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Show I 1 POLITICAL MORALITY I 1 Tho realm' of politics concerns the community com-munity In its government. Its origin Is indicated by the word Itself having been derived from the government of cltiea. The relation of the families of a community com-munity gave rise to customs and agreements agree-ments which tlnally developed into systems sys-tems of civil government. As the government gov-ernment of a community affects all of the members of that community, Its poll-tics, poll-tics, or policy In the management of civic affairs, must concern all of the indlvld-, indlvld-, uals, but perhaps In different degrees, but the general rights of individuals are I much tho same. r It is true that politics generally seems to be thought of In no very favorable light; it is looked upon in a bad sense, and this fact probably arises from the f striving and often success of dishonest and immoral men In obtaining political power In a, community, perhaps to fur- ther or protect some favored or private I interest. Also, it may be that the com- f mtinity Is so immoral that only a certain f class dare aspire to public of lice, or It may bo that tho community Is not awake (; to closely scrutinize those who sock po- ! litiir.il honors, and the result Is bad noll- i tics, bad government, grafting, malfeas- unce. and embezzlements. Then, the general opinion grows that politics Is a game, the interests of the people are at stake and the prizes arc I the offices-, their emoluments, and the delectable privilege of expending the r wealth accumulated by taxation. The un scrupulous man, once In power, will at once I seek to fortify his position by the dls- i trJbutlon of largess In tho way of rc- munerative positions, even If It seems L expedient to create new positions then tnxatlon must be increased or kept up I to a high limit to provide suflicient revc- nue. If the opposing party gains con- i trol. then the many places are a part of the political spoil. This is a reason t that taxation in a city has a tendency to climb upward, even after all the pub- He Improvements are finished, and It Is I only by the rude awakening of the pub- lie conGdence that such conditions are I broken. The breaking up of the Tweed L gang of New iTork City was such an I awakening. I n I Socialists lay the blame for such con- I ditions to the capitalistic class, but It Is I a lack of political morality of the com- I munity and its officers in not flecking I to change conditions when they have be- I comn detrimental to tho community. The state of thnes existing Is generally what the public likes, condones, or permits, whether it be polygamy or other crimes. So It Is the self-seeking self-interests, that as agaimil. tlu general cood of tho community, tliat have given tho name ot opprobrium to nolltica. It Is a saying , among some politicians, "A man cannot remain long In politics and be honest." or "No honest man can remain long in politics." Or another says In despair, 'Mt Is Impossible to be honest." It looks like an excuse to cover up somo act or concession that did not seem quite righteous, right-eous, and like the loss of virtue, whatTn the difference? and other vices enter at ; the broach made by the giving wav to eome act to protlt at the public expense. I The statesman who exclaimed, "Purity I In politics Is an Iridescent dream, the I Decalogue has no place In politics." r- I ceived much censure, and was one of the factors which led to his retirement. Yet as long as the elements of selfishness and passion arc tho general motives of so many men and women there will be crimes committed; society has Its criminal crim-inal element, but the lino is not distinctly distinct-ly drawn, for there arc criminals in nearly all strata of society; there are the weak and the would-bo criminal, tho respectable grafter; and who would deny that the confidence man would not make tho smoothest politician by invoking a political infatuation of himself, whatever his character? if The Jlormon prophet, et uxores, and Reed Smoot, with a following of Sutherland Suther-land et al., cannot woll bo accredited with any civic morality, for theirs is derived de-rived from tho polygamous emotions, and tho Infatuation of a large number of Mormons Mor-mons with polygamy as practiced by their leaders. Jack-Mormons are afflicted with this inoculation, but it would bo a good rule for any one to not become Infatuated Infatu-ated with any political leader, for such arc only men, and possibly Inferior men. The emotional element of a polygamous religion should not be allowed to enter civil government as a political factor. Thus society Is made up by the dovetailing dove-tailing In of its various elements, and tho vicious element have the privilege to attend the primaries and vote at the election, and they have no scruples In violating the law to carry their point or win for their man; no man of them Is bad unless he has been so careless as to bo caught, or has exposed his frlonds. Thus It Is the duty of all good citizens to take part in politics; they may not be able to purify it, but many evils will be forestalled. If the vicious or destructive element In society get themselves or tholr frlonds Into political power, the moral tone of tho community must suffer, and the bad effects are often far-reaching. If tho vicious clement could be congregated and isolated. It would soon destroy Itself. Intemperance In-temperance and tho social evil arc the two most potent factors of destruction to tho vicious, and if the -victims arc such as tho process of evolution must finally eliminate, no valid objection can be made. But tho segregation is Impossible, and no such elimination mav be looked for, for all grades arc in all strata of society as constituted, and there is no perfect class. But should evil men gain control of the government of a community, it may Involve society In tho demoralizing and destructive' process. For Instanco, If polygamists had the political power In their hands, the moral tone of the community com-munity Is lowered. And. while the present pres-ent state government of Utah may be said to be by sufferance a polygamous product, the Smoot machine with all of Its attachments Is the typical polygamous polyga-mous product, and nobody can well denv Its venality. The politics of a community com-munity Is what the people make 11. upon which motives arc In control In tho various va-rious parties, and tl)e general morale of the officers chosen, have powerful influences in-fluences for good or evil. The political morality of an officer, of course, depends upon his character: his training, his inherited tendencies, and In no small degree upon his conception of a supreme being; and upon the responsibility re-sponsibility of his conscience. Conscience Is only a relative term, and Its quality will depend upon the formatlvo training of society, religion, and homo Influences with which the individual has had tho fortune to form character, embracing so