The farmer and mechanic., 1906-05-29
RESCUE PUBLIC OFFICE FROM
TIE AUCTION BLOCK.

| his address in Raleigh. none has 50
| vital Il meaning tp the proper destiny
cr the nation 81 tho right develop
ment of tho popular character as The
hatred he cvinccd against every form
Of connection between the use Of
money and the occupancy Of public
Office. The CLAUSE that jefferson forced
into the constitution OF Virginia for
bidding one TO hold office who ex-
pended money in getting the same
should be incorporated into the funda-
mental i..n OF every commonwealth
Jcnorson's liquid mind ran to right
conclusions ana sound political ethics
~. naturally as water flows into its
natural basin. He lived in a time
when conditions had not obtained TO
the complexities Of the present. yet
hc seemed TO foresee not only the
growth of the nation but its dangers
and temptations as we'll. Thus seeing.
he applied to his philosophy ana
etatccraft the test Of honesty and far
plav. Tie result is that it is difficult
either to conceive 4 danger which JEFF
fcrson had not anticipated or To dis
ready prepared in advance.
OF late years the trend in politics
gras been that Of a shifting Of methods
TO avoid old standards of civic right
cousncss. Church and State no longer
lock arms to crush out the right to
rise. Primogcniture no longer pam
pcrs sIoth out of democracy. The the
cries of jefferson are still alive. grant
ing liberty of life. conscience and ac-
tion. There is no aristocracy except
that of ability Yet the shifting pro
cess has been going on, shift around
the theory. leaving it standing as an
ornament to the old class condl-
tions which the theory was erected to
block And the motive power IS
money The centipcde is q cripple
beside the devious feet and many-hn-
GCred touch of the dollar We have
been apt to make a fetish of the dol
lar. MANY worthless man has bought
to place and power who has not spent
a cent winning the honor by the mere
glitter of his possessions. More men
have bought their way some openly.
others by circuitoGs expenditure. 1t
is hard to draw the line between legit-
innate and illegitimate expenditures for
campaign purposes. But the line
must somehow be drawn and drawn
closely. without it. office will have
fixed price too high for ordinary am
bition. The trend is already in that
direction. The salary is becoming a
secondary cOnsidera ton. Men fear TO
become candidates lest they lose more
in time and money than they could
ever hope honestly to gain if elected.
Besides the denial of an even chance,
there comes in the great evil. Man IS
naturally of a commercial instinct He
is going to have something for what
he pays out if he can. The temptation
when the recompense of an office is
less than it's first cost is very plain
And the money spirit that made the
price high follows the candidate into
his office confident that it can deal
with the man who was not afraid of
his investment. The thing which JET
ferson sought to avoid has been done
without actual purchase. But rep
resantative of the people has sold
himself.
All over the country today the peo-
pie are facing this question and cast
ing about for remedies. IN some
States the vice has grown until it takes
courage to even speak against it. The
evil is a Fashionable one. of a venial
significance. "If one side don't buy
him the other will" The man who
would scorn to drop a dollar into the
hama of a hoater gives his check for
thousands to his manager. The man
agcr throws his hundreds through
the wards. The heelcr checks
off his lists of men who
have been fixed ana the dollar
finds its itching palm at last. 1t is
little more than popular pauperizatio
and popular corruption in the end.
The people support both the evils
from which they suffer. The pollti-
clan must be repaid his expenditure.
The ''interests,'' whatever they are,
must foot the bill for his reimburse
ment with interest. The people who
have put the one in a position to sell
them out. must pay in dividends and
special privilege for the price at
Which they have been sold There is
only one way to treat sore of this
sort. 1t must have a knife at its root.
Jefferson's remedy old fashioned in
it's simplicity and susceptible of
measure of evasion as it would incy-
itably be, puts the case in a nut shell.
| Those who work and those who pay
are always in the majority. Corruption
as rule flowers best high up or low
down. The great army of honest
and virtuous people have this as they
do other evils in their power to crush
Let it be set up as a rule that decencN
considers the wide use of money. BY
WhomSOever expended. such a pre-
sumption of fraud as to forfeit its SUI
frage. and the intention of jefferson
/ will have been largely accomplished
! outside the pale Of the law.
| We have recently learned from an
authoritative source that seats in the
Senate of New York had value of