Show 1 political corruption A IN ST pavis pauls METHODIST EPISCOPAL CIPIS COPAL oopal 61 CINCIN cincinnati katl gATI BY RY rev BEV DK DR HAT hab li FIELD none of us can eau lay claim to infallibility in read yead reading in g the signs of the thir timer times but we must roust be blin hlin d indeed not to that which calls for serious apprehension if not for positive alarm I 1 kofl er no apology for nor 0 s speaking I 1 to you this tilis eV evening develling elling of the prevalence of political corruption and crime in our country the is one in shiell every american citizen lilithe lias ilas the deepest interest and upon which the christian pul pui pulpit it of theland the thu land has lids no right to bo be s silent tent i A country may be dishonored and ruined by extravagance dishonesty and corruption as Us effectually as by intestine broils or armed rebellion I 1 shall not act the part bf of an al alarmist annist this evening but shall endeavor in the use iise of words of truth and soberness to direct your ybur attention to ame gme matters that deserve the serious consideration of good men of all parties ewt us notice first the character of the men who bear a large not to say a controlling influence in tile the political affairs olour of our natI nation bil bli the theory on which our government is constructed seems to me not only reho remo reasonable nabie and cons consistent isten ti but almost almot perfect government is a divine institution ordained of god for the benefit of bf tile the people for his own glory the scriptures determine nothing with regard fo the power of government overn ment but they la lay y down principles ples pies I 1 which promote personal freedom and the greatest to tile the greatest number the catrine ottrine that all men are created equal that thai they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights that among these are ilfe life afe liberty and the pursuit of or happiness was in fht the gospel laag bo 0 forie fore it was put in the declaration of independence orr our our orr theory is that abat the wisest and arid best man mail will be sought bought out by the Jp people eople and selected to adif administer in the atra afra affairs irs of the nation oil oli only a b very moderate degree of intelligence and virtue would seem to be needed to secure this result resul t we vve might leara learn wisdom in tins matter from the instincts of animals A drove of wild horse horses si in in preparing for defense or attack place animals of the best metal and strength in the front and in this regard they lre are ire no wiser than sheep or the ass am of the desert dedert or the stork in the heavens but the political amm aff mairs affairs of our nation are so wretchedly mana managed ged that one Is tempted to exclaim oh wat beasts judgment m e nt I 1 thou art fled to brutish and men have lost their reason who of us will claim that our best denare uniformly or generally chosen to make and exe execute cutti our laws examine the characters of officeholders office holders from aldermen to halted states senators and how bow many of them are men in whom the people opi ellave have confidence and for whom they feel genuine respect our first trouble in this matter lies in the fact first that large numbers of the voters of our country are mentally and morally domily unfit to exercise the elective franchise N not ot a few fewox of our politicians seem to be more than half insane on this subject they speak and write as if voting was a sovereign remedy for the ills of the body politic olitte they seem to think that a ballot ballot in the hand of a man who is ignorant drunken and vicious will certainly elevate and reform if it does not alvy glorify man this is a most absurd su e exaggeration xao I 1 g of an important truth responsibility develops power and the discharge of the duties of citizenship does something toward improving the character of men but this educating idu cating process is slow at the best and in many ca cases can hardly be discovered by the closest observer sentimental politicians grow poetic over the bits of paper frow that hat dropped into the ballet box execute the will of freemen as ass lightning does the will of god but this pretty picture is spoiled as soon goon as we examine it ltv in the light of common sense if you go to the polls on election day you your will see that not a few of these freemen cast their votes with nomore no anore idea of the tho principle principles of our govern ment than they have of the philosophy of language ignorant and prejudiced mere tools in the hands of designing demagogues they are about as well qualified fled to bear ipar the high responsibilities of citi zen enship ship as they thes calculate an eclipse and as might be expected the men they vote for are in many cases aa as fit to fill the offices to which th they a are r c elected aa as al horse was io a c t as consul of rome the evil I 1 iam ram am deprecating ia is aggravated by the fact that these ignorant and depraved classes generally act together in political matters tatter in certain districts in the e city ity of new york in which every house is either a brothel or a grogshop or both nine tenths of the men always vote the same ticket I 1 remember an election a few years since at which the voters of one