Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1886-07-23

rant constituency, ill-ftted to deal
with the problems of government, or
to form just conceptions of the du-
ties of the citizen. Those who seek
public Office, in order to secure their
votes, pander to their prejudices and
passions. They try to be all things
TO all men, and swim with the pre-
vailing current. Hence, those who
ought to be leaders are but follow
ers of the incompetent crowd, and
legislation, instead of being inspired
by sound intelligence and honest de-
sire to serve the country well, takes
its tone from self-seeking schemers
and a mass of Uniformed voters.
We'll does Emerson say: "The spirit
of our political economy is low, and
degrading" The people are feared
and ftattered. They arr not repri-
manded. The country is governed
IN bar-rooms, and in the mind of
bar-rooms. How true this is. is
shown by the Nation. It SAYS that
in New York city there is, on an
average, a liquor saloon for every %
voters; that in Philadelphia, there
Is on an average, one saloon for every
20 voters, the proportion ranging
from one saloon to every eight voters
| in the worst ward to one for every
so voters in the most respectable
ward. Well may the Nation call this
an alarming condition of affairs and
say: at is no wonder that the liquor
saloon and the liquor dealer have
come to be controlling influences in
municipal politics"
Continuing his Indictment Emerson
says: "The low can best win the low,
each aspirant for power vies with
his rival as to which can stoop the
lowest and depart widest from him
self" "Parties keep the old names,
but exhibit a surprising fugacity in
creeping out of one snake skin into
another of equal lubricity, and the
grasshopper on the turret of Faneuil
hall gives proper hint Of the men
below" "The record of the election
now and then alarms the people by
the all but unanimous choice of a
rogue and brawler. But how was it
done? What lawless mob burst into
the polls and threw in those hun
dreds of ballots IN defiance of the
magistrate? This was done by the
very men you know, the mildest,
most sensible, best natured people.
The only account of this is that
they have been scared or warped
into some association in their mind
of the candidate with the interest of
their trade or property" If such
crimes against the ballot can be com
United or condoned by respectable
men, what can we expect from our
lower classes? Surely there is great
need of more light and political
virtue all over the country, to pre-
vent such abuses and secure good,
honest government for the degrade
ton of our politics is due largely to
low conceptions of the duties of the
citizen.
Citizenship is a trust. The state
endows the citizen with certain
rights which he is expected to use
to promote the common welfare.
1t protects his person and property
and leaves him free to act as he will,
having due regard, always, to the
equal rights Of others. Take from
him all that he owes to his fellow
men in the social state and he would
be relegated to the condition, not
merely of the savage, but Of the sol
ltary savage; for the union of men
in even the most barbarous state
brings some advantage to every
member of the body. 1t is because
he owes SO much to the state, that
it has the right to demand of the cit
lzen his best service IN all ways,
even to the laying down of his life
in its defence. Yet men use the
state and all its advantages as if they
were merely providential arrange
ments to serve their own private in
terests, unmindful of the duties they
owe in return for tn c benefits they
receive.
The duty Of public spirit is one of
the highest that We all owe. Most
men leave the execution of law to
the officers of the law and seem to
forget that it needs public sentiment
for its enforcement. Some men find.
ing q bridge out of repair, pass on if
they can get safely over it and do
not stop'to put up danger signal
Ii there is a nuisance in town, dan
gerous to the health of the commun.
ltY, how many men are willing to
protest to the person responsible for
it, especially if he is a man of wealth
and power? If theignorant voters
have fallen under the lead of some
favorite demagogue, how many in
telligent men are willing to risk de-
feat and political discomfort by fac
ing him, and trying to win his fol-
lowers by showing them their duty?
The great majority of ourmost en-
liohtcned mon have for q lnnr timn