Keowee courier. [volume] (Pickens Court House, S.C.) 1849-current, 1915-06-30

inventions Of Fulton and Whitney,
edison and Marconi. You find them
not. If there had been no more pro-
gress in applied economics than in
applied politics, we would now be us
ing flint and steel instead Of matches;
wooden mold board plows, hand
looms and pony express instead OF
reapers and binders, automobiles and
aeroplanes.
TO deny the need Of improved ap-
plianceS in governmental methods is
to affirm that the government is al
ready perfect. 1t is to declare that
political corruption, the evil power Of
concentrated wealth, and the deep
complaints OF millions Of wealth ere
ators, exist only as phantoms in the
minds Of visionary refOrmcrs, while
to recognize the fact of these wrongs
is to prove incompetence and neglect
OF duty on the part Of lawmakers
and people alike. 1t is either this, or
to adopt the pessimistic belief now so
rife in certain quarters that the toll
ing masses are so ignorant that to
erect a righteous and efficient system
Of government is beyond our power
because the stream cannot rise higher
than it's source.
We have made locomotives, reap.
ers and binders, and perfected sub,
marines, airships and wireless teleg-.
| raphy, that work perfectly up to their
/ planning, because g:eat inventors
have thrown their powerful intellects
and abundant energies into the task
impelled thereto by the certainty Of
large pecuniary reward. But, my
friends, those of IFS who have been in
public life know that reward there
is hollow mockery, that true SER.
vice is met with ingratitude, and that
no wage Of golden millions awaits
the successful experimenter who"
might discover the most benefcent
| principle in government mechanics.
| The steel beam plow, reaper and
! telephone made swift demonstration
OF their substantial advantage to the
body polite, and each citizen could
specifically note his share therein,
while the profit from improved gov
ernmental methods must ever remain
vague and unsubstantial to legislator
and voter alike, when considered
only from the material standpoint !!
New Machinery Needed.
When the several colonies ratified
the constitution, and the United
States stood forth as a nation, it was
not unnatural that the architects OF
this republic thought that they had
perfected a sublime fnality in gov
ernment 1t was only the pardona-
| bic egotism characteristic of all true
builders. This constitution has an
enduring foundation because Of the
grand principles OF universal euuity
| upon which it is based. These prin-
ciDlcs cannot he improved upon any
more than new qualities Of virtue
can be added to abstract Justice and
charity. But the same thing has
'''f pS''NN w po IhpI frequently Oc-
ours with systems of religion; visi-
bic forms and symbols become iden-
tilted in the minds Of men with tho
sacred, invisible soul to which they
are but passing conveniences. which
should be changed as are the priestlv
Vestments when worn out and rem
dered useless by the rack and fray Of
time. That gifted body Of statesmen
who made our revolutionary eDoch
forever illustrious would promptly
nave devised new methods to meet
those new needs which have arisen
out OF the rapid growth and scientific
development which mark the pres
ent.
The fact is that the best brain and
talent in the United States have not
been in political life. Tho strongest
minds and intellects have been de-
voting themselves to material devel-
opment, science and literary work. I
think that, as Il whole, the profession
Of journalism has more intellect, and
more character in its ranks to-day,
than W. have in all the politicians
of tho country put together.