The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1892-01-26

| powers as dominant section i party,
and few tyrants were ever more I'm
merclful to opponents. Every patriot
must view with alarm the growth of
| any great power in his country. The
| Constitution was made to protect the
| people against tyrannical majorlties, to
| protect the weak against the strong,
and to protect the States against the
| Nation.
The chief organ of the party is the
| press. 1t helps to control the eCpreS
sion of public sentiment. 1t cOlors
| thought. 1t advertises men. 1t mini
misses its enemies. It magniies it's
friends. 1t discusses, but often throt-
ties discussion. 1t helps to shape the
| standard Of public alteration. 1t often
reflects the interest of capital. 1t fre-
quentty voices the sentiments of its
| stockholders. 1t is often as fatally
conservative as the love Of money. 1t
Is blinded often by the fetch of Ortho-
dOXy. Now when such a power becomes
| essentially partisan, when it has made
| the voice of a party convention its sol
standard of right and wrong, when 1t
| tries every question solely or mainly
by its effect upon the party, when 1T
has allowed itself to become pecuniGrlty
| interested in the domination of any
! party or class, it becomes an unsafe
| guide for the people. The people need
to hear dIsCussiOn-perhaps even par
tiBan discussion, if no better can be
| had, but they must treat 1T as the argu-
ment of a paid advocate, and not as the
charge of an impartial Judge. 1t Is not
wise TO turn nothing but deaf ear to
! partisans. The wisest among them are
| paid, and well paid, for what they say,
! and they say it we'll They have, from
| a partisan standpoint, studied carefully
what they teach. Hear them if you
| will, but don't let them make you
afraid to hear any body and everybody
| else, partisan or non bipartisan. Men
! interested will ever proclaim what will
| advantage them with fiercest zeal You
| cannot stop them, but you can prevent
them from cOnfOunding your interest
with theirs, You can prevent them
| from cutting off the consideration of
every thing but what they say. You
can prevent them from naming the
men who are to represent you.
The people are complaining that the
| parties are too much controlled by
special or corporate interests. Let
! them take as much interest in poll
tics" as corporations do. Are politics
| dirty" The people made them SO by
| 1SttNluS LIGUl W Tic COIISfOA OL CLOSC
| who make money out of them. Do the
people know really little of the affairs
| Of the gOveT:mAut-" their govern
ment, " as it is sometimes called? They
| have encouraged campaigns of sectional
| abuse and partisan agitation, and have
uniformly hOnOred such as were lead
er5 in such campaigns. They have
uniformly hOnOred such as sought Office
! by controlling conventions. They
| have set q premium on secsiOnalism by
! h0nOring sectiOnalists. They have
allowed personal interest to always IN
| fiuence, and often control nominations.
| The result Of all this is crop Of office
| holders In Washington for quarter of
a century who do not lead in any re
form, and who only pass the most
needed legislation when forced to do so
| by an agitation at home too strong to
be resisted safely. An Oficeholder of
| this sort IS called conservative and
safe"
The people in this State have lately
! nominated candidates they were 50
suspicious Of that they had to pledge
them IN acritjng. Can our people be
! thoroughly In earnest if they trI1e so
! with their interests and reforms?
| 1t will be some time yet before there
| is much relief. An entirely new set of
national legislators must be trained
! and then elected. These must be
| trained in an atmosphere of free
thought and free speech. The negro
question hangs like a mill stone
| around the neckS Of these two virtues.
| We can never have any real financial
reform until there is the utmost freedom
| of discussion. In the light of suC1 dis
cussion, small men and small issues die.
The reason some newspapers ridicule
or pass over in silence everything non
partisan, IS that they are afraid to
trust the people with what they them
selves know. They are afraid of the
overthrow Of their party if the whole
truth is told. They virtually confess
that their party could not stand to have
the full light turned on. Much of
modern partisan newspaper censorship
is affecting to ignore what is going OF. :;
an old trick, but we'll understood now.
Light! In Gods name, lightl Who
| is afraid of it except him whose deeds are
evil? Milton says the Almighty whipped
the devil out of Heaven by flashing
light i'm his face. This is the way to
fight him now. In methods of dark
ness he is at home. He first discovered
such warfare. Throttle all the discus
sion you are mind to, he will beat you
st that. Cover arguments you cannot
answer with the darkness Of suspicion
and silence. This is his approved way
of killing truth. Say that agitation in
jures business-that is what he, though
a cOppersmith, said of an apostles
preaching the Gospel. Talk ever of
parties instead of principle, for the
devil PIRATES ever of churches instead of
religion.
A celebrated philosopher has said
that next to being right, be absolutely
wrong Don't stop half way. Don't
be 80 fearfully afraid of publishing a
Iittln hnr.nsE II nav rot hn hnrnsZ