The Mount Holly news. [volume] (Mount Holly, Burlington Co., N.J.) 1891-1942, 1906-06-12

1910, sang SOLO entitled "A KISS In the
rain" 1t was rendered in a charming
manner
"The power Of an ideal" was the subject
selected by Miss Florence Matthews Law
Durand, and the essay was full of good
ideas.
Miss Edna L. Bacon, teacher in the High
School. and Miss White, sang a duet,
Sweet Zephyr" Hearty applause greet
ed the singers, and an encore was de-
manded, but that was against the rules
The valedictorian was George Jarvis
Thompson, and his Grafton was listened to
with wrapt attention and was greeted with
such storm of applause that the young
speaker was compelled to again rise and
bow his Acknowledgements The address
was pronounced to be one of the best ever
delivered on a similar occasion. The sub
| ject was THE Average American Citizen
In politics" We give the address in full:
"The average American citizen in poll
| tice is not to be identified with either of
the two well-defned classes existing in
his Countrywide one composed of mighty
capitalists, the other of vast number of
| ignorant foreigners and negroes; but,
1 rather, he is the bulwark of the nation,
representing in himself the ideal of that
political theory upon which the govern
ment of the United States is based-gov-
eminent by the governed.
''As a representative of the best ele
ment In American political life the aver
age citizen has many duties devolving up
on him. chief among which is that having
to do with his vote. In the performance
of this duty he should be ever on the alert
to observe the best interests of the peo
| pie. That he may do this it becomes ne
cessary for him to attend the primaries,
and by his actions and vote to aid in Sc
curing strong, capable and honest men as
the candidates of his party. Even then
he cannot afford to rest on his oars for an
| instant, else he will drift down the stream
of inactivity and lose all he has attained
A good plan we'll thought out is half of
any battle. Bearing this in mind he
should endeavor to Illustrate any and all
attempts to destroy the individuality of
the ballot. The very life of the Ameri
can nation demands that all citizens, rich
or poor, shall be protected in their glo
rious privilege of being independent.
Realizing this it behooves every man
to cast his ballot not only with view to
q
promoting the welfare of his fellow men.
That this has not heretofore been the Gus
tom may be attributed to misunderstood
ing as to the ownership of the ballot,
since men have for years acted on the
| principle that their vote is their own prop
erty, to be used at their discretion. Now,
| in reality, mans vote is his own only so
| far as he may use it for the public good.
| When employed for personal gain it ceases
to be his, and by the laws of every state
in the Union he should forfeit the right of
suffrage If the average American would
only recognize that he is one-seventy-
-millionth of a sovereign, aud that
small as this may seem it marks the differ
ence between the citizen and the subject,
he would appreciate to the full the value
of this great privilege.
PARTY spirit is often a great hindrance
to the proper performance of his political
duties, and according to the degree of its
intensity divides the voting population
into three distinct groups The first of
these is characterized by an almost abso-
Lutte lack of party spirit among its members.
While in theory this may be praiseworthy,
in practice it deprives the citizen of his
most important political right-that of
naming the candidate. Belonging to- no
party they believe organization to be det
rimental to the country, whereas, in fact,
| it is a necessity. for In this way men come
to an agreement on public questions and
announce their principles and intentions.
The second group. however, differs radi-
cally from the first in that it is under the
complete domination of fierce party spirit,
and the campaign cry of its members is al
ways stand pat Believing that the citi-
zen belongs to the organization and not
the organization to the citizen they fall an
easy prey to the sharp politician who, I'M
der the cloak of party patriotism, is ena-
| bled to commit all sorts of political crimes
The third division is more independent
of such a spirit, for, although its members
are affiliated with definite organization
they still retain the right of every Amer
lean citizen to vote for the man and the
platform which he conscientiously believes
will do the most good for the whole peo-
pie. This group represents the highest
| type of citizenship and, taken as a whole,
forms the safety valve of party politics.
1.-THE so-called political machine al
though an outgrowth of the organization,
| is directly inimical to the best interests
of the American people. That it has so
long thriven is primarily due to the great
commercial activity of the past quarter
of a century, which, having withdrawn
the average citizen from the field of poll
tics, has given rise to the political boss
and the gangster. These leaders, not be-
ing satisfied with municipal spoils, have
seized the governing power of the various
states, until to-day the commonwealth
which has no machine is regarded as pc.
litical curiosity. Wherever they have
gone corruption has followed. The re-
peater, the ballot box suffer, and the dis
honest official, have controlled the polls.
Graft has become the sole incentive of the
gangster, and while it has clothed him
with a power which he could otherwise
never have obtained, it has also proved to
be the most potent factor in his destruc-
ton. The ease with which he has carried
the elections in our most enlightened COM
munities has emboldened him to encroach
still further upon the rights of the people
until, at last, he has overreached himself
and worked his own ruin. Illustrative of
this fact may be cited the recent political
upheavals in the neighboring cities of New
York and Philadelphia, which for years
have been subjected to machine rule
In the latter city on the seventh of last
November the citizens, deeply stirred by
one of the boldest attempts at wholesale
graft ever recorded, rose In their might
and cast off the gang yoke.
I'm just such political and moral revo-
luton as this lies the greatest safeguard
of American liberties The people of the
|, United States have had and always will
have as good government as they deserved
While they are in a state of politial apa-
thy the machine, with its accompanying
vices of graft and Doodle, fourishes, and
corruption pollutes the highest offices in
the land. Once awakened by these out
RACES the average citizen assumes his SOW
] ereign power, and asserting his political
} independence demands those rights which
are his by inheritance, the right of every
individual to take an active part in the
| government and to hold public officials
personally responsible for their actions.
Indeed such an awakening has occurred
/ during the past four years and great re-
form movement, sweeping out of the West
; like whirlwind, has spread to all sections
of the country Under the leadership of
such strong characters as Joseph W. Folk,
, of Missouri, William Travers Jerome, of
/ New York, and last, but not least. our hon.
4 ored President, Theodore Roosevelt the
{ public conscience has been aroused until
to day the signs of the times everywhere
[ indicate, upon the part of the average citi-
] zen, a renewal of his interest in both local
f and national politics.
t. This augurs well for the future of our
commonwealth and shows that the people,
+ needing the admonition of Abraham Lin
. icoln, the most illustrious of American citi