of these districts ill in tile the sixth ward were all on one side with a I 1 single exception decency flies these localities and fellows of the baser sort have everything their own way while every form of corruption grow grows the rankest luxuriance uri ance bo so 4 long iong as an overwhelming majority of the voters ofa of a city or state tate are honest mid and capable they may be trusted to neutralize the influence of the class of which I 1 am speaking but behave ye have selic r ted a point in more than one of our cities where the tile abandoned and vicious classes so far control political matters that there is no longer r any adequate protection to life or or pro pyo property perty give this class the same power throughout the whole country and our government would not he be worth a three years pur purr r chase I 1 do not despai despal the country oragree or agree with those who pronounce free institutions a failure but if it is my most solemn conviction that we are at the present time carrying a load of ignorance and corruption aa a a heavy athe as the cou country n try cans can ean stagger under if it we turn from voters to our professional politicians eans cans and office seeker the view is ig even more disheartening new kew york has its rings and combinations that manage its politics and i nd steal right and left by thousands and arld millions of dollars until the empire city is threatened with bankruptcy and the tho same corruption on a smaller scale obtains in in all our chief cities if things are nob not as bad in cincinnati or chicago as they are in new hew yorkie york kIt it Is only because the e pool 1001 from frob which the rascals steal is not so large and deel deet deep as 48 the fhe end ond one iri in which teed and his isaks isaur associates disport themselves it would be faise false and unjust to say that we have hareno no honest and u unselfish politicians but it is true that their reputation on as a class cass is unquestionably and notoriously b a if like the children of lo sachar issachar we would have havo un understanding der standing pf af the times we must consider secondly the means that are now in common use to secure election in offic office it has bai been said that no citizen should desire oi or decline any office under tile the government or br within the gift of the tho people 11 the rule in the main is a good one and if it could be adopted would would redeem our country from a multitude of evils at present our best citizens not only shun office but I 1 generally take taken little interest and coactive no active part ili in political matters this as a s a matter of course leaves the nield field open to corrupt and mercenary t demagogues and what are the means to wiil which ch these men resort to secure a nomination to the office to which they aspire I 1 almost wish i perien perlen ced eed politicians could take my place for about ten minute sand tell you how these things were managed I 1 am not a politician but I 1 can throw some light on thier subject to be begin ginat at the beginning the caucuses and primary meetings are pretty generally held in lif grog shops or other disreputable places into which the better class claas of citizens do not care to go this makes chinti things pleasant and easy for themen the men w who 0 arm are not over fastidious about their associations and who are nevermore never more at home hom ethan than when in a saloon or beer garden then tile the convention is dand a nomination secured by fraud and carru corruption n men are nominated 1113 isla fo for r I 1 legislative e N ve and municipal of flees offices who are notoriously in sympathy with the criminal classes things have come to such a pass in many places that politicians of the lowest class have everything their own way ministers are warned against soiling their black coats by bi having anything to do with politics christians are admonished to keep out of these dirty birly wafer 11 and to devote vesto t appropriate leir work in the church an and the sabbath school the motto all is fair in politics ess csc is in high repute and men who are so old oid fashioned fashioned as to propose to keep a good con cou science are apted an incumbrance and a nuisance things thing have bave reached sueh such a pass that our best citi eitl citizens zensi who are sensitive and amii retiring are fairly driven from the field and the worker work of virtually determining who shall make and execute our laws is left tosa to sa loon keepers vile politicians and unprincipled party hacks the people who have haxe a real interest in the country are still graciously permitted to ratify the nominations made by those throe enterprising demagogue candidates for office consort with the rabble rubble and pander to their depravity as a means of securing their votes men who aspire to our highest municipal offices or to a seat in congress drag themselves through beer gardens and saloons guzzle whisky with the irish drink lager beer with the German sand are hale fellows veil veli well vell met with thieves and gamblers all to show that they sympathize with the tib dear tibar ar people worse than all the corrupt use that is now made nilde of money in political jire life in man many cases nominations ar are e pur purchased c hase base votes are bought and