Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1900-11-15

Wnen In0maS JenorSon delivered
his first inaugural, which has become a
classic, he enunciated the Democratic
creed. Among the points of that creed
is this: Absolute acquiescence In the
decisions Of the majority, the vital
principle Of republics, from which
there is no appeal but to force. the vi
tai principle and immediate parent of
despotism." He was the chief priest.
apostle and prophet Of civil liberty.
He knew the American people thor
oughly. Their absolute aequiescence
in the decisions of the majority" Is the
most amazing feature of our American
citizens. Had a man from the moon
landed on our shores on Nov. and
strolled into wrangllng groups Of our
citizens, heated with argument and en-
thusiasm, he would have concluded err
roneously and prematureiy that, no
matter how the election went, we would
have revolution. By Nov. he would
have observed, to his astonishment,
that we all acqulesced In the decision
of the majority and that there was not
even a riot of any considerable proper
tion except where people imbibed too
freely. And this absolute acquiescence
in the decisions of the majority" is our
crowning glory as a people and the
's.'ct anchor of the republic. To vote
ones sentiments Is q great privilege.
The ballot box Is q great leveler. Suf-
frage IS a powerful weapon. John G..
whittier's foem entitled '7The Poor
Voter on Election Day" is well worthy
of careful study. Here IT is.
The pro0dest now is but my peer.
The highest not more high;
Today, Of all the weary year.
king Of men am 1
Today alike are great aud small,
Tie nameless and The known;
Ny palace is the peoples hail.
The ballot box my thronei
Who serves today upon the list
Beside the served shall stand;
Alike the brown and wrinkled fist,
The gloved and dainty handl
The rich is level with the poor.
The weak is strong today;
The sleekest broadcloth counts no mora
Than homespun frock Of gray.
Today let pomp and vain pretenss
Ny stubborn right abide;
set plain mans common senss
Against the pedants pride.
Today shall simple manhood try =.
Tie strength OF gold and land; =.
The wide world has not wealth to bry -
The power in my right handl *
While there's grief to seek redress u
Or balance to adjust. 3
Where weighs our living manhood less
Than Mammon's Yiiest dust;
While there's right to need my vote,
A wrong TO sweep away.
Up, clouted knee and ragged coat;
A mans man todayi
The worst feature Of our system is
that from the moment q man becomes
candidate until he ceases to hold
Office every liar ia the land appears to
have carte blanche to SANDER and vii
ify him. It's a real pity that the
campaign liar is not condemned to
have his tongue burned full of holes
with a redhot iron. as were other liars
in the olden times. In one respect pub
lie opinion is In a transition period.
We have progressed far enough to
squelch the duelist. but we have not
progressed far enough to give n man
substantial damages when he is SIAN
dered. Until the people are willing TO
do that the campaign liar will have
full swing. Occasionally somebody
shoots one Of them. The more shot the
better.
Government of Connecticut.
Up in Connecticut they have never
yet succeeded in evolving a state gov
ernment based upon the consent of the
governed. Each year it gets further
from 1t. Every ten years. just after the
census Is taken. they have little agi-
tatIon upon the subject. and again 1t
goes over to the next census. while
yearly the situation grows worse. /
would respectfully suggest that "the
folk OF the wooden nutmeg" come to
Missouri and see how we do it.
The trouble in Connecticut Is this:
Hartford has 100000 people. and Dog
willie has 500 DogyIlle has one repre-
sentative in the state legislature. and
so has Hartford That plan was adopt
I'd when Connecticut was colony and
has held ever since. many. notably the
Hartford Courant. opposing change
because of It's being time honored Gus
tom. old as the hills. venerable and
musty. Old things are sometimes the
best That is the case with whisky,
but because old whisky is good should
we Insist upon using old eggs?
The census returns show that Hart
ford has grown so per cent in ten
years, that New Haven has grown SO
per cent. while the little villages have
grown scarcely any. Up there the
state is divided into towns or town.
ships. aud it looks as if the thing is 80
fxed that, should Hartford grow to the
size of New York, 1t cannot change the
plan. Two legislatures in succession
must vote for an amendatory measure
before II can become a part Of the
state constitution, and OF course they
will not do 1t. The country and the
city seem to always align themselves
on opposite sides. but so long as the
present arrangement holds the little
towns can defeat the big ones in mat
ters of legislation. OF course the coun-
try members of the legislature win not
willingly rellnQuish their power. Thus
In Connecticut we have taxation with
out (adequate) representation for the
Inhabitants OF the cities.
Strangely enough, It was the infu-
ence OF Connecticut which put into