The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1896-08-18

we will support no man and party that |
will use whiskeyi in political campaigns.
II is said there Is q certain county in
North Carolina where the two great
political parties were ABOUT of equal
strength. No n could tell how the
election was going until it had gone,
Each party used q great deal of whis-
key to carry the election. The thing
became a public disgrace. There was
q religious body in the county who
became so thoroughly Disguised that
they determined to right matters, if
possible. They took upon themselves
q solemn vow that they would support
no party which used intoxicating Ii
quors to carry the election. They we're
strong enough to hold the balance of
power. What was the result? They
were the cause OF ruling this Internal
agency out OF the campaigns. No man,
no party, dared, after this, to use it.
Sometimes, think it would be we'll IL
we could form in this State q union of
some kind which would set its face to-
wards the defeat of any man, Or party
that resorts to dishonest methods to
carry the election.
Ne need eve expect to have the
very best government until there are
some radical changes along the lines
which have just indicated.
What kind Of men should be elected
office?
l. Men OF good, upright, moral char
acter men OF integrity men OF high,
noble purposes, who will not stoop to
do mean, questionable things. One
trouble with us as q nation has been
right here. We have been putting
men into office regardless of their
moral character and the consequence
has been In some instances our highest
offices have been filed with men who
rupt in their lives. We have put them
in the highest Offices who have been
just as guilty, and Of the same sin as
Breckenridge Of Kentucky, though
they may not have been as bold and
braZen. Yet, it is an open secret that
mon who have occupied high places in
our State have been habitual adulter-
ers. What an example to set to the
rising generation We SEND q man to
represent us at Washington, @. g., and
we know his moral character is rotten
and his life full lewdness and then we
ask God to bless him in his work. We
put a man in Office who is to all prac-
tical purposes an atheist and an inf
del and then we ask God to bless him
in his work. | tell you, this is ono of
the borderland of sacrilege.
We need men in Office who are right
and who will dare to do right, who will
not only do right in their official acts {:
whose private lives are pure and above
suspicion. And instead Of askiGg our
question, etc., you had better ask the IN
how they stand on the Ten Command
ments and the Sermon on the Mount.
1 submit the following as an appropri-
ate catcchism for our candidates.
l. Are you an honest man?
2! Do you pay your debts?
3. Are you a profane swearer?
4. Are you u slanderer?
8. Are you a liar?
q. Are you an adulterer?
7. Do you get drunk?
| think it would be for the highest
interest Of the country if the people
would subordinate for awhile the
money question and emphasize and
eXalt the moral question.
There is Il more urgent demand for
reform in II morals than in our
money. We need men OF character in
u public Offices. The moral charac-
the character of its rulers. A country
morally degenerate will not long re-
main prosperous. When vice increases,
then the country decliues. Intidcl
rulers cannot increase the wealth of
the people in any respect. National
safety must consist in national &C
acknowledgement of the Divine suprem-
acy."
2. Men who are intellectually quail
lied. Men who are competent / o fill
the Offices. / use the word competent
here in its limited sense. 1t is not
enough for a mar to have a good, sound,
~ D,,n nh ,,n -. h. 1890 LA -
qualifications. "a pious fool may be
as injurious to the State as a wicked
philosopher" What is the use in
sending a man to the Legislature, it
matters not how good he may be, if he
is not competent to do the work which
you send him there to do? What is
the use in sending a man to Congress,
or to the United States Senate, If he is
0 qualified to do the work you want
done there? 1t would be far better to
take the money which you a these
men and spend it for some charitable
purpose. Many mistakes have been
made rigt along this line. We have
put men into Office who have been al
together incompetent to perform the
duties of the offices to w%hich.thcy have
been elected. You need never expect
to have good government until you put
AASA !" hiS LIZ L Sotb uOU
only from a moral point of view, but
also from an intellectual point of view.
3. Men OF courage. Sometimes you
put q man in Office who in 81 certain
sense Is competent both morally and
intellectually but he is lacking in
moral courage. He is one of these
goody-goody, namby-pamby kind of
men. What he needs Is more back
bone. mora cOurage-couragc to stand
up to his convictions; courage to do
the rightregardless OF the conscquenccs
courage to enforce the law, it mat
ters not who Is punished.
But how many are lacking Just here,
How frequently is it tho ease that
officers of the law ave parties to the
violation of the law They are law
breakers themselves. They have
sworn to uphold and enforce the law
but they are q particeps criminus to
it's violation. Not only are they law
breakers, but they are porjurerS. We
don't have to go far to sec this. There
Is a crying demand for a change lust
here. We need in office men Of moral
courage, not only men of sound moral
character and competent in mental
training and attainment, but men who
have the fortitude to stand IN at all
hazards for the majesty of the law and
see that it is faithfully administered
and enforced.
Such officers would be u standing re-
buke to law breakers and they would
be u terror to evil doors.
God grant that the people may mako
q faithful effort to get such mon into
nIiDD IN ~ - NN-