The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-11-07


the doubtful states, dealing out the infa-
nous iuducement
There used to be bribery, but it held its
head IN shame Ii was under the utmost
secrecy that many years ago a railroad
company bought up the Wisconsin legisla-
ture and many other public officials in that
state. The governor OF the state at.that
time received fifty thousand dollars for
his signature. His private secretary re-
ceived five thousand dollars. Thirteen
members OF the Senate received one hun
dred and seven5y-fye thousand dollars
among them in bonds. Sixty members
Of the other house received from five thou
sand dollars TO ten thousand dollars each.
The lieutenant governor received ten
thousand dollars. The clerks OF the
house received from five thousand dol
lars to ten thousand dollars
each. The bank controller received
ten thousand dollars. Two hun
bred and fifty thousand dollars
we're divided among the lobbyists.
You see, the railroad company was very
generous. But all that was hidden, and
only through the severest scrutiny on the
part OF the legislative committee was this
inlquity displayed. Now, political bribery
de5es you, dares you, is arrogant. and
Will probably decide the election next Tues
day.
Unless this diabohsm ceases IN this coun-
| try, Bartholdi;s statue on BedlOe's Island,
| with upllfted torch TO light other nations
| into the harbor. had better De changed, and
the torch dropped as symbol Of universal
| incendiarsm
Unless the purchase aud sale of suffrage
shall cease. the American government viii
| expire, and you might as we'll be getting
| ready the monument for another dead
| nation, and let my text lnscribe upon it
| these words: ALIAS! alas for Babylon, that
great city, that mighty city, for in one hour
/ ant f-fa
have not noticed that political bribery is
one of the CHASTITY crimes of this day, you
have not kept your eyes open.
Another evil threatening the destruction
| OF American institutions is the solidifyiug
| OF the sections against each other. A solid
norJn. A solid south. If this goes on we
| SHALL after a while, have a solid east against
a solid west, we shall have solid middle
states against solid northern states we shall
| have solid New Y ork against solid Penn
| sylVanla, and solid Ohio against a solid
| Kentucky. 1t is twenty~seven years since
the war cloud, and yet al every presidential
election the old antagonism is aroused.
| When Garfield died, and all the states
gathered around his casket in sympathy
and IN tears, and as hearty kilograms of
| coincidence came from New Orleans and
| from Charleston as from Boston and
| Chicago, l said to myself: ~ think sec
tionalism is dead" But alas! no. The
| Will n6VST De 0uNeO until 6aCl
state OF the nation is split up into two or
three great political parties. This country
| cannot exist unless it exists as one
| body, the national capital the heart
sending out through all the arteries of com
munication warmth and life to the verv ex-
| tremlties. This nation caunot exist unless
it exists as one family, and YOU might as
| well have solid brothers against solid sis
ters. and solid bread-tray against a solid
cradle, and solid nursery against a solid
| dining room; and you might as well have
solid ears against solid eyes, and solid head
against solid foot. What is the interest Of
Georgia is the interest Of Massachusel IS ;
what is the interest Of New York ID the in
teTest Of South Carolina. Does the Ohio
river change Its politics when it gets below
Louisvllle9 1t is not possible for these sec
tional antagonisms to continue for u great
many years without permanent compound
fracture.
Another evil threatening the destruction
of our American institutions is the low state
Of public morals.
What killed Babylon of nv text? What
killed PhBlicia? What killed Rome? Their
own depravity; aud the fraud, and the
| drunkenness, and the lecherY which
have destroyed other nations will
destroy ours unless a merciful God pre-
vent To show you the low state Of public
morals, have to call your attention to the
!
different states at different times are en-
tireiy unfit for the positions for which they
have been nominated.
They have no more qualification for them
than wolf has qualification to be- pro-
fessor of pastoral theology in flock of
sheep, or blind mole has qualification TO
lecture class OF eagles on optics, or than a
vulture has qualification to chaperon a
| dove. The mere pronunciation of some of
| their names makes demand for carbolic
acid and fumigation. Yet Christian men
will follow right on under the political
| standards.
| have to tell you what you know already,
that American politics have supken to sucn
| low depth that there Is nothing beneath.
nearly all directions. The peoulation and the
knavery hurled to the surface by the ex-
plosion of banks and business firms are only
specimens of great Cotopaxis and Strom-
bolts of wickedness that boil and roar and
surge beneath, but have not as yet regur-
gitated Co the surface When the heaven-
descended Democratic party enacted the
Tweed rascahty 1t seemed to eclipse every
thing; but after a while the heaven =
descended Republican party optwitted pan
demonium with the star route infamv.
My friends, we have in this country peo-
pie who say the marriage institution
amounts to nothing. They scoff at it. We
have people walking in polite parlors in our
day who are not good enough to be scaven-
gers in Sodom! | went over to San Fran
cisco ten or fifteen years ago-that beauti-
full city, that queen of the Pacific May
the blessing of Gcd come down upon her
great churches and her noble men and
women! When | got into the city of San
Francisco, the mayor Of the city and the
president of the board Of health called on
me and insisted that l go and see the
Chinese quarter, no doubt so that on
my return to the Atlantic coast
might tell what dreadful people the Chinese
are. But on the last night of my stay in
San Francisco, before thousands Of people
in their great opera house, said: ''Would
you like for me to tell you just what
think, plainly and honestlyP' They said {:
Yes, yes, yesm l said; ''Do you think
you can stand it allF They said: Yes,
yes, yes!" Then" | said. "my opinion Is
that the curse Of San Francisco is not your
Chinese quarter but your millionaire hber-
| tinesm
And two of them sat right before me
Felix and Drusilla. And 80 it is in all the
cities. never swear, but when | sec a
man go unwhiped of Justice, laughing over
bis shame aud calling his damnable deeds
gallantry and p9ccadillo, am tempted to
| hurl red-hot Gnathema and TO conclude that