The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1896-07-04
OFFICES N OFFICERS.
Sam Jones Speaks Of This Phase
Of American Life,
Says che Hope OF Any Country L.sr
IN b Parity OF Hex on
clals-The Voice OF the
People.

noes ana olncers, Every other fellow
you meet is an official in somethino-
he is a national, state, county. citv.
church. lodge, convention, board 81
trade club, or some other Official. and
every fourth woman is an officer in
something. She is president secretary.
OF the proud holder of some Office in
club, society, league, card party orsome.
thing. Most of those who have no Office
are hunting one, and many of them
playing boot-liek to those who have
offices to distribute. When a fellow
begins to show-Xou extra c~ordiality YOU
may know that he wants to sell Won
real estate or stocks, negotiate a loan.
write you for insurance, or pet YOU to
leg for him in securing Office. One Of
our secular papers noted the fact that
when ex-Gov. Taylor made his first lee
ture in Memphis no. one called on him.
When he came to Memphis a few weeks
since his room was crowded. On the
first visit it was generally believed that
this popular platform man would never
again quit the lecture platform to dis
tribute offices, but on the second it
was clear that he would again be gov
crnor. See? This bootelicking, office
seeking, o~fice-trading, and honor
swapping business is cutting the grit
from under u craftsmanship and our
manhood. Offices depend on Doodle,
wire-working and swapping honors,
and the pandering to the powers so
much that it is no longer a question CT
who is fit, but who can win. The ques-
tion with the officer is no longer what is
duty, but what is popular or what will
secure this or that other office for me
when my present term expires. The
people, discouraged and hopeless, have
turned the politics of the country oyer
to the professional bosses and govern
ment pap-suckers, and are looking on
in amazement, to see the end-"vox
populi vox DEL" but the voice of the pol
itician is the voice of the devil.
The hope of any country lies in the
purity of her officials, and the only
reason that we have not gone to utter
rot is in the fact that we have a few
honest, true, unpurchasable officials.
Some of the best men of our country
tuNG A4AE0 Jul kISdVy
good men have salvation, but the
work and power of these good men
have been largely checkmated by
the villainy of the corrupt professional
politicians in Office. The moral and
financial condition of this country for
the next half century is now in the
balance. The agitation is now going
on. The catastrophe is now on, and in
this Political upheayal the great conti-
mental mountains will be formed whose
awful cayerns OF magnificent heights
will destroy or delight for years TO
come. No surer did the great ~catastro-
phe centuries ago form the Appala-
chan and Rocky mountain systems
than that the agitation now going on
will form great fundamental systems
in our country that win last 100 years.
The advance of scientific discoveries,
the advance of machinery and the con-
sequent change of labor, the settle
ment of our whole country and the
occupation of all our western lands,
the discovery of the resources of our
whole country, and the adjustment Of
our manufacturing interests and labor
problem, the settlement of our for
eign relations, the settlement of our
monetary basis and the settlement Of
the saloon question-aII these and more
are in the present upheaYal, to say
nothing of the new woman and tights
and boomers. The next ten ear are
to be stormy years-full Of earthquakes
in the civil, social and religious world.
l am hopeful of the outcome, but every
thing depends upon our intelligent
leaders. And first of all we need in
telligence and independence in the
rank and file of our citizenship, for
the people first lead for a leader and
then he leads the people. The leader
IL the product of the ballot in the
hands OF the common people.
Give us o pure, honest, patriotic pres
idcnt, the balance of senatorial power
lying in his veto or signature-and the
Proper manning ofmany Office e being in
his hands, we may be hopeful of our
chief official.
Let us have wise and good men for
our United States senators and we may
hope for much in national legislation;
but in drunken carousals, inkstand bat
ties, boodle-huntipg lobbyists-self-
seeking politicians to quarrel and fight
and wrangle and kill time in Washing
ton-things look dark. The most hope
full sign Of the times is in the judiciary
of our country. This has been the great
bnlwark between us and anarchy.
What we need above everything is for
the voice of the people to be heard-and
the yoke of political bossims to be
broken. Our Offices are supported by
our taxes, and when the citizen fails to
pay his tax the officer takes his prop
erty, but when the officer fails to do his
duty the citizen meekly suffers. Why
not demand of our officers the execution
Of the law On the surrender of the office?
II the policeman and sheriff and pros
ecnting attorney do not properly arrest
and bring to trial the ~violators Of the
liquor law, the Sabbath law and every
other law let the voice of the people be
heard. If the grand jury and other
Juries do not find true bills and make
honest and speedy convictions let the
voice Of the people be heard. If the
judge does not do his duty let the voice
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