The Monitor. [volume] (Woodstown, N.J.) 1884-1892, 1892-01-22

- $50 49, A@&
nenE ThEtsFstern calls Tor an untFsmmel-
I'd choics Of representatives,, while as 3 mat
ter Of fact. thrre : scarcely = PTstenee OF
selection By the people through tie force
OF public srAs5uent. Ii calls for ; selection
Of gosrFniaz agents wii1 some regzfd Tor
special 6f1ess. Hr5se in fact gualihcaiIun
practically u lost sight Of IN the hundred
and one considerations Of locality, reward
for part5Szu service vote buying PoEeTs, etc.
Oar eifizsns seen 10 be l2boEing undsr
the hzl~lGcinzt5sn that the! have no eonsti-
t-aiiaozl right to seek cut Bomiozte and elect
msn. Who. IN 0fnce. would still De men IN
TIE s1perlative sense, and would stand
four square 70 all the winds that blow.
Tie MINERAL query IS not "sh0 shall
we nominate bat who are Candidates
and We hunbly zzis to see b patriots
" i'll eon6es1erd TO receive the poor cHsI-
ing Of our support. Like judges II 4 fsHTih
rate county fair. ne wait a helpless IN
ACTIVITY. and choose frora the specimens
trotsad oai b-fo c rs, never dreaming that
se are free 10 select Erom far De5ier stock
ont side. That publie poser Of taking
the initiative. whkh dres the unwilling
Washington from bis MoauE Vernon re-
treat. 10 administer tie Affairs of the
ues government. seems TO tx wholly
lost Men arr selected by this
method. evrTF year, Eho possess seafesI!
any qualifications fer tie positions they
secure ard sbo S0aId have never been
thought oil. had Hey n0s personally pre-
sented their claims. They literally thrust
themselves upon us-z self governing ~
people. eash a system Is 3 tr4vesiy on
representative government. Men Se
Hot fer I trust IL tfli1iDz business
matters, We yet sili trust EIth tie highest
interests of tie Safe Mvn whose natures
you would think too coarse 10 be entrusted
with the handling Of your faYorite stock,
may. under q system. aspire 10 tue care
OF our helpless criminal and II NE. PAiG
service or party pull is the ~shibboleth that
opens 10 the heelrE, the passes of that JJr-
dan, which separates the lbs from the
outs shile tie Ephraimile whose tongue
is trained 10 sentiments OF patriotism
alone, is ruthiessls slain. We annually
test the soandness OF the scfiptufzi leach
ings that men do not gather grapes OF
thorns or figs of thistles, bat in spite OF OUT
effots to prove the contrary, that saying
still holds good in cur experience. Farmers
should Themselves select their officials and
should select them as they select their lab
orers and mechanics, with some regard TO
qualification for the work in hand. They
should recognize the fact hat there is such
a thing IS science in government, and that
to master It will require years Of study
added TO great natural gifts. They should
not make the mistake OF surprising that
any man who is popular is fit TO legislate
or that Votes can turn billed kebbage into
BRAIN"
Personal claims should be contemptuous.
" ignored. Public Office is 3 public trust
and the only claim that can be recognized,
is that based o. oyertowering fitness both
in character aud ability. In the words OF
one of the ablest statemen of our day, If
Office high or low, is 70 be taken 2s a per-
sonai gilt. or viewed as a personal promo
ton, it is lowered in its character, and takes
It's place merely among the lottery prizes OF
life. Bot II it be held as il should be held
and only held, as a trust, the bestowment
of which carries with it its compliment
and its reward, then indeed is the honor
great Bat the very greatness of the
man conspiciously fitted for position
will prevent him from seeking prefer
ment. He will choose, like the desert
flower, to blush unseen, rather than stoop
to seek Of those whom nature has decreed
shall ask of him. The natural born king
will rule if he rule at all, by right and not
by favor. Positive fitness for the work of
legislation is by no means common, and men
who possess it to any considerable degree,
will not be found begging nominations.
Rarely, irdeed, will one who, by personal
solicitations, secures a high position of
honor and responsibility, prove in all things
faithful to his trust. The personal obliga-
tions he must incur. will shackie and con-
troll him. Only he who rides into power
as the free and spontaneous choice Of his
fellows, can bid defiance to the sinister in.
h~uences that will surround him and laugh
temptation in tie face. If it be said that
you nnot secure the services of such men,
| answer, try Ii. You will catch larks be-
meath a fallen sky before you will see them
~buttonholiDg their fellow citizens for sup.
port. Men who would loan dignity for a
position would not canvass for it, like a
fye-cent peddler. II it be said that this or
binary methods of canyassing are distaste-
ful to self-respecting men, then change
those methods. Ii it be said that it would
be difficult TO effect a change, my reply is,
that a change is absolutely necessary or
our government is lost. The havoc wrought
in the morale of our voters, by the corrupt
use of money is simply appalling. All
sense OF public virtue is lost to a ~fearfully
large proportion Of our citizens. With
their manhood forever gone, they will re-
main until death shall carry them off one by
one, an obstruction 10 all reform ard a stand
ing menace to our safety. All the statutory
expedients that can be devised, will never
restore character to the man who once has
sold for gold that regal right which was
his Through the costly sacrifice of hun
dreds of martyrs to civil liberty. There
could be no more fatal mistake thar to
imagine that when our ''leaders"ehoose to
abandon these practices, the evil results
will disappear. A wound has been inflicted
on our body polite that it will take
more than one generation to heal. Like
every evil of the nature of ~blackmail,
this one grows by what it feeds
upon. While men OF professed honor and
patriotism talk of fighting fire with fire,
they and their opponents are in reality
joined hand in hand in a deadly assault
upon free institutions. At tue unwilling
of the Grant monument at Chicago only
last Month, Judge Gresham said: Real
freedom is not enjoyed by the people un-
less the laws are enacted by their honestly
chosen representatives, and their freedom
of action Is as much impaired when il is
c%orruptiy Influenced as If controlled by
force. The man who accepts a bribe Of
any sort places himself In the vilest bond
age. He is no longer free. Argument is
wasted on him. Considerations of the
public veal or woe do not affect him.
Bayonets az the polls would not control