sold wit with hardly an attempt to conceal tile tiie infamous transactions men mou will tell teli you that they cannot accept a nomination for the reason that they are aro not able to pay the expenses of an election campaign it should be known that there is no call for large su sums nis of in money 01 I 1 ey in a political canvass that Is conducted with honesty there are certain legitimate expenses fon for halls balls tickets prin printing ting etc but sending large sums of money from washington or new york yerk to be used in an election in ohio or indiana is to be deplored by all good citizens such moneys are almost sure to be used in one way or another ancor in corrupting the people Ther there owasa was a time when almost every american citizen regarded the senate of tile the united states with respect and admiration mi ration now places in that honorable body are bargained for bought and sold in the most open and shameless man manlier iier lier men stained with alth with th 19 int amy still show their brazen faces among honorable men and lay claims to respectability cl we inid have reached the lowest t P point i nt of humiliation in this matter patter within the last two or three weeks on a resolution declaring that a man who forces himself into the united states senate by bribery and co corruption irruption is is unfit for a place in that body we find a wide difference of opinion among Se senators naton amont some of those liono rab e men are they not all honorable men are not prepared to say that and others of them make minke pettifogging pleas in defense of the guilty parties which are an insult to the moral sense of the nation we notice more distinctly third the reprehensible practice which now prevails among men in office some sone of them are fostered by the abominable dil fil axim maxim maximio to the victors belong the spoils whoever first framed this expression deserves to have it so associated with his name asto as to render llis memory forever infamous the practice it was used to justify has opened a pandora orals box bf evils upon ulion our burr country it is easy to trace jhb growth of this ev evil ihno ikno no man living caneon can conjecture where it is to end george washington was president of the united states for eight years during his administration he no removed nine men from office john adams was president four years and during that time displaced ten tev officeholders this makes an aggregate of nineteen men to twelve years and I 1 am not aware that any orie one of the number was removed on political grounds thomas defier son was president eight years and rem removed oved forty two iwo officeholders office holders a little more than five a year sear on an average madison during the eight years of his hit administration put only five men out of or office monroe during his eight years removed nine john quincy adams filled the presidential chair for four years and during that time only two of the army of effii officeholders ee holders werm were decapitated this brings us to the reign of andrew jackson which inaugurated a new dispensation for twenty years the removals by his predecessors amounted in the agg aggregate rogato rogate to only sixteen within twelve months from the time of his lna ina inauguration he had removed two hundred and thirty officeholders ca h old oid or oi about three times as many as fiad find had been removed byall his predecessors decess ors for A pernod period of forty years and he prosecuted the work with relentless vigor until he hb struck down doah aboul about every political 09 opponent pon upon whom he could lay and hand whatever service general jackson rendered his country in other respects ta 1 in this matter he bial indicted I 1 acted an injury u ry from which dehave suffered for more than forty years and the end is not yet yot it has come to be understood that the emoluments of office are distributed as a reward for part izan services when an office is to he be filled th the question is not Is he honest Is be capable but what has he done for for foz his party of late years the abominable system of which I 1 speak has bas taken on certain new and odious features which make it doubly detestable the lis lik dis Ils tribu tion lion of government patr patronage is now claimed as Ps one of the prerogatives of members of congress they claim that the of nices in their several districts are to be placed at their disposal and used to reward their friends one pile of these re representatives no matter whether ee he comes from the swamps of florida or the s of a frontier state no sooner reaches washington Washing torl tori than he waits upon the president ehtor or the heads of de apartments part ments to demand places for tor hi hl henchmen if told that there are areno vacancies he demands that some be found found or br made and if this is not done look out for war on the administration dealing with these hungry cormorants is ii often the most perplexing and lilb laborious orious of all the work of the president presidents when our martyr president was straining evert every every nerve to save the nation from ini impending ruin his life was nearly worried out of him by this herd of office seekers when the present occupant of the white house tried to shake ott off these greedy leeches the pro |