The Scranton tribune. [volume] (Scranton, Pa.) 1891-1910, 1895-06-15


cellent things, which deserve, equally
with the speech of his which we re-
printed last Saturday, to be afforded
the widest publicity. Said he:
These are times when the wlsest
words are wanted and the careless
should be unspoken. l wish more than
ever in my life for the power to speak
the words which, at time like the
present, are so much needed. The
people throughout the country are at
this moment giving more sober con-
sideration to the duties of citizenship
than probably at any previous period
They are studying conditions In ma
tional, state and city governments
They are rejecting upon their own
responsibility and power in relation
to these conditions. having uppermost
in mind the possibility to improve them.
"'What can we do to better them| Is
the inquiry engaging every thoughtful
mind and which comes almost un-
hidden from every tongue. The power,
as well as the responsibility, the people
are beginning to realize, rests with
them. Their duty they want to know,
and knowing it, they are ready to do 1t.
Force of Public Opinion.
sour government national, state
and municipal, rests upon public opin-
ion. Public opinion creates free gov
ernments and upholds them for good or
for i'll. Public opinion however good, If
Indifferent has no vital force. When
aroused it may check an evil in public
administration, but the evil will resume
its sway the moment the public senti-
ment which arrested it lapses into in
difference. Public opinion to secure real
reforms and hold them must not be fit
full and spasmodic; 1t must be vigorous,
vigilant, steady and constant and as
seepless in its activity as the enemy of
right Is known always to be. Swift as
public Judgment sometimes Is, and just
ly is, in the condemnation of public Of
ficials and public policies, something
more than this is required. Execution
of the public will must follow the pub
lie Judgment. And this is only possible
when the same public is alert and de-
termined that it's judgment shall not be
a cold formality, but living fact to be
respected and enforced.
Zeal after an election is quite as es-
sentlal as before. The cause which was
successful at the polls demands con-
stant zeal for its,practical realization.
The best agents Of the popular Will are
made better by the incessant watchful-
ness of their principals. Not watchful-
ness alone, but support, reinforcement
and encouragement are necessary. The
battle is only begun when the first line
of intrenchment is taken. The army
| is quite as necessary in the engage
ments which are to follow. The cleo
tion only determines public policy. 1t
has then to be carried out. 1t requires
the people cooperating continuously
with the public officers to put into the
forms of law and administration their
| declared purpose. The election settles
much or little dependent upon how the
election DEGREES are interpreted and ex-
ecuted The election only declares the
peoples purpose. After this must come
the fuliillment. for the promises of the
election should always be sacredly
kept. Here comes the tug of war;
| Then Is not the time for relaxation on
the part of the citizen, but for renewed
and redoubhed effort and vigilance. If
then the people become Indifferent, you
may be sure the public officer, however
strong and true and we'll meaning, will
| be Inadequate for the task. The Off
cial Is quick to catch the spirit of the
people.
The Peoples Business.
Government of the people is the
peoples business, and if they neglect
1t, government and people both suffer
The duty of the citizen does not end
when the polls are closed on election
day. He has, by the act of voting. per-
formed an important duty, but the 1854
days of the year remaining each has
ITS own distinct duty, sometimes quite
as important as the one on election day
Interest in public affairs, national,
state and city, should be ever-prescnt
and active, and not abated from one
years end to the other. No American
citizen is too great to be exempt from
any civic duty, however subordinate,
and none too humble to be exalted.
Evey public duty is honorable, and
every citizen should be subject to draft;
If the best citizens will not unite to
serve the state or city, the worst may
and generally will be in control. There
Is in every state and city q majority
in favor of the best government and
when they fail to secure it, it Is because
THE majority is Indifferent and without
unity of purpose and action. Business
men can not, with safety, stand aloof
from political duties. Their success or
failure in their own enterprises is often
involved in good or bad government.
The great danger to the country is in
differentism.
Running Away from Duty.
"This menace often comes from the
busy man or man of business and
sometimes from those possessing the
most leisure or learning. l have known
men engaged in great commercial en-
terprises to leave home on the eve of
an election, and then complain of the
result when their presence and the
good influence they might properly
have eXerted would have secured a
different and better result. They run
away from one of the most sacred OBJ
legations in government like ours,