Montgomery County sentinel. [volume] (Rockville, Md.) 1855-1974, 1890-01-17
THE A UsTRALLAN SYSTEM

Of the law and which seems to have ema
pm a reliable and experienced stand
have ever held that il is the province
Every newspaper, as it is the duty of
every good citizen, to give its support and
1.-THE weight of its influence in the establish
iaent OF all measures that are right and fair
that have in view the happiness and pros
perity of the whole people. 1t is particu,
larry so with the newspaper; it has grown
to be the medium through which public
thought is reached and controlled it finds
It's way into the homes of the rich and the
poor, INTO the shop of the artisan, the Off
GERS Of the counting room, of men of trade
and business, and silently works its way
into the confidence and conviction of the
people. 1t is no longer the organ of polit-
ca success alone, but is called into the aid
oil every scheme or system that involves the
cooperation of numbers, whether ii be re.
ligion, beneyolence, or social or political
economy. A statesman Of the last genera
ton declared his willingness to let Others
make the laws ii he might write the ballads
of his country, but the ballad has, in these
nited States, been replaced by the leading
article, and he who would know what
orm legislation will take in the coming
year must look to the ideas inculcated by
the press of to day.
> 1t would seem that the great object con
templated in the Australian system is the
absolute abrogation OF the growing evil of
bribery that is gradually undermining the
very foundation of our government and de.
grading and enslaving the honest yeomanry
throughout the entire land Such healthy
legislation has our unqualified endorsement.
The American citizen should never for,
! get that all questions which come up in the
action of the General and State government
are to be settled by the moral power OF pub
ic sentiment In our system there is no
room for violence. Every means of con
trolling public sentiment may be employed,
opinion may find utterances in every shape,
the press is free, popular meetings may as.
semble in any number-all that can be ac
complished by persuasion, by appeals to the
most energetic, by all the instrumentalities
of moral power may he brought to bear
upon political questions. But force nor
bribery must never be employed, never
thought of. The acquisition of office through
the degrading influence of bribery should
I've scOrned by every honest man Popu-
larity and office may be bought AT too high
h,, xpifh hi al 4;
from the sentiments of an eminent English
Judge, uttered in the midst OF a fierce popu.
lar excitement "lt is true" said Lord
Mansfield, al love popularity, but it is that
popularity which follows, not that which is
run after, the popularity which sooner or
later is sure To crown the pursuit of noble
ends by noble means
Whist, therefore, we approve of the main
feature in the Australian law, as an en-.
tlrety. the system is too complicated--the
machinery is too intricate, too much of it
aud too expensive We are in favor of bal
lot reform as will be thoroughly effective in
preserving the purity of the ballot, bat we
desire 10 see il established in accordance
on home ideas and not imported forms.
1t has been but u few days since John
Greenleaf Whittier celebrated his eighty.
third birthday, and Mr. Gladstone his
eightieth. The lives of these two great men
have been as divergent in their vacations
and ayocations AS two lives could well be-
-.
scholar and orator. But in the common
judgment and estimation Of men OF thought
they are honored ID their old age chiefly for
the same great and noble quaiiy--that Of
integrity OF purpose and deed in the work
oil human progress The one is u man OF
peace, singing sweet and quiet songs, with
others that are noble and patriotic. stirring
mems hearts. the other is man of constant
political acton, having been for the greater
part of his ife leading actor in politics,
always controversial often aggressive For
years he has filled England with the elo.
quent and earnest voice of the ad vocate and
disputant, and kept in ferment parliament
lary proceedings. His cont buttons to lit.
tinguished even among literary men, and as
statesman and orator he has taken un.
questioned place in the fore front of Flu.
ropes public men.
1t grows more and more difficult to excuse
the extraordinary conduct of the devitaized
Administration at Washington in refusing
to recognize the Republic in Brazil and TO
give 10 il that moral support and enconr.
agement which our government under all
former Administrations has been eagerly
alert To extend 10 every movement for the
adjustment of monarchy and the establish
ment OF popular self-goverment By way
of excuse the Administration organs and
Republican Senators have told us that the
Provisional Government at Rio de Janerio
Is not Republic at all, but military des-
potism. Yet the latest news from Brazil is
that ar official decree has been issued pro.
claiming the separation OF Church and State
and guaranteeing religious liberty to all the
people. The best the Republican Senators
can do is to take up Senator Morgan's reso-
luton and pass it, thus freeing themselves
from further responsibility for Mr.. Harr.
sons extraordinary course in the matter.
The death of Judge VIM. ID. Kelley re-
moves from the National House of Repre-.
sen:atives striking figure. He had served
continuously for twenty eight years. For half
that time he has led his delegation, and for
Zen years he has been the accepted leader of
the Republican majority at Washington.
His career for generation has given visible
reiItation TO the frequent falsehoods that
public life offers neither permanency or use.
fulness, that it is open to the rich and closed
to the poor, that districts drop tried servants