The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1912-08-17

meeting and will choose new off,
GERS to represent them. In the choos-
ing Of these officers, let us remem-
Der the old maxim: Water rises no
higher than its source. Public Office
?. public trust, and public office is
i:"t private snap. Public Office is
iot ah opportunity - vent personal
'pite' nor c:.ance to protect person
-! friends. notice many ladies pre-
"e't an" en glad to greet them as
c'''~' ms but they are citizens who
cannot vote. You men can vote. All
Oh these who have their names on a
democratic club roll will nlease hold
up thelr hands. practically every
man held up his hand.) Now. all of
you who have county registration
tickets please hold up your hands.
'Aimost every hand went up again.)
we'll / am glad to see that. Ii seems
llkely that you have had an election
In Greenwood county in which Won
couldn't vote when you didn't have
the registration ticket Your average
Is better than that found in most
places. But it is a democratic ahsur-
dlty that We make every man who
votes in the primary take an oath To
support the nominee Of that primary
Wnen many of those voting have no
registration certificate. and are not ell
lgible for voting in the general eIec-
ton. This is a democratic absurd
ty that We suffer because we want
every white man to vote.
Now in the State, you can And
must do either one of two things.
You can submit to the laws that are
made, or you can refuse to do so and
suffer. You recall the brave man, Sir
Thomas Moore, who in the reign of
Henry VIII, would not recognize
the king as the head of the church.
although Parliament did declare that
such was the case Friends went TO
Moore as he lay in prison and tried
to make him save his life by acknowl-
edging Henry as the head of the En-
glish Church. "Oh, no." the brave
| man replied, Henry is not the head
of the church." But" replied his
friends, parliament has declared
So" Yes" replied Moore, "and IL
Parliament were to declare that God
shall not rule, would that make II
So"
We have a remedy for conditions
| which are wrong, and that remedy
| is the ballot. l was struck by
statement in correspondence that
| recently appeared in the press, My
ballot belongs not to me, but to the
State" 1t is my duty to vote. J.
have no patience with that man WHO
| is so excessively clean that he can
not touch dirty politics, even to the
extent of voting. That man ought to
go out and start a soap factory, or
something of the kind. The ballot
Is a sacred thing. 1t not only ex-
| presses your choice of a man to fill
the offices Of the State but it also
expresses your character as a man
and as a citizen. 1t represents your
standing as a citizen. The man who
votes for a bad man knowingly is
a bad citizen; the man who does not
vote is a dangerous citizen. There
are too many good men who are bad
citizens, and some Of these men are
| goody, goody men. There are too
many negative men, men that do
nothing. There is no virtue in a life
Of doing nothing. We have, too many
two-legged ciphers walking our
streets. Christianity is something
positive and it is something which
does There are two kinds os patri-
otism, one which goes to the public
treasury with empty pockets, grasp
ing hands TO see how much can be-
extracted from the public Offices.
| lie olHel hlIlu OI patriotism is tndC
which goes to the public office with
| a determination to see how much of
| life can be given for the good of the
f., people.
Building for Future.
| We are not building for this gene
ration, but for the future, and we
should build state of which our chill