The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1889-05-24
THE Farm.
Farmers, Gardners, Horticuitu,ists,
Dairy and Stochmen are requested to
Write for this Department.
About Voting,

The following clipping from the
american Stochmdn on the above sub
ject is very suggestive. In some Of
the States voter is required to pay
poll tax, or capitation tax, before he is
allowed to vote. Whether we should
not act transversley in this is question,
and compel the men who absent them.
selves from the polls without cause, to
pay the tax while all who vote should
go free The concluding paragraph.
1--WE must think for ourselves and act
upon our convictions" is advice so
timely to be administered to farmers,
that we place the article in this depart
ment.
The town elections that were recently
held, in some instances furnished val
liable lessons that should be studied.
In an Illinois town that We have knowl.
edge Of there was a startling and dis
couraging apathy on the part of the
people that, unfortunately, was fairly
illustrative of the conduct ofthe Amer.
icau people at large. The rumshops
and the things nominated ticket. One
half of the town is dotted with rum
shops, and crowded with thugs. The
other half has no rumshops and the
people are decent and respectable. Did
the thugs elect their tickle? Yes.
Why? Because they outnumbered the
decent voters? No, but because .fce
thousand of the respectable element
never went near the polls. 1t is diff
cult to find language to properly char
acterize such an Indifference to the
public welfare. Indeed, it is utter in
difference to the Indifferent individuals
own personal interests. The most Of
these five thousand passive traitors to
the best interests Of the community are
property owners and fathers. But,
shutting their eyes to duty, and snap
ping their fingers at the dangers which
their own neglect causes to threaten
the safety of their property and the
safety of their children, they live
through an election day precisely as the
dog that sleeps en- the mat at their
door; live through it unmindful Of re-
spousibility and wholly reckless Of con
sequences. In order to get such PEG
Pile out on election day, dozen or a
hundred men must spend weeks of val
liable time in buttonholing, coaxing
arguing with and persuading them to
do what? Simply to do something in
their own interests; simply to act fer
the protection of their own property;
simply to induce them to show some
interest in the welfare of their own
children. It is utterly disgusting.
Yet that is what a comparatively
few are doing with the many all the
time. Thousands Of men are showing
no sort hf interest in themselves, their
children or their property. The years
come and the years go, and monopoly
goes on robbing these sluggards; parti-
sanship, often dishonest and often cor
rupt, goes on l,ading them into enmity
against themselves; legislatures 60 on
slappiag item in the face; officials
elected by these very people plumber
them without let-up year by year
assessors compel them to pay most o.
the taxes; Wall street locks up theil
money, and while few of US kick anc
put forth our best efforts to arouse the
sleepers to look after their own inter
ests, they sleep on or else awake Ions
enough to kick the man who aroused
them from their slumbers. In thi.
country we strut about and boast of oul
individual freedom of action, and de
light to proclaim the individual al
American sovereign. The man who
does nothing politically to protect him
self is not sovereign and not FREE
man. He is slave, He amounts t.
no more than the humblest serf of Rus
STA. He is as completely under al
autocratic official power that is ovel
him as is Burmese under a drunken
profigate king. Under our system o
government we can, as individual cit
zens, be sovereigns if we will. We cal
assert our power if We like; we car
make tickets and elect them after they
are made. and we can make ofiic ial,
tremble, if we have the mind to. Blu
we cannot do it by going 10 sleep; We
cannot do it in servilely following
party leaders whether they are RICH; OIL
wrong, and We cannot do it by folding
our arms and permitting few to do al
the work that there is to be done w