Mexico weekly ledger., 1904-01-21

Qhl cduSeS mWeuldtel raises INT
question of whether honesty and gooC
citizenship are to be conditioned by thu
vocations of men. Jefferson said;
Were l called upon to decide whether
the people had best be omitted in the
legislature or judiciary department,
would say it is best to have them out
of the legislature" Again he said:
I'VE think in America that 1t is neces-
sary to introduce the people into every
department of government as far as
they are capable OF exercising it, and
that the institution of the jury is the
only way to insure a long, continued
and honest administration Of its pow
ers."
If our State trusts its iuries with the
execution of its laws and its legislature
with their making, would 1t not be just
as proper and equally as wise to pick
our legislature from a certain class Of
society as to pick our juries from a
certain class? What shall we call these
classes, and how shall they be divided?
Shall we say that men who per-
form certain kinds of work,
that is, work with their hands,
are not honest and can not be trusted
to act as jurors, and men who earn
their living in other ways are capa-
BILE? Do certain occupations SO affect
mems morals that they can not give
justice? Having once taken this step,
and admitted that citizens are to be
divided into classes, how long will II
be before someone will ask to again
divide u community into other
classes; those who veal cleaner
clothes, have more wealth and greater
virtue-they shall vote; the remainder
must not be permitted to do so? Some
one will say: THE right Of suffrage
and the right to act as Juror can not be
compared in their importance" Is the
right of suffrage any dearer than the
right of trial by Jury by a mans
peers? In securing which privilege has
the Anglo-Saxon a C spilled the most
blood? The jury is one of the best
means of making the people rule, and 1t
also, by the education which is affords,
teaches them how to rule.
All forms of labor in this country
have been held 20 be honorable, where
carried on with honor. No form Of
labor has heretofore been held to be
dishonorable. Every man in Ameri-
ca" as someone has said, works. has
worked, or his parents have worked
for him" Superior intelligence is not
a prerequisite of honesty. 1t may be
that the use of special juries COM
posed of men Of a certain class may
be necessary In the administration of
justice, but II this be true We will have
to radically change some of our estab-
lished beliefs in the equality of men.
CONCLUSION.
When elected president Of the JEFF
ferson Club, six years ago., that organi-
zation had less than five hundred
members; at the present time 1t has
almost eight thousand members. When
elected president of the Jefferson Club,
every office in the City Of st. Louis
was in the hands of Republicans; at
the present time every Office in the City
of st. Louis is in the hands of Demo-
Gratis, not one of whom has had the
finger Of suspicion pointed at him. My
crime has been that of a fighting Dem
ocrat. am proud OF the charge,
II the price of Missouri's governor
ship depends upon making the people
believe that Democracy means dish1n-
actu than 7 fAr Ana AnA Eha nrina tAa
high. Between the man who corruIts
a legislature to secure a franchise and
a man who corrupts public opinion to
secure an Office, l find but little differ
ence. To be governor of Missouri Is
n Of the highest honors which car
fail to the lot OF any man, but my am
bition is not so great that l will seek
to rise TO that height by stepping On
the Bonded backs end the humiliation
Of my brother Democrats. My ambi-
ticn Is not SO vautling that | desire 10
crush down the rest Of the Democracy
as | advance. If the honor can rot
ono to me through the free will of the
people I love, respect and honor, then
| do not want It. II elevated 1t must
lie by the strong TINS of stalwart Dem
ocrats who love their party and fight
its enemies. l will not appeal to the
People as all anti-machine man and
secretly, coquette with party leaders
and solicit their support. Nor Will l
abuse systems and men in public and
apologize in private for my public
q will l denounce my
own people and at the same tina ask
at their hands; nor will | 90 to
war followed by a Republican soldier
on my right and a Democrat on my
left.
l would not put 4 scar upon the brow
or a tear in the eye Of any man as /
go forward, except upon the brow and
from the eye Of the man who ISLANDERS
Missouri. My blows shall be for the
enemy. But II | should by chance strike
an old leader who has been the recipi-
emit Of innumerable favors at his party's
hands and now quietly submits to the
SANDER of his State, his party and his
without word Of protest, it will
be only because my contempt at his
has overmastered my pity
his cowardice. Let no beneficiary
Of the honors of his party believe that
he like the ostrich NAV hide his head |