Custer chronicle. [volume] (Custer City, Black Hills, D.T. [S.D.]) 1880-1890, 1886-11-13

is constable or coionef? Government
is a paradise. The best governed Da-
ton is that which is governed the least
In this happy land, under the eggs OF
the American eagle, our officials are
mostly ornamental. Their chief use is
to regulate the spiggot Of taxation.
When the stream becomes too large the
people get mad and change hands. In
the meantime the fellows who come out
of Office amuse themselves by yelling
Reform" Nothing breeds such patri,
ot,sm as to be IN the minority. Every
man firmly believes if he had the order
i'm Of things, matters would be different.
There IS "a constant demand for new
men. It thus happens that the first
time n man runs he is strongest. After
the public has voted for him Il few times
they grow weary of him, denounce him
as "A politician and proceed TO kick him
out in favor ofsome one else. In this way
civil service reform advances on first
principles. Let the philosophic soul
deeply ponder over these facts and not
take it seriously TO heart if his party
has been beaten in the contest nor be
unduly elated if it has been successful.
Time is a great leveller, and generally
the thing mp. Ohice-getting is, of
all pursuits unsatisfactory. IL gives "A
youth of hard work and anxiety for an
old z Of poverty and neglect. Its
pathway is paved with abuse, disap-
pointment and toll, and then a new
generation comes up who neither know
nor care for the past, but shelye the
best public servant because he is old
and his day is over. In the light Of
past experience the American states
man has had "a hard time of it. History
shows us hardly n who spent Il serene
and happy old age unless he had gone
into his office with this provision al
ready secured. The examples are
many. Jefferson selling his library To
congress. Webster overwhelmed with
the opportunity of his creditors and
going home to Marshfield to die, Il dis
appointed and heartbroken old man.
Clay with his debts paid by his friends.
Calhoun, embittered by defeat and by
the consciousness that his hope Of the
presidency had forever departed, and
sowing, in spite, the dragons teeth that
were to spring up afterwards in such "A
bloody crop of armed men Sumner
welcoming death as a happy release
" liiC IluuIIlidlIDil lllul Iltb bttll
heaped upon him in his last days by n
nation that he had done SO much to re-
deem and a party that he had founded.
Lincoln in the full tide Of success cut
down by the bullet Of the assassin.
Garfield, whose thread Of life was sew
cred by the impulse of a crank. Blaine,
with the golden prize dangled within
easy reach and then suddenly snatched
away in the hour of victory by the eff
fects of Il sentence, that, mumbled from
the lips Of a senile admirer. cut sharper
than "A two-edged sword. These are the
men who have achieved the rewards of
politics. These are the men who have
won enduring fame and whose names
are recorded upon the page of history.
If this has been their reward, what must
have been the fate Of those who have
missed all the prizes while they have
shared in all the disappointments; the
numbers who have toiled aud struggled
and gone down without ever having
taken one sip at the bowl of fame.
Think of the men who have gone into
politics until their heads were worn
bare and their shoulders peeled aud
who have tasted of nothing bat the
dregs. Not only are the woods full of
them but every little town and cross
roads has its man who has e2saved to
tread the path that leads to greatness
and been left behind with nothing but
the consuming desire to get there at
some time Or other, and still the mum.
Der increases.
why any man and especially any
Young man should want to tread in their
footsteps IL q mystery. And so We adj
wise u readers to BE calm and TO take
a philosophical view Of the situation.
satisfied that the result will not affect
them one way or the other"