnished
and the principles Of liberty, equality
and justice, for which these soldier:
died, trampled under foot. And in
such a case-if there ever should be
such case, the Government of the
people should assert itself for the pro,
lection of the innocent and the pun
ishment of the guilty. If it fails tc
do this it will fail to vindicate the
necessity for its own existence. It is
our duty not only to seek to elevate
the citizen morally and intellectually
but to throw around him such safe
guards as will render him absolutely
secure wherever he may be acting
within the law, and pursuing the line
of life which suits him best.
repeat myself again when I affirm
that we never shall have good officers
until we first have good voters. Dem
agogues-perhaps I should call them
statesmen-tell the people they are
honest, and that their representatives
are to blame for this outrage and that,
but these demagogues speak falsely,
and they know it, and do it for pur-
pose. The root of the trouble is with
the people; they are not always hon
est and often do not want honest men
to serve them. AS rule the repre-
sentative is just as good as his con-
stituents-as the men who made him.
If we would reform the civil service
therefore we must begin the reforma-
tion at home-among the people-the
voters. In short we must qualify our
selves for the proper discharge Of the
duties of citizenship, and cast our bal
lots as our consciences and judgments
dictate, without being swerved from
the line Of rectitude by fear, favor or
affection.
The candidate may be good mixer,
but a good mixer may make bad
officer. He may be good drinker
and liberal setter-up of the drinks,
and still not be safe lawmaker. He
may be good organizer and an adroit
wire-puller, and yet be unfit to occupy
the judges bench. He may have rem
dered the party service, and never had
an Office, and still not be competent
to fill one. He may be our neighbor,
and one who has been very kind to
us, but still it does not follow that we
should vote for him, so long as there
are better men for the place who can
be had for the asking. In the dis
charge Of our public duties no con-
siderations Of friendship, private gain,
Or personal hate should move US. We
owe to the country a disinterested,
impersonal, honest and vigilant SER
vice, and should render it with fear
less and uncompromising independ-
ence.
The things we regard as precious
and set great store by we guard with
circumspection and without thought
of weariness. Our money was put in
strong boxes, the titles to our farms
we scrutinize with care, wife and chill
dren are watched over tenderly, and
to even the dumb brutes we give pa
tient attention. But how is it with
the principles for which these soldiers
died? Do. we give earnest thought
and determined effort to carrying
them QUITO applying them, and en-
forcing them? What did the soldier
die for? Liberty of action, freedom
of speech, equality of rights, the i'm
partial dispensation of justice, and the
equal protection Of the laws. lie by
possibility there is section of this
great country where these blessings
are not enjoyed by all, the end the
soldier struggled for is still unattained,
and duty bids you and me to go for
ward and complete the work | should
be sorry to know absolutely that the
Government Of the people lacked the
power and the will to enforce its laws
and protect its subjects, for if it fails
to protect others it may fail to pro-
tect us, and so our interest in the mat
ter is direct and personal, although
our action with respect to it should
be based on higher grounds.
To stand by alphabetically and allow
laws to be violated, and constitutions
to be trampled under foot, and mems
rights to be disregarded, is to invite
and encourage lawlessness- to per-
NIT the principles for which these
soldiers fell to be thrust aside as
worthless. If we would prevent this
waste and desecration of holy and
costly things, either in this locality
or that, we must be vigilant. Every
blow struck at the rights Of citizen
should thrill the heart of the Nation.
Every violation of the law should
create a storm of popular Indignation,
and be followed promptly by the pun
ishment the offense deserves. The
law never encourages rebellion, never
promotes disorder, never winks at
crime. Your Courts may do it, and
your officers may do it, but the law
itself is always on the side Of justice,
peace and safety. The man who vio-
fates it is a criminal, the man who de-
fies it is rebel, and the community
which fails to uphold the law and
enforce it is sowing the wind and
will in due time reap the whirlwind.
1t would be better for the people that
thousand men should perish in the
enforcement Of law, than that the
lives of thousand men should be
saved and the law disregarded.
When the people who make the
laws become Indifferent as to their ex-
ecutlon, when they cease to insist up
on their enforcement, we may look
for mobs to occupy the streets of our
great cities, for the industries of the
country to be paralyzed, for life to be-
come unsafe, for disorder to increase
and spread and be taken advantage of
by irresponsible and vicious men, who
have little to lose by anarchy, and
great expections from plunder. And
then revolution will follow. The
nnttnrr arill run rcd with human