The Montgomery advertiser., 1909-12-05
L CULPEPPER WRITES OF
 THE THING TO BE DESIRED

The trouble with Dtogenes was in not living in a Christian civilization. He would not have to hunt in such a civilization.
 verify believe that some good men are not without fault, but 1t is not ex- act1y honest for them to withhold the ] truth about their little faults; Hon | esty will not tolerate even the imposi- l ton of goodness. l am doing my best to set forth, as far as can. some plan to bring about Civic Righteoushess." F. To do this. we must recognize~t the | fact that law1essness Is the root ofsall evil in government, and we must look for 1t among the .goodf people, of the land. sta- asy
 Now. if were a school teacher | would exert myself to have the older pupils be. punctuaL polite. studious and decorous.5 The others would like ly follow the good example. If were preacher I would never attempt to teach the "unconyerted" to walk "soberly and righteousiy" until all the faults were weeded out of the "elect"
 If were 1udge-well. judge is only the adjunct of the grand jury-I don'nt know what I'd do-like the others. I reckon. When 1t comes to improving the public. the judge is handicapped with | a grand jury.
 The grand jury is bent on improv- ing only the "nigger and poor white l trash. ,"
 That's the trouble-the efforts to bring about civic righteousness are di- | rected at the wrong end of society. Good" men have the whole burden of improvement upon themselves. We have found that even good men l may be gray horses of another col | or"
 Therefore 1t becomes good" men who are falsely credited with a cata- | logue of virtue. to come out and ac- knowledge the truth. As everybody else is ignorant of the inward rottenness of perfect ex- 1 terior. 1t may be good. but 1t Is not honest for the only one who knows, to keep the people in the dark. We are about to nominate whole lot of State and county officers. While, for a few years past we have | been blessed above almost any State | in the matter of public servants, 1t is surmised. in some quarters. that with an effort. some improvement can be | made.
 want to suggest that # any good man is forced by his friends 10 seek
 
 | good man Is aware of his own un- worthiness he ought to feel 1t his | dety to decline. He ught to put country above self. But. that Is supposing him afflicted | with honesty.
 It may be that honesty is a higher | virtue than goodness. will reluctantly admit that even | a good man may desire the honors Il oVN6 ta Af experience has demonstrated that some service Is very expensive to the | State.
 It is unfortunate. that an increase | of public examiners has to be made | from time to time. That should have been avoided, for "to a man up tree" 1t looks like a reflection upon civic righteousness.
 If every aspirant will lay bare any hidden disposition to Knock down" what he can. the people may extend his probation in private
 All who are thus remotely unfit for public service being eliminated by honest confession, the people can select their servants with assurance of improvement.
 That will be a step in the right direction.
 Then every official. every gentle | man. S'SAS AiNA hlnH' every ScnO0i man. every preacher should toe the mark" in the strict observance of the law.
 The strict prohibitionist can do A great good. by example. in doing no contraband business through the ex- press. Possibly he ought not to pa- tronize blind tigers"
 Of course, we have many laws that a gentleman can break. with impunity, but 1t gives encouragement to those who are not gentlemen, if he exercises his privilege.
 It is out of the question to punish A gentleman for breach of the law but if we ever achieve sure enough civic righteousness, 1t Is the gentle mans bonnden duty to keep the law | It may be that lawlessness Is not confined to the flower classest and