The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1897-05-16
SOME RAMBLING THOUGHTS.


talk together about TRAITORS Ina So
failure Major-General Benedlct Al AloiN'
with his passionate temperament ms
extravagant habits, his 1ashloliapie
wife his delayed rank ana many ms
foolish attempt to Illuminate MS hat0u
compeers. is known to every chIiu do
the traitor. Unhappy man, ms ndni0
is buried beneath mountains u 'iie
most awful obloquy, and MS cdl eel 10
made to give point to many spe0eA'
as if a man were able to prove MS own
patriotism by pointing out some one
eIse's lack of it. Now palIioil9iii -
not a negative thing like thal' 1t Is
Pharisiasm which prompts man -
cry out to a Witnessing worm anu d
recording heaven, 4 thank God L am
not as this poor traitor. BEFORE hlsh
heaven swear that l would never be-
tray my country" There IS the eE
lasting rebuke to meet, that the hrst
to cast a stone should be slhlesS one
s. X
Bear in mind that in Arnold's time
the principle of democracy were beng
tested but also bear in mind that they
have also been tested in no less degree
at any moment since Great dangers
are not always noisy and battle-lke;
they NAV be silent as the work Of king
fishers. crawfish and muskrats along
the levees Of the Mississippi, and the
more DANGEROUS because of their 81
lence. 1t seems clear to me that ma
ton that lives and grows is never out
of the experimental stage; it never can,
until it dies. take a definite, unchang-
ing place in history, and be spoken OF
as having a sure and certain glory or
shame A nation sunk deep down in
unprogressive ways, like Denmark
quarter of a century ago, may pick up
and show enterprise, and nation ike
France lifted to the very heavens by
its privileges. may be so untrue, in its
individual life, to the things that are
good and pure and loyal to nature that
it's future becomes a dubious one.
Thus we Americans must never lose
sight of the fact that our vast area is
merely a great stage, on which an eX-
pertinent in government by the people
is being tried on the grandest scale in
the history of the world. So because
the outcome has just the element of
uncertainty about it that all other eX-
periments have, it is ours to work and
watch and wait to remove every posi-
BILE hindrance to a progressive proof
that government of the people, by the
people and for the people" is such a
success that it need never perish off
the earth" as a thing that has been
tested and thrown aside.
But as in a field the contest is with
weeds, so<in our Government the battle
that have been-I say they exist, not
merely in the pages of a school history
to be held up and execrated as things
that have been-Isay they exist, not
there and then only, but here and now,
as perennial as weeds, as stubborn as
disease as dangerous as powder. They
do not prowl around with guns and
cannon, then sign and seal no unholy
agreements, they cannot be found Turk
ing near explosives with torches.
Where are they then? Let US away
with them." you say. But go gently,
lest perhaps your mothers son be
found among them.
Traitors are those who occupy posi-
lions of trust and forget that they are
public servants; traitors are the voters
who condemn house servants for ineffi-
cheney and discharge them, yet cringe
and crawl before public officials as
though they We're Of superior flesh, for
getting the while that every such Off
cial would be as naught save for the
people who placed him there: traitors
are legislators who promise to hey the
will of the people, and straightway do
the opposite, bringing shame and public
doubt upon the very home of good laws,
without which no nation can live; trait
ors are the selfish men who buy the bod
their will with them for a price; trait
ors are they who, forgetting the blood
shed for their welfare and their privi-
leges. hold up their votes to be bartered
over and purchased. so that great ques-
tions asking for unbiased judgment are
looked upon through the alluring glass
of monetary gain; traitors are those
who. living under free and thrilling
government whose strength is its reli-
ance on the hearty cooperation of the
people, take no more share in its active
support than a Bushman or a Hotten-
tot or a Russian serf. Every indolent
voter. unappreciative of a condition Of
life and liberty and individual influence
that down-trodden nations gaze at witt
longing eyes; every unjust Judge bring
ing his high and essential office down
everyone who never looks at a question
except from a point Of gain or loss L
himself-aI these, l say, are making
US tremble at the cup of wrath, which
by the immutable laws of outraged OPP
portunity. gradually fills up to be held
to the lips of a nation found worship
ing an ideal Of sloth or wealth or con
scienceless selhshness.
Search them out and see how near
your own doorstep you win come, Their
ply yourself with the question as L
how TO better conditions-not in dis
tant State. but right whore you live l
can be done in part and by very slmpl'
means. if you VIII but undertake it
Fasten on your own mind beyond al
chance Of escape the lack of apprecia
ton that is shown when a man tacitl,
accepts, like a hungry animal. fre'
from wars alarm. all the protection il
his rights. and then feels no call &
make even the slightest return unles
1t be of still further personal gain L
him Then remember as clinching fac
in the self-lecturing you have been en-
during. that a man is responsible as ia
as his influence reaches. and that tina
influence begins at home. Jerusalem
was kept clean by every man sweepinl
before his own door. and the cleaning
and lettering of our political condition
IS 10 be effected by the same simpl
method.
would not dare 10 thus write to yoI