Morgan County democrat. (Versailles, Mo.) 1900-1906, 1903-11-06

the people. but a gover..nS>~ VI, and
for the few with wealth enough to
purchase official favors.
In constructing this government OF
wh!ch u great state Is q part, our
forefatfsers exercised q wisdom unsur.
passed In the annals of mankind. They
furnished a republic guaranteeing
rights to the citizens never obtained
by any other people. The safety of
the republic has been menaced, but
wise men have steered the ship OF
state into safe harbors. Enemies
threaten today, not from without, but
from within.
The givers and takers Of brides are
the greatest enemies we have to deal
with today. Benedict Arnold attempt
ed to sell his country for gold; he was
a traitor Of war. The official who
sells his vote is a traitor OF peace,
more dangerous than traitors of war.
The Malian guide who betrayed the
Greeks at Thermopylae did not by that
act destroy his country, but q few hun
dred years later the gold of Philip
of Macedon did the work the
treason of war had failed to do.
Greece fell because corruption
had weakened her national life.
Rome attained a pinnacle OF
| greatness and was undermined by the
same insidious corruption that threat
ems us. Jugurtha, after he had cor
rupted the senate and bought the
palace of Rome, declared that ne
could buy the entire city il he only
had money enough.
Since the beginning of history, Co.,
ernments of all kinds have lived and
died. Republics as great as ours have
existed and zone down into oblivion
through the spirit Of corruption. Where
wars, pcstilences and all other ca
lamities combined have destroyed one
government, corruption has under
mined a score. Yet some say that
boodling cannot be an issue, that We
ought not to get alarmed over a few
cases Of bribery. When ones house
is on fire he is in no condition to
argue about fine tapestries and orna-
mcntS; he IL more concerned in put
ting cut the fire than anything else.
So the people when boodling breaks
| Oui, 40 ~ nho III lISopuII, ShohIu hldEc
it their first and highest duty to put
a stop to it.
Selecting Of Coed Committeeman I'M.
portant.
The Democratic party cannot be-
come corrupt unit! a majority Of he
members Of the party are corrupt
~Nincty-ninc per cent Of the rank and
file Of the Democratic party are honest
and want good government. There IS,
however, a 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 tho history Of Ne state. Every man
in a republic such as ours should be
a politician in the sense that he par
ticipatc in the election OF the repre-
sehtatives 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
the nomination Of good men TO Office.
The first action to this end Is to at
tend all primaries and to select dele
gates that viii fully represent the
will Of the people. That this may be
accomplished Il Is necessary that there
should be an organization forming
committees TO determine the time,
place and mannc Of clccting dele
gates, and which, when nominations
have been made, Will direct the can
vass Of tie people that the voters
may express their BentiLlents fairly by
the ballot they cast. II Is, therefore,
Of great importance to select good
committeeman, honest men dcsirous Of
their party's Succe8s-n0t seeking
their own ACKNOWLEDGEMENT on appo'ct-
ment to Office, but the welfare Of the
people.
Organizations deterioratc into ma
chimes when they are controlled W
men who desire TO use the party for
personal ends, regardless Of the party's
welfare. Every party should have an
individual can have Is the heart AMI
conscience CT the people.
Elect Honest Representatives.
Thomas jefferson once said. The
time to guard against corruption Is be-
fore it gets hold of us. 1t is better
to keep the wclf from the fold than
TO trust to drawing his teeth and
claws after he gets n" One way to
guard against the wolf Ct corruption is
to elect to the General Assembly only
men Of known integrity; men not pas
sively honest. but actively honest.
Many men can be honest inactively,