Important and vital personal equation as as tho conscience. Thus, It is woll known that men brought up under tho environment environ-ment of human slavery wore often Idle, immoral and brutal, and the Inhumanities Inhuman-ities Inflicted upon the Union prisoners of war during the War of the Rebellion Rebel-lion shows tho trait of cruelty developed by tho environment of slavery. The environment en-vironment of polygamy has had a marked effect upon ihe huiidlng of character among Mormons (also Jack-Mormons), and In some respects Its effects are not unlike those engendered bv slavery, possibly pos-sibly tho latter more closely affecting the social morale of Caucasian people. All of these elements arc involved in political pol-itical morality or good citizenship. Too, it must bo rcmcmbored, that It Is 'only the thlnkfsrs and strong men that can break away from tho teachings of childhood, child-hood, whether it be polygamv or slavery. slav-ery. It may be proper to give Just as much credit to tho man or woman ulio believes be-lieves that Joseph J Smith is tho vicegerent vice-gerent or God. as to thoso who believe that A. Dowic was Elljnh; yet It must ! be remembered that theso elements enter en-ter into the political morality of theso Individuals, for they must absorb some elements of character from their Ideals. Recently a Mormon Democrat expressed the opinion that the Individuals comprising compris-ing the "federal bunch" arc "all scoundrels." scoun-drels." Possibly he did not have come to his mind that tho Smoot crowd of politicians Is sustained upon a polygamous polyg-amous basis, and that this would of Itself It-self account for many of the concurrent evils exhibited by those "scoundrels." Any individual who Is obsessed with the idea that he Is a god or a near god Is of little uso to the civic community, and the healthful progress of humanity has never boon aided, much less led, by such unbalanced individuals who constitute con-stitute false rophcts; and It is a political immorality and weakness to be so led astray. The embers of anarchy slumber where there Is oppression and corruption by tho ruling powers; and tho mob spirit abides in the community whoro the governing gov-erning power is weak and atrocious crimes are frequent and go unpunished. It Is a rule of the human race that the vicious members must be eliminated, holding more true of the violent members; mem-bers; If this wcro not true the race Itself It-self would soon- perish or becomo very much degraded. (Polygamy would be one of the first evidences of reversion.) It is not so much the big immoralities of politics that the attention is called to, for theso arc apparent to everybody. Some of the petty wrong-doings that undermine tho political morality should also receive attention. All aro aware of the intrigue that tho cunning politician politi-cian thinks ho has to invoke to get tho vote of the vicious as well as tho good citizen. Ho often thinks ho has to mix and partake of all kinds. Concessions Con-cessions aro made to various Interests to secure support, and the politician Is supposed to oxort his power for those Interests. Special Interests have rights, but should not try to control the politics pol-itics of the community. Nepotism Is an old political evil, and was early recognized as obnoxious In Intelligent communities. It Is a remnant rem-nant of family government, or perhaps patriarchal rule. Today it should be looked upon as a gross political Immorality Immor-ality by all intelligent voters of any free community. No fault can rightfully right-fully be found in placing-, "my son Hy-rum" Hy-rum" in a good or remunerative place in tho government of tho Mormon church, for In family or hierarchical government It Is a matter of course: but In civil government such nepotism is out of place, uud but few politicians have tho selfish effrontery to violate political morals In this manner. Where nepotism exists, graft is likely to be a concurrent evil; but really nepotism Is" a species of graft itself, and the suspicion of other graft would bo well founded, for graft grows out of selfish motives, and nepotism is an exemplification of selfishness. Tho Salt Lake school board and tho "federal "fed-eral bunch" have both furnished gross examples. A public officer Is a public servant, and not a public boss. Yet a good mnny public pub-lic officers act as though they were rulers of some old stock. Pomposity is not a political virtue, notwithstanding it may have been derived from polygamous associations. asso-ciations. The habit of trying "to make a little money on the side" by collecting a fco for some service of an offclal nature, or quassl official, is a potty graft In fact, an embezzlement. A public servant has a salary and is not a Pullman portor supposed to collect tips from the public. A public embezzler sneaks from the public, pub-lic, but it Is robbery of children, for they cannot help themselves. Whore the public Is charged by any official for any service, that fee should bo turned Into tho proper treasury, whether school, city, county or state. The bounty graft by the county ofl'lcals in various parts of the state, some years ago was a plain case of stealing, and seems to have been generally condoned. A careful official will sec that tho public pub-lic gels the most in return for the expenditure ex-penditure of public funds. Those who aro anxious to handle other pcoplo's money and spend It rocklessly, have not the proper conscience to bo entrusted with the" care of the widow and orphan, who arc a part of the public, and such a public pub-lic official commits robbery on all alike. Those trained under the titho system, where no accounting Is ever made, can bo depended upon to take all they can get In the way of preying upon tho public pub-lic funds. The letting of tho tax list republication re-publication by tho County Commissioners Commission-ers is a good illustration of political Im-moraliiv Im-moraliiv nffcctlng the public purse, and possibly it is only an indication of what is going on. Political morality means safe and sane administration of government, a conservation con-servation and improvement of tho public morals. It should be tho aim of every good parent to Insist on political morals of a high order, for on such depends much tho welfare of the children as well as thoso of tho immediate present. Evil men leave an evil heritage for the coming com-ing generations, Tho present Is the time to put forth strong efforts to get tho best in political science; the vicious clement will control if you let them. On the present dcDends the future, then let our efforts bo to make the present with as few defects as it is in our power to accomplish. ac-complish. Lot us keep In mind that in protecting tho rights of our neighbor, wo aid In protecting our own: and the moral and social relation wo bear toward others Is what we sot as a standard for our friends nnd members of our own family, and on these things depends much of our vuluc in civic morality. OLIVKR SEYMOUR. |
