Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1885-01-23
The Degradation Of Politics.
Prom tho Century for January.

The campaign which has recently
closed has beene1ceptlonal in many ways !
chiefly ,>ecauee ssf. The damage which it |
has wrought upon public morals. The i
nation cannot for 70 many months resolSe /;
itself into con.inea,a school for scandal |
without suffering untol,! injuries, and !
generations will PISS before the harvests
will all he gathered from the seeds Of
corruption sown in this campaign.
Not only have innocent minds been
polluted by the vile stories kept in :ircu-
)a,inn, and honest conscience* perverted
hy the speciou. rcasnRings about the
lava of hoaor and honesty, The amount
OF tricke7y and falschncd employed in
TIE "Dnduc; otthis canvass by newspapers
and public speak ers seems TO It's ",tagetb-
er unprece,lcnt'd> TIE meMe"y tha.
recalls with ,ivitluess Er or ten pr"si-
DENTAL elections will no! report any such
wi,le.s spread deceit and duplicity as lha
which has oversl'-e>G lhe nation during
Che last few InUulhs. Irath is moi,
indeed, tx" inaia quest Of the average
political campaigncr. 10 hiN politics
is war, and victory is the chieI end. He
will tell any truth that will injure his
antagonists or favor his own cause; be-
will conceal any truth that helps his foes
Or hurts his allies. Blu; this species OF
political warfare has his year been worse
than usual
The campaign has Aeen notable not
only for i,s peryersion Of the truth, but
for its comparative aisuse Of sober and
earnest discussion. The chief depend.
ence has not been upon argument, bu,
upon paratlcs and what are called dem
onstra,ions.' 1t is true thai professions
and spectacular devices have long been
Eesorted to la this country; IN the great
campaigns Of 1910 and 1914 lacy were
employed 10 i considerable extent, bu,
they were Tot the main reliance The
parade took place in the carly part OF
the day, and in the afternoon and even
Ing The multlludes gathered to listen tt
great speeches. to hear careful and mast
erIy discussions Of the leading question:
Hf state. There was misrepresentation:
and abase 1hen--Ao lack of it; but tier,
was, at any rate, an apparel recognition 0
the fact that the voters were intelligen
beings, and al evident assumption that i
was more important to convince thei
minds than to stun their ears or dazzl
their eyes. So it was in war time, an!
in the days just before the war; the ~
peal to the ntelligence Of voters was ia
more emphatic than it is to day.
The great political meetings this yea
have beeu mainly matters OF torches au{
bands and banners, and red light ant
Roman candles; the discussion has bee
pushed off toward tho midni ght hours
whea everybody was tired out. and nea
)y everybody had gond to bed; and tn
daily papers. faithfully reporting tn
monster assenblages, have given us thre
columns descibins the sights that we,
10 be seen, when they have given as Oh
column telling as Of the things that wei
said. 1t is 70 this that campaigning
these latter days has degensrated, and til
sign is not good Such method IS e
sentisl|y boyish, if not barbarie. II {:
presses an estimate Of the popular INTEL
genes which is not, let Us hope, 3 ju
estimate. The forces on wh!c
tbs parties seem chiefly to depend al
physical forces; noise, parades, spectacle
'1elnonstrations,' strike the physic:
senses, and do not appeal to the reason
Doubtless there are reasoning beings
these capArisoned companies; hut or
would say beforeE and that the maA wi
consents to bedeck himself with tins
and tru,npery, and goes marching uigl
after ight to show his cheap reyailia.
not likely to be very profound s;ude
of poli,ica! questions. If the tim: whic
has been spent during the last ,hre
months in dsvising gaudy uniforms, az
beating drums, and carrying kerose1
torches, had been partly devoted to sou
serious inquiry into the questions At
sue between the two partie,, 1.-The COUNT
would have been in far better conditie
to-day.
To know that elections are carrie
chiefly by such methods is huMilali.
to every man who takes the trDssbie
think asou! the welfare Of the Republi
1t is u sign Of that EZRA of small partie
ofwhich De Tocqueville SO wisely speak
when the greater issues Of Wise an
righteous administration are lost sight
in the scramble for place and powe
The government Of this country is
great trust; it can he adm Mustered on
BY serious aud Intelligent men-by N
who have had different kind OF traiui
from that which IS gained in firing SIX
rockets and leading torch.ligh proc,
sions
We do not wish to be understood
cendemuing all parades alike. The
were genuine and, we believe, since
and useful demonstrations of II
kind during the past campaign but tht
were not gotten up by the orainsry pc
teal managers, but the spontaneous {
preston of deep and strong convict
BY business men and other citizens "
rarely take part in such affairs, and "
did not think it necessary to deck tho
selves for the occasion in unusual a