The Roanoke times. [volume] (Roanoke, Va.) 1890-1895, 1892-03-06
FOR MAYOR.

Election, fourth Thursday, asth May,
1892.
Upon such an announcement an
apology is usual, which may or may not
mean anything; 1, therefore, avoid the
stereotyped excuse that do this at the
pressing instance OF any.
To serve the city Ct Roanoke as her
highest executive is distinction to be
desired. TO execute efficiently tho
honor to tho incumbent and prosperity
and happiness to the city.
These results arc not to be had and
need not be expected without uushaken
fidelity to the public trust, nor without
careful, diligont, panstaking and con.
slant study of measures and of men.
Nothing can be more disastrous to the
prosperity of a city than a general
want of confidence in the official
management of its affairs, and the
ramihcations OF municipal governments
are such that slighs inattention or
inefliclencY or want of official firmness
may produce incalculable mischief, tho
trend of which is to cause widespread
want of confidence, when all errors will
be magnified and small IT, istakes
The filing OF municipal Offices through
the agency of political machinery gen
orally accomplishes this disas trouS state
OF things, tho machinery ordinarily
boing, however, SO compile tie in its organ.
ism that many rnischie vous transac-
tions nre hidden until, emboldcucd by
supposed security from detection, some
gross malfcGSaDco is discovered to the
public that cannot DO concealed. What
hn 10 MI h ,,,It
aroused, the public prcss-that invalua-
Bile watch-iower, from which is thrown
the discovering lightof Official crooked
neSs-iS all ablaZp; admonition and
threats arc fulminated; an apparent
revolution in the purpose Of the people
takes place; honest and cfilc lent admin
tration OF public trusts is demanded;
the fold for good men in the minds of
the people is canvassed with all tho con.
siderations of availability and fitness
and determined resolutions are formed
to have none but con, ciontious and
good men. efficient with all requisite
qualifications, determined that they
will be cautious of their support Of mon
for office. whose duty al will be. not
only to grauplc with those serious aucs-
tions that affect their prospect and
happiness, but upo0 whose Office attends
patronage which may bc wisely and
JuuACiouSly ulSpenScu Win purpose
single to thegood OF tho people, or NAV
be foolishly wasted upon personal and
inefficient favorites who are moro use
1ul on an election day than in any other
service.
What is tho procedure thcE? lust
the same mistake ia repeated. The
politi ,al machine is again put in mo-
tion; the cauldron boils and bubolesthe
usual plstitude OF promises is made; the
favored hero Of the machine is flooded
with fulaone compliments and praise
and is. clothed with attributes that he
is painfully conscious he does not pos
sess and which he is not expected by
the manipulators Of the machine to
oXemplify in Office, and would nc re-
celve such preferment If there were sus-
piciOn that he would.
l do not moan to say that no good
men nor pure officials are advanced to
official position through machine poll
tics, for this would not be true; but what
do say is that the tendency is to defeat
the will OF the people, as expressed by
malorities; TO put men in ollice under
obligations moro binding with the avor-
age man than that OF duty to faithfully
discharge public trust: to cncutnbcr
the offlcia' when elected with private
constraint: to exclude from the possibil-
ity Of public usefulness many cxcellont
and nearly all men of firing modesty;
and finally the tendency is To pool the
Offices, and to distribute them 20
favorites without proper regard for It.
ness, and dealing a dangerous blow at
democratic government and republican
Institutions by means of corruption
fund the manipulatcrs of the machine
purchase votes with as little compute.
ton as they buy eggs or as big tsh swal-
low the little ones.
And herein lies the danger to the
democratic institutions-t this evasion
of the law in the name of government,
which falsely proclaims one man as to
the choice OF the people; this sitting
OF Naboth on high-who was very
good man in his way-to his own ruin
and that OF the people. This is essen
TALLY nihilistic and tends to anarchy,
the precursor OF Imperialism. This is
true as general proposition, but
machine politics, oaneful as it is in
general, is much more seriously felt in
it's disastrous consequences upon the
government of city, all the offices of
which are necessarily and essentially
non-political in their nature. Compara-
tively few people are especially in
terested in district attorney or Gus
tom house officer. for example, but
every one is directly interested in hav-
ing city Offices properly administered.
Politics should have no place in them.
That fact is recognized. Politics will
not do in the business OF a corporation.
Let Mr.. Kimball try it, if it be possible
to conceive of such a thing by him.
Corporate business, whether of city or
of agailroad, must, if success is ex-
pected, be conducted on business prin-
Dcipals, pure and simple. And that COR