The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1891-07-10

openly defed the will of the over.
whelming majority oftheir constituents
Their amendments first made by the
State Senate Committee to the Baker
Ballot bill were of such nature as to
transform the very spirit of that meas
ure from one in the interest of free
and fair elections to one designed to
perpetuate the corrupt practices under
which the State had SO long suffered
and by which these leaders have so
long retained their power.
"But those who designed and favor
ed these amendments, and who thereby
declared themselves in favor of a
fraudulent ballot, will be remembered
by the voters of the State, and when
the day for consideration of the quail
ficatlons of our public servants shall
have come, the names of those who
have thus defed the commands of their
constituents will not be forgotten.
"For the defeat of the bill abolish
ing the local School Boards in Phila-
delphia, which was designed to free our
public schools from political Influence
and from a divided and cumbersome
control, a Republican legisl ,ture must
also be held responsible. The meas
ure had the approval ofthe great majo,-
ity of our best citizens, of all creeds
and of both parties, and the time was
ripe for its adoption.
THE LOOTED TREASURY
All these statements, while they
touch the root from which the other
evils have grown, find a fitting culmina-
ton In that scandal of more recent ex-
posure = the robbery of the city and
State Treasury by its dishonest guar
dian. Not only must the citizens of
Philadelphia suffer tarnshed name, a
direct loss of million dollars or up
wards, while thousands of depositors
lose their earnings through the failure Of
banks connected with the defalcation,
but those untold and untraceable losses
resulting from the shaken confidence
In the community must also ensue.
''There is fundamental fallacy in
the theory of politics which has for
years obtained in this State and of
which Mr.. Quay has been the leading
exponent. 1t is that public Offices are
spoils, the lawful property of the politi-
clans who capture them and by whom
they are dispensed in turn to their I'M
derlinss as the prizes of war. But the
truth is that these offices are a public
trust, which should be held in steward
ship by the politicians for the people.
The disaster of a looted treasury
is explained by the fact that the step
from this fallacy to the startling and bold
appropriation Of public funds to the
private use of public officers is a long
one in appearance only, not in reality.
That step has now been taken.
"a partial remedy for future trustees
OF the same kind lies in the party's ac-
ceptance and assertion of the truth
that public Office is public trust, and
that 1t will not support in power men
who deny that truth.
"We are soon to nominate an Audi
tor-General and a State and City
Treasurer. In making these nomina-
tlons, if the elections are to give these
posts to Republicans, we must see to
1t that the men chosen are both honest
and of such firm character that they
cannot be twisted to dishonest purp.
oses. In the presence of these facts.
can the Republican voters of Pennsyl-
vanla hesitate as to their duty or be in
doubt as to their course?
A MoMENTOUS CRISIS
"The moment is a crisis, as real and
as momentous as any thorough which
the State has ever passed. There was
a time when Pennsylvania rose in arms
to victory at the presence of hostile
invader upon her border, but the dang
er was less than to-day, when the
hands of the public thief are upon her
ballot-box and have been through her
treasury.
"rhe poison of political corruption
and dishonesty have alike affected
those who have promoted and those
who have permitted it. 1t has produc-
ed paralysis running through moral
causes to material results. Many of
our good citizens have been blind and
deaf to the condition about them until
the vicious system and the evil princi-
pies have eliminated in an appalling
defalcation and increased tax rate.
"None will dare dispute the value
of sound principles in politics. With
a great financial scandal, the black
bottom of which has not yet been
sounded, fastened upon Philadelphia
and with the name of our State a word
OF political reproach throughout the
country we are convinced that the time
is ripe for a change.
"We appeal to the patriotism, to the
sound sense of Republicans through
out the State. or in the absence of
senslbility, to high considerations, to