The Houston daily post. [volume] (Houston, Tex.) 1886-1903, 1900-07-29

N"t - ptulehMtnt. DQl IL SnOuld pc
designated vengeance for | dare SAY there
was a mob that pitched its action UPON rhe
onV true principle OF punishment, VIZ.
the prevention OF crime. We hang murder
ers and imprison thieves by law not for
vengeance, but for example TO others GRIM
many inclined. and the example Is not half
SO enecilye by mob as by law. rhore
IS more good TO society in one solemn exec
culloh ~ the State than In a dozen lynch
ings. ! appeal to reason and expeIence
10 say whether the most savage mob that
ever dlsgracsd civilization really prevented
another crime
II you say the law and the courts. by
commodities and delays, make It easy tor
criminals TO escape punishment, answer
IhGt tho law and the courts arc what we
mako them, and that the instant the people
demand stronger expression or the law
ana prompter adjudication of the State :
cases thai moment will the legislatures ANA
me courts obey. Teere Is no evil OF law
.ol process that the people can not abucC,
no wrong they can not correct.
Nine times out of ten miscs/s ages of JUS
tce are caused not by the law or lawyers
or tho courts but by the petit iunes, be-
cause your good citizen, your BUSY man,
VIII almost periure himself to escape ,ary
DUTY service, aud the most solemn duty
OF citlzenshiAis left to few men of exe
allied loyaltywnd horde OF brine takers,
time servers and criminal accomnuces.
Given intelligence and conscience in the
jury box, and nine times out OF ten crime
VIII be punished. Given stupidity ana cor
rurtlon IN the jury box, and the supreme
law giver of the universe can not frame
code that Will punish the basest crime
1t all resolves itself into matter of in
dlVldual responsibility to society. II we
are not separately responsible we are not
collectively responsible, for no quality
can attach to the whole that does not in =
mere IN the parts. 1 have no sympathy
with the community, the city. the state
or the Nation that suffers from bad gov
eminent, because 1t is evident that the
citizens either have no sense of RESPONSE
bility. or are recreant to their plain duty
1t is always ana everywhere true that the
people rule, actively by directing govern
ment. or passively by submitting to gov
eminent. II this is not true the republic
is lie and democracy is deusion
l have no respect for a man who is too
clean to touch politics. He Is quite as
malsvolent a factor as the man who makes
traific of politics. If one is a sinner the
other is Pharisee, END of the TWO the
sinner deserves the more consideration
Tor his wickedness is perhaps the fault of
bad breeding or false education, and there
Is always the hope of reformation, whlo
the self Righteousness OF the Pharisee is
proof against reason or conscience.
Some men are so constituted that they
Will always be partiSans and some men
are so constituted that they will always
be Independent. II is apart from my pur-
pose to commend or condemn ths man
who clings to his party, right or wrong. or
the mugwump who will not stay with a
party long enough to put it right. From
their respective points of view each is
patriotic and true to self and society
Internationally l recommend to those in
terested in this subject thoughtful read
ing Of THE Hon. Peter Stering.') Wheth-
er one elect to meet his responsibility in
the primaries or at the ballot box
whether he be a spokesman seeking re-
ward, or a partisan putting party above
country he is a better citizen than the
man who will not give an hour OF his time
TO exercise his sovereignty, for he Is an
active factor with whom we may reckon
while the man in his office is useless
potent.ality ungratefully enjoying the
blessings and Sinking the burdens of
government, good for nothing but to whine
at administration and evade taxes.
Uneasy rests the head that wears
crown" is true alike of the sceptered
monarch who must hold his place by
keeping his subjects in awe, and of the
uncrowned sovereign who must maintain
his mastery by the exercise of his power
1t is no light thing to be citizen of 9
republic The weight of government rests
equally upon every pair OF shoulders, and
the true citizen is as much concerned
about the exercise of the powers he has
delegated to his public servants as he is
about the mission he has intrusred 10 his
business agent
Republican government is literally any
bodys business, but the way it is often
conducted implies that it is nobody's busi-
ness When things go wrong we are apt
to shrug our shoulders and declare, 1T
isn't my fault" when in very truth it is
my fault" That it is somebody else s
fault does not remove the responsibility
from you and me-
We we're speaking lust now OF the po-
litical obligations that rest upon the in
dividual citizen. But politics is not all
OF our community relation, BY precisely
the same kinship and concern we are
bound to the social life around US We
speak tr.ppingly Of the brotherhood of
man, yet when called to account for our
fraternal responsibilities We put on an
impatient air and ask, Am | my brothers
Keeper" By all the laws OF God and man
we are our brothers keepers and We must
account for the stewardship, The drunk
ard SHARED by environment. the thief
tempted by hard industrial conditions, the
outcast betrayed by false training, the
wall set adrut lDY Ill fOrtune-the errln2,
the vicious, the weak-are all charges upon
society and society is the composite of
all who move and have their being. And
when We help those unfortunates let us
not fiatteT ourselves that we are doing
charity-we are only keeping our own
The speed OF a squadron is the speed of
the sowert ship, So it is in society. the
progress of the whole is the progress of
the most laggard. The prosperous must
maintain the paupers If you don't be-
lieve this is so, consult the tax rolls and
learn that wealth supports the poor house
and the asylum. The Thrifty must pay
the DEBTS OF the shiftless, II you don't
believe il. ask your merchant how much
profit he adds TO your purchases to cover
his losses. Society is great mutual in
suraAce company in which each pays a
premium to protect the weak or the uu-
fortunate from death by starvation.
We can not haye good government until
we have good citizens. We can not have
genuine prosperity until we make the
humblest prosperous. We can not have re-
fined society until we refine its members.
We NAV have spasmodic reforms IN gov
eminent, trusts I'm commerce and -four
hundreds" in society. but there is moth
ing enduring or worth while that is not
based upon the average of mind and
heart.
We are not called upon to make COM