The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-10-29
REIGN oF TIE DnnAeooun.


 the denagogue and the word-mongsr exert such powerful, if not dominat- ing influence over the people, The man with an unlimited supply of words and an equally unlimited stock of what is usually designated as gall" can in lmost eases win over the man Of real worth and talent. We see 1t demon strated everywhere. The street ven- Idor with his nimble tongue and endless supply of words can sell his wares as fast as he can hand them out. What he sells may be of real value or no value at all. or he may be showing new article. but whatever it is. if he talks fast enough and keeps ct 1t he is sure to succeed.
 ! Sometimes the demagogue gets into the pulpit. unfortunately. To the honor and credit of that high calling the church is not often desecrated by that class. but that there are some is a fact well known to all observant persons whether the man is working for money or for notoriety. or whether from natural crankiness, matters but little. so far as effects so. He brings discredit on the sacred calling and breeds in his hearers feeling of almost contempt for Nthe teachings of the pulpit There are always some who will take this sort of man as specimen of the ministry and cease to regard 1t with the respect and rever- once that rightly attaches to it. There are not many of this class of preachers, but there are some. and the profession would be better without them.
 But the rich field and luscious graz ling ground of the demaEogue is in the arena of politics. There he shines in all his glory and there he reaps his richest harvests. All of us know him, for he is always and everywhere in evidence. Whenever there are good of fices to be filied we may reasonably Eexpect one or more dsmagogues among the candidates. and the most thorough Fly equipped one in this respect gener- ally gets the plum even though others better qualified and much more desefv- ing may be among his competitors.
 It is wonderful what can be accom- Iplished by talk and impudence es- reciafly when backed by indifference to facts. man of this kind will go on the stump and deal out multitude of arguments which have little or no foundation in fact. and his audience swaalows them. He will make promises and pledges which reason should teach his hearers he cannot possibly fulfil but they will take them as gospel truth and vote for him. Then. when he gets into position and fails to perform what he promised the people will ffguratively kick them selves for having been so easily de-, cefved and--wfi1 support another of the same kind at the first opportuni- ty. The man of sound reason, real in- tegrity and strict regard for his word : frequently goes down in defeat before the one who has nothing to back him but brass and loquacity.
 The wordy. unbiushing demagogue has become an established feature in our politics. Perhaps 1t is natural and unavoidable. Here every man, thso- retically at least, Is the equal of every other man Speech Is free and the right to run for office is equally so. If man wants office and Is in his own estimation worthy and qualified. he may be so anxious to win that he win smother all his scruples and strive to reach his desire by wordy promises. Calm. intelligent discussion of govern mental politics cannot always win against the efforts of the demagogue. It was & favorite saying with P. T. Barnum that "the people like to be humbugged." and perhaps it is true. If they do like it they yield to 1t.
 The man who gets into high and responsible position solely through the arts and artifices of the demagogue is always hurtfuI to the state and to the people. In too many cases he works real and material injury. and in others he breeds contempt for the office he holds. The people learn that he has deceived them and they turn against him when 1t is too late. If one such lesson would be sufficient for the voters it might well be worth the cost, but it isn't. for they will fall into the same error when occasion offers, and again suffer themselves led astray by wordy harangues.
 Is there no relief from the domina- tion of the demagogue? Must he always be in evidence and in power9 The only remedy we can think of lies in the people themselves. If they would take the time and the pains to more fully inform themselves on all matters relating to political and q governmental affairs they might be . able to estimate this class of politicians and shun them when voting time comes . It would be a great blessing to our country and our government if the 3 demagogue could be kept in private