The Farmington times and herald. (Farmington, St. Francois Co., Mo.) 1902-1905, 1903-10-29
Volume 80, Number a..


ernmonts of all kinds have lived and
died. Republics as great as ours have
existed and gone down into oblivion
through the spirit OF corruption. Where
wars, pestllences and all other ca.
lamitles combined have destroyed one
government. corruption has under.
mined score. Yet some say that
boodling cannot be an issue, that we
ought not to get alarmed over q few
cases of bribery. When ones house
Is on FIRE he is In no condition to
argue about fine tapestries and orna-
ments he Is more concerned In put.
ting cut the fire than anything else.
So the people when boodling breaks
out, as II has In Missouri, should make
It their first and highest duty to put
a stop To- 1t.
Selecting Of Good Committeeman I'm.
portant.
The Democratic party cannot be.
come corrupt until Il majority of the
rembers OF the party are corrupt.
%iHety,nine per cent Of the rank and
HI' Of the Democratic party arc honest
nd want good government. There is.
however. vicious minority which Is
ever active. No good Democrat can
afford not to take an active interest
IN public affairs at this critical period
in the history Of the state. Every man
ia republic such as ours should be
a politician In the sense that he par.
tcipate In the election of the repre-.
natives Of the people. The trouble
has been there have been too few In
politics for the public good, and too
many for revenue only. The first
duty Of every Democrat is to secure
tn" nomination of good men to Office
The first action to this end is to at
tend all primaries and to select dele
gates that will fully represent the
win of the people. That this may be
accomplished it is necessary that there
should bo an organization forming
committees 10 determine the time,
place and manner of electlng dele
have been made will direct tho can
yass OF the people that the voters
may express their sentiments fairly by
the ballot they cast. II is therefore,
Of great Importance to select good
committeeman honest men desirous OF
their party's success-not seeking
their own asgrandizement or appoint.
ment to Office, but the welfare of the
people
Organizations deteriorate into ma.
chimes when they are controlled by
men who desire TO use the party for
personal ends, regardless OF the party's
welfare Every party should have an
organization, but the best machine any
individual can have is the heart and
OF the people.
Elect Honest Representatives.
Thomas jefferson once said, "The
time to guard against corruption is be-
fore 1t gets hold of us. II Ia better
To keep the wolf from the fold than
10 trust to drawing his teeth and
claws after he gets in" One way to
guard against the wolf OF corruption Is
10 elect to the General Assembly only
men Of known integrity; men not pas
sively honest but actively honest
Many men can be honest inactively,
hu, what we need in public affairs
Is men who can be honest in action
INy1 a aIway. ppuos put eopnar nr lotor
Ii mans character or life shows
him to be susceptible to corrupt lobby
influences. he should not be trusted
no matter how capable he may be-
No capacity in public offlcial
attoues for dishonesty We need In
Dur legislative halls more aggressive
honesty. Brilliancy and wit In O leg.
IslatOr are well enough, but common
rugged honesty is better. Select Dem.
Dcrats as Senator's and Representa-.
tives who will not tolerate corrupt
lobby: men who will not allow the
touch Of an unclean dollar to con-
taminate legislative halls; men who
will speak out and denounce corrup-
expose yenalIty, not conceal It. Sc
lect Democrats who will use their of.
fetal functions solely for the public
good Oificials are trustees OF an eI.
pressed trust to be administered for
the public good, not for private gain.
An official has no right to use the
powers given him for his own ends.
He can embezzle the peoples power
as well as the peoples money. One
In public Office has no more right TO
lIss his official functions for personal
ends than he would have to put his
hands into the public treasury to pay
a private debt.
Commendable to Punish Crime.
So long as the Democratic party
serves the public better than any
other party. 1t Is entitled to credit for
selecting faithful public servants. and
II cannot escape responsibility for
the unfaithful No party has a mo.
nopoly on the virtuous; neither are
The vicious confined to one party. The
wedding out of public corruption
should be the mission OF the Demo
cratic party A Democratic law
breaker is no better than a Republican
law breaker. do not agree with the
Republican statesman who, when told
that both candidates for certain
office were rascals, said: We'll, who
is our damn rascal?" A rascal 10 no
less SO by calling himself Democrat.
believe in exposing and Furnishing
rascals tho same as Re-
publican rascals; Democrats Just
little bit more than Republicans. be-
cause they should know setter. OF.
fcials are not elected TO prosecute
only political opponents. but to enforce
the law impartially against all Of.
tenders. The cloak Of Democracy
should be torn from him who tries TO
use Il to hide his corruption. II
wrong doing exists, the sooner II II
IcoxrisuEp on fornrH PAGEl