The Pickens sentinel. [volume] (Pickens, S.C.) 1871-1903, 1892-08-04

|
10 reform. Why a positive cpihemic of
Reform has struck the halls Of Congress.
How much Of this anxiety is due to sim
ccrc conviction OF the needs OF the pco.
pie. and how much is due TO the proXi.
nifty Of election time when the people
will SIT IN Judgment on thor claims To
succeed themselves, | shall not assume
to say. 1t is sufficient to know that
there is no truer indicator OF the trend
OF popular sentiment than the trim
ming" Of the politician. The average
Congressman carefully keeps ono hand
upon the popular pulse at home while
with the other he trims his sails to
catch the breeze. He makes a great
fuss about reform and wei, nigh pushes
those who have forced him to activity
OH OF their own platform, " lille he real
~ docs nothing worth while for the peo.
l'le. Why, you can't get one of these
Gandiddlcs WHO car ago were loud in
| dcnunCallOn OF the suh-trcasury to take
the stump against it. Only a few days
ago | heard QUO Of these candidates who
VAS most pronounced in his opposition
and offensive in his insinuations two
Years ago, positively approve the
scheme, if you would only incorporate
the sub-Alliances.
Some arc sincere, OF course, and we
welcome them To our ranks. But we
arc less concerned with the motive for
the deed than we are with the deed it.
sell and It's significance as an index of
the popular lrcnd We may dcspise
the motive while the fact bchnd the mo-
tive gives ground Tor deepest gratiica-
ton. III our own State the case is most
encouraging. Nowhere has the work of
education been SO far reaching in It's pro.
gress orso compelling in It's sweep. The
agricultural and industrial masses have
50 impressed their demands upon the
| popular mind that those drmaHds today
| stand III lhcr entirety as the deliberate
expression OF the dominant party Of The
| State IA convention assembled. The en-
tire membership Of the order is united
upon those demands. The shadow OF
dissenslOn in our ranks that huug over
our last State meeting at the outset was
happily dissipatcd before tho meeting
closed. All differences were composed
upon honorable terms, and today we
stand compact unit in purpose and
effort. l congratulate this body aud the
order at large that there is peace and
sing leness oipurpose throughout the
brotherhood in this State. Let us hold
trmly to what we have galned, and upon
that lirm foundation build our high ideal
L"t us beware lest in grasping at a
shadow we lose the substance.
Subtle forces have sought assiduously
TO draw us apart on poitica questions
Powerful pressure from without strovc tC
crush us by sheer force, while insiClOus
influences wcrn insinuatcd to dsinte
CRATE our compact mass. Seductive bu
deluslve Inducements to independent 30
lltical action have not been lacking OF
one hand, while utmost PRESSURE Was ap
piled Oh the other hand to force The
membership TO some overt act. | re.
lolce to say to you that the sinister
designs OF some and the ill-conceiveC
desires Of others have failed. No action
Identifying the order with any party has
been taken. Even the endorsement OF
men tor Office by sub.Alhances has tal-
len into almost total dsrepute. The
order has confined itself to educational
lines, and the membership to select their
own party afllliation. AS individual they
have almost without exception gone
into the Democratic clubs and primaries,
and have there stood unilinChlnQly for
our demands with the result, already
referred TO, that the recent convention
Of that party adopted the entire body of
reforms demanded by us. More than
this, in each Congressional district there
Is before the Democratic primary a can
d!datc who stands for these reforms, and
seeks the suffrage Of the people upon
their merit.
With the legislative and executive
branches L1 our State government dis
tinctlY i'll sympthy with our reforms,
with the aVCnu3S 10 National LcglSl alton
closely guarded or contested, there re.
mains n0thin" to bc desired 80 far as
political actjoh in this State is con-
ccrncd. The election OF a President of
Tic Cnitcd States i'll sympathy with
these reforms Is cUnsummatiOn de-
vOutly to be wished. But thoughtful
men will consider well before we leopard
!Ze what we already have, in well high
impossible enterprise which enterprise,
II successful, without Il Congress Of the
right type, could mean little more than
the distribution OF few fat places
among the rCiDrmcrs. 1t Is needless to
say that this would scarcely by fair ex.
change TO our people at large.
But whatever the political action ia
lcrmncd upon by the individual voter,
there can be no doubt about this: the
most elementary sense OF good faith dc.
nands that when one deliberately agrees
to submit his case toa party primary or
other test, the results Of the test a9l ced
upon shalt be supported By all the part
les TO tho agreement. 1t Is question OF
eXpcdlcncc, not of principle, whether we
shall submit our cause TO Il general cleo.
ton OF prOmisCuOus voters in November
or to SPECIAL election orqualllicd voters
earlier III the year. 1t is II question that
ls debatablc uptO the time OF asrcement;
but alter agreement has been reached
and the test has been made, manhestly
the question at issue has been as surely
transferred from the field OF debate as
they would be by the general election,
tor which, by common consent, q special
device has been substituted.
There Is therefore, no moro surrender
OF principle in abiding by the adverse
result Ola primary, or other tests agreed
upon beforehand, than there is in abid-
ing by the adverse result OF a general
election. The prominence oi thIa q IN.