Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1897-06-05
THE NATIONS DANGER.

-
Bepiami, R,,,arvor,h,. u.u,or,., or..,.r
at PhIIaacinhi. W. A. Dr,,,,nr A..
From OId TIss The Con,,rx In cr.a,.,
Danger Noyx Th., uh.n s,u,... W..
Fired Upon- -poi,tica, Corr,nt,nn s.,,,n.
the Nstion., IT,
i"iHAphbfhiA june L-ueh. DuI
terworth's Memorial day grafton at
Laurel Hill was n remarkable one. He
wac cloealv l;etorod 30 h., ,,.nu +ho,.
s.a. - -.
'"n"' Vi people ueh' putoer"orth
was accorded hearty welcome when
he arose to sneak. and seldom has "a
memorial day orator oon,,andad sroh
49, ...e..9 .
eio'o "'Vehtioh' ne said III part'
THESE exercises are not for the dead" he
SAID. Ihey are for the living We best honor
the soldler dead by an incorruptible purpose Ia
Keep the republic they gave their lives to save
IL mas been truly said that no battlefield OF the
world showed more gallant daring more
heroic devotion, than our own. All this.
however, re,ates to generation ago.
The dead we mourn are of duty
forever They have kept their watch. To-day
It Is with the living, and not with the dead, we
nave 70 do. The dead heroes OF the republic
Worthiiy kept watch on the walls and now the
inquiry arises what We the survivors, are do
ihgf Is our conduct worthy oftfo dead and the
country Tor which they died? Merely paying
tribute IN words TO the dead Is but mockery. Z
"The course OF all republics has been toward
the rocks. Our own is the same, and for the
same reason. The theory OF our government Is
that men VIII preserve that which they prize
most nigh but they do not, 1t is said that the
people love liberty and home above all else and
tnat IL would be absurd to say that they would
destroy That which makes life worth living.
lheoretlcaily mat Is so. Practically, IL is not.
Love OF freedom and home is no: the out
growth OF reason or intelligence, as is obvious
from the fact that the wolf Will hight to the
ueath LOT elther or ootn The wolf doesn't rea-
son ihuch ABOUT 1t, ana knows little about re-
publican ldeas or philosophy. SO love OF free
oom Is an instinct. Wolves don't have any or
ganzed society No wolf gives any part OF his
freedom to uphold some artificial arrangement,
some social compact. But in a government
which is organized for the protection of society
and the members thereof we do surrender
part of our national rights to promote the well
fare OF the whole country.
And there's the rub In that social compact
we have to surrender certain natural right and
observe certain rules in order to promote the
good of all and protect the rights of the indi-
vldual members These rules are supposed to
be founded in justice and morality. And this
is notion which in theory is true, that men
want justice and morality. To obtain that is
our hope. In that is our strength. and in the
departure from the principles Of morality we
Will find and in fact, are finding, our ruin. In
| actual practice, every man wants every other
man to be good and true, while to himself he
wants some latitute along the moral line and q
certain free and easy relation with truth and
honesty.
DUTY OF THE CITIZEN,
"In politics he knows that il Is of the first
importance to be honest and truthful. In prac-
| tice he doesn't think it will win And as a tenn
porary advantage is OF greater account to him
| than the permanent good of the multitude. he
| lies and corrupts everything and everybody to
the extent necessary in order to win. And this
is taking our country to the devil faster than
ten armies. led by Lee and Longstreet could
| possibly do
| II propose to talk plain English, and If any
| thing else is expacted | am not the man Won
wanted for this occasion
| Let me ask again. upon what hone did our
fathers build: Love of liberty, supported by
intelligence and virtue among the people. They
| encouraged religion as essential tn the we'll
being of the people They established a system
of universal a,I,cation in order that onr nao,Io
migbt hacome inteI1ivant Tbns thew nroy;ded
| for intalIic,orca 70 i.1ou rhat 10 DO ard raIi
| giorv samaritan 10 comnel tho doino ~ tbot
| which ia rioht They nonted TO Heaven and
nictured the horrors of bell as a means of in
fucine, tho neonle 10 do wali
I've nnst not forgat the nracise re,otior each
citizen hoars IN the government thar he is n
nart of IL II is strone in bis intelIiganca and
bonostr T, i wal, H., his irroro,,aa aa Ii
honesty The cjtiyen writes the law from bis
hearthstone.
"Phflosophers and statempn of the old world
who know and understand the preiudices and
passions Of men. who are familiar with the his
tory of every attempt OF the psople to govern
themselves have no confidence whatever in the
effort of this neople to govern Themselves
They said tho world womb witnes. inst what
u,n 10 in tac, ,yit,ass to-dov--tba, ysoItb
would corrnnt and damogogue. mislaad tbe
na,nIo and the cns would he thar revolution
rd a,,ar,h, ,,iil er,.aoJ tho ro,nhIic ord
sna1, ,he torr;aad and terrorjzod naonio viii
gosl, sofet, under tho nrotec,ion n, man IN
horseback
Are there present with us conditions which
warrant the belief that what has been predicted
of our republic would come true, and shall we
refuse to call attention to the facts lest we may
offend those who are delinquent whose intu-
ence.is far-reaehng for evil and who may con-
demn us
what relation does the citizen sustain to the
government? Let this relation be freely under
stood. Remember, the law that governs the
moral world is as certain and as inevitable as
the law OF gravltatlon. Like causes produces
like effect in both the moral and physical
worlds. Those who offend must pay the penal
ty not more certainly in the physical than in
the normal world.
THE republic is in more danger to-day than
when Fort Sumter was fired upon. There are
influences that are making for ILL., We have
plenty of education, but education unless leav-
ened with morality simply fits the man to be
an expert scoundreL Our country is in danger
because corruption in our politics Is as common
as election, and corruption in our municipal
and state legislatures is as common as luncheon
al noon.
In almost every municipal ana state legisla-
ture there is an organized oandittl that de-
mands tribute and sells legislation. We know
this to be so. We do not guess it. We all
know it. You know it in Philadelphia and you
il in Pennsylvania And it must STOP or 1t will
ston the wheels of this republic.
''VP '''N - .s.,,c
phlf riNe iNio ANAhChf
THE influecces are ripe and ripenlng to de-
stroy our government unless we turn aside
from the way we have been going and adhere to
nrincinles rather than to party. There are too
many men who would scorn dishonesty in
nrivate affairs who encourage Il in politics