Birmingham age-herald., 1894-12-16
SAM JONES LETTER.
Many Evils of City, State and Na-
 tion Cited and Denounced.
A Mighty Effort Should Be Put Forth to Root Up Evil Wherever Found nnd to Relieve a Much Burdened
 People.
lcoPYRIGET, lS9f.l

fOlltlcal raScallty, palIOU-DOX SIulL- ing, buying votes, mob violence, train robbery, murder, arson, and so on and so on.
 A tree is known by it's fruit, There arc trees that bear no fruit and there are trees that bear good fruit and there are trees that bear bad fruit. We can have the second; we need not have the other two.
 In church and state there are no trees that were not planted; there are none standing to-day but such as we would have stand.
 Where politics is debauched, both the legislature and the judiciary will feel it's influence.
 Where the law making and the law executing power fail to see and do their duty they will, sooner or later find they haven't the power to control Q mob or put down the rabble, Good laws are no laws unless executed Off cials are no better than no officials if they don't perform their duty.
 No man can read the columns of the daily press, things happening in the social and political world, without tremor of horror.
 We may talk of hard times, five-cent cotton, bond issues and Cleveland's stubbornness and dogmatic spirit, or commercial and financial depression; but after all is not character hurt worse than chattels, are we not hurt ing worse for manhood than we are for money?
 The infamies of Tammany hall and her utter overthrow; of Tweed and his ring; of New Orleans, with her nasti- ness in municipal life; of Memphis and her hundreds of illicit liquor shops; of Chicago and her anarchists-what are these but the blossoms and fruit of trees we have planted and cultivated?
 With courageous national legisla- tive body that would handle vigorously the immigration question, the liquor question and the Sabbath question; with the cooperation of each legisla- tive body in every state, with each nut nicipality brought into line, we would soon see the sun of a better day and the moon of better night shine upon us; the stars of hope and courage would sprinkle the heaven "lilze a swarm of golden bees"
 The patient is not hopeless. With the vital and reserve forces of the body polite, of the social body, heroic treat ment will soon eXpel the causes and root out the effects.
 s'Is there no balm in Gilead?" Is there no physician there? may be as earnestly asked to-day as it ever has been.
 A nation like ours, the most civilized, %1a inf 70 n earth, can never prosper or be content ed so long as the government demands that the mails shall go upon the sab- bath, Gods commandment ignored. We can never prosper with the govern ment in copar tnership with the in- famous liquor traffic dividing the spells with the owners and runners of distil- leries and saloons and fostering and protecting their business.
 We can never prosper so long as we submit to the constant flow of emil grants which brings it's poisoned our rent into every vein and artery of our national and social life.
 This was meant to be the home of the pure, the noble and the brave who seek to be independent because they were right; 1t was never meant to be the dumping ground for anarchist, communist, vice and ignorance of all the nations
 I have sometimes wished that I could see as God sees, why our national legis- lature doesn't take hold of this and other questions and settle them once and forever. I have sometimes wished that I could look and see as God sees why officials are unfaithful, why mobs are necessary and ballot box stuffing and such deviltry is tolerated. I could then tell tale that would make Amer ica rise and mutiny. could then show them whose dagger made this wound, whose club made this bruise, whose knife made this rent.
 The democrats had the opportunity to do but now what, with 0 majority against them in both houses of con- gress and democratic president. The, house is divided against itself and for two more years at least we expect no Legislation upon vital questions which touch upon our national life.
 When the legislatures of our state meet let us revise and regulate our methods at the polls, let us revise and regulate our registration laws, let us fix it 80 that we know that the man who is induoted into office was fairly and squarely elected. It is a shame on a people to perpetrate fraud at the ballot box.
 Let the governors of each state com mend and recommend such legislation aud tha apforoaroapf If all the lava