The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1905-10-22
No Need to Despair.

T. No Need to Despair.
:: Pessimistic observers are sending the
country to the dogs oftener and with
more celebrity than usual. The disclo-
sures Of ife-insurance frauds, graft in
congress, in. government departments
and in the great cities, and the numer-
GUS, bank defalcations, furnish mate.
rial in plenty to point the moral and
prove the degeneracy Of our genera
ton. To those who have taken the
hero-worship Of the popular history at
it's face value, and see halo around
the brow Of every old-time statesman,
the gloomy preachment seems well war
ranted. A little study Of the past, how
ever, will show that the present cpl
denlic has had it's counterparts, and
that the country has; gone to the dogs
in the same way number Of times.
- It is unpleasant to shatter ones
ideals, but candid chroniclers Of the
new school are letting us into clearer
view of the past, and teaching us that
many of the revered founders Of our
republic, and it's preservers thru the
early storms and stress, were no better
than they should be. There was graft,
they tell us, in the continental con-
gress, and they tell it with JUNCTION
and circumstance; for, while it is too
late for grand juries to take it up, it
is also too late for libel suits. If we
read the newspapers and correspond
ence of any period in the nation s his
tory, we, shall learn that the govern
ment was rotten, corruption abroad in
official circles, and the nation $ rulers
a very inferior and venal class of men.
Hamilton, in 1902, made bitter by po-
litical defeat, said: 81 am still labor
ing to prop the frail and worthless
fabric" John Adams daughter, in
1888, after dining with several mem
bers Of congress, wrote: eff you had
been present you would have trembled
for your country to have seen, heard
and observed the men who are it's
rulers. Very different they were, I be-
lieve, in times past' In 1885 Justice
Story was quoted in a letter by Chan
cellor Kent to this effect: '<He says
| alljsensible men at Washington, in {pri
! yate conversation, admit that the gov.
eminent is depIorably weak, factious
and corrupt When Harriet Marti.
neau arrived in 1884, she was Informed
Immediately after landing that she had
arrived at an unhappy crisis; that the
institutions of the country would be
in ruins before she returned to Eng
land. = -. - s<:.,: 49, :
Since that time we have coerced SOW.
ereign states, torn the constitution tc
statters, imprisoned public men for bri
berry and corruption, and still our insti
buttons stand, and the general health
Of our body polite seems "middline
good,' thank you. The most sensible
T explanation Of our current scandals il
thatreformers and investigators are do
ing some effective work; that things
are being dug up that have been toe
long concealed, and that we are getting
better instead of worse. The. act o:
purging will improve our health. Con
science seems sadly lacking in SOM
quarters, but there is plentiful suppl,
of it in the country at large. We hav'
fearless officials, backed by deter
mined public opinion, and no Twee,
now dares snap his fingers and ask
"EWhat are you going to do about it?
Comparisons are fruitless, but it seem
, that the American citizen as type ha
?, as high a standard of, honesty now. a
at any previous time. It is all yer.
well to hold up the fathers exampl
, for this generation, and no ideal of tn
past can be too lofty and pure for OH
contemplation; but when it comes t.
4 discussion of fthese degenerat
times,'' it is just as well to keep i
mind that our ancestors had no eterna
monopoly Of the virtues.