Sharp County record., 1888-11-22

Stoto, that in the great autumnal cleo
tiGns take wild license for liberty. They
oro Nlled with calumny. The editorial
aoIr,,no ~. of such papers reek with it; their
columns are stuffed with It, There are
newspapers in the United States when IN
tbe preat popular elections breakfast ana
dina and SUP on ipdecency They wa'low
n Il Swine like the mire. They give
more for one quill full of it than whole
hogshead of decent product lhere are
in these great autumnal elections men
sittiro in EDITORIAL chairs who write with
quill, not plucked from the stuplu
goose, or the sublime eagle, but from
turkey buzzarl! GhOuls GhoulS! Ihey
tn tba city sewer into their editorial Ink
Glands defamation of character is one
oF tba curses of the American ballot box
to-day In your great presidential cleo
tions who can tell from what he reads
who is tbe man he ought to vote for Bad
men sometimes applauded, good men de-
nOuncad. ,
Another powerful foe Of the sacred
chest the ark of the American covenant
the ballot. box, is the rOwdy and drunken
caucus.
The ballot box does not give any cholc6
to y man when the nominations ere made
in the back part Of a GROCERY Wnen
the elector comes up he has no choice be-
tween two evils. III some OF tho cities
men have come to the ball lot-boX to vote,
and have found both names such q scaly
greasy and stenchful crew they had no
choice. You say vote for somebody out
side. Then they throw away their vote.
Christian men of New York and Brook
lvn, honorable men, patriotic men, go
and take possession of the caucuSes.
First having saturated your handkerchief
with cologne or some other diSinfectant,
20 down to the caucus and take possess
sion of it in the name of the Lord God
Almighty and the American people,
though after you come back you should
nave to hang your bat and coat on line
in the back yard fOc ventilation
In some of the States politics have got
so low that the nominees no more need
good morals than they do bath tub.
Snatch the ballot-bOX from such men.
Where is tho David who will go fort
and bring the ark of the covenant back
from Kirjath- jearim? Do you not think
politics has got to a pretty low ebb in our
day when a Tweed could be sent TO the
Legislature of New York, and John
Morrissey, the prince Of gamblers, could
be sent to the American Congress?
Now, how are these things to be rema-
died? Some say by property qualifca-
ton. They say that after man gets
certain amount of property-a certain
amount of real estate-he is financially
interested in good government and be
becomes cautious and conservative. |
reply, property qualification would shut
off from the balot-bOx a great many OF
the best men in this land. Literary men
are almost always poor. A pen is good
implement to make the world better, but
it is very poor implement to get a live
lihood ordinarily. l have known scores
Of literary men wh) never owned foot
of ground, and never will own foot OF
ground until they get under it Profess
sOrs Of colleges, teachers OF schools
editors of newspapers, ministers of re.
Hgon, qualified in every possible way to
vote, yet no worldly success. There has
been many q man who has not had q
house on earth who will have a mansion,
in HnaEan --------.~N
There are many who through accident
of fortune have come to great success
while they are profound in their stupid
ity, as profound in their stupidity as a
man Of large fortune with whom l was
crossing the ocean, who told me he was
going to see the dikes of Scotland. When
a member Of my family asked a lady on
her return from Europe if she had seen
Mont Blanc, she replied: "Well, really, !
don't know; is that in e lrOpe% TgnO-
rance by the square foot. Property quail
ifcation will not d. The only way these
evils will be eradicated will be by more
thorough legal defense Of tine ballot box
and more thorough moralization and
Chrlstianization of the people. That arr
Of the covenant was carried into captivity
to Kirjath .jearim, but one day the people
hooked oxen to a cart, and they put this
ark on the cart and the cart was taken to
Jerusalem-the ark Of the covenant com.
ing with the shouting and Thanksgiving of
the people. And though the American
ballot box, the ark of the American
covenant our sacred chest has been car
ried again and again into captivity by
fraud and iniquity, and spurious voting.
believe it will be brought back yet by
prayer and by Christian consecration,
and will be set down in the midst of the
temple Of Christian patriotism. Whose
responsibility? Yours and mine.
| charge you, then, as American citi-
zens, to remember your responsibility on
the first Tuesday in November. 1t will
begin early the snOwstorm of suffrages.
1t will snow all day-snow on until noon.
snow on until night. The flakes will fall
in every town and village and neighbor.
hood, the white flakes. The octogenarian
will come up, his hand trembling, and
with specialized eye he will scrutinize the
vote and drop it and pass on. The capi.
talist will come up with bodiamO1ed fl-
ger and the labOrer with hard fist, and the
one vote will be as good as the other,
SnoWtakes will be gathered together and
compacted into an avalanche that will
slide down in expression of the will of
the people. Stand out of the way of itl
In the awful sweep Of this white ava
lanche let political fraud go down thou
sand feet under
You have not only a vote-you have
prayer. The prayer may be mightier
than the vote. Oh, as citizens Of this
beautiful city, and of this State, and of
this Nation, let us do our whole duty. W.
can not live under any other form Of po..
ernment than that which God mas give,
US in this COnntrv Tho ctnr. ~, -. a =