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The Governing Class

The Governing Class image
Parent Issue
Day
2
Month
October
Year
1847
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

Il s a fict well known to all atieniive er vers of pMsing evonts, that the makers nnd executors of the laws in our country are selecle.i maiuly f rom those classes of citizens who attend the political caucusses. The candidates are usually chosen from the number in nttendanco there, and in character, in intellect, in intelligonce, in honesty and virtue, may be fiiirly presumed to be an average of the o'elegatps to those meetings. They represent the virtues and the vices, ilie excellencies and defects of the class who put them in nominntion. It is also a fact tliat the moral and relig-ious portions of the community are net usually frequentere of ;he caucuses. - Wen a man becoms a preacher, he is 'considerad by himself nnd others, as oltogellier too holy to "dabble in the dfrly waters of pol i t es ;" and just in proportion as a tnan s accounled pious and de vout, just in tha; pronortion lie is e.xpected to withdraw f rom all conneciion with the eorrapting and debasing mnchinfir}' of party politics. And such men do very generally wiihdiaw from !he caucues'. leaving the wholo field to the management of men less intelligent, less virtuous, more selfisti, ind more indifferent to the welfare of their country and the world. The belter portion withdraw : the nominations are made by the worse portions of the communiiy from their own number: whereupon the pious deacon and church memoer sigh over the corruption of the party and the degijneracy of the times, find fau!t with the nominalion of men whose principies Ihey knovv tb be diivcily antagonistic to t hei t own ; ihen g to ihe polls on election day and support Ihe regular party candidates. Ilence, the me'nbers of the dominant party who allen;! the party csucuees have the enlire control of ihe Siate in their hands. These persona dj nol probably atnount to moic tban one tenth part of thr whole num'.ier of voters of the Slate. - Yel ex ept in some localilic, h"re the VVhigs arp in ilie :iscende.t, al! political power rfloHe in ihe li;uids of thesp six thousand vo:pi-s ; and f : m ihis privüpg ed class a"m8t e'very politicnl office IVoni constable lo Governor, is sehcted. Hou im(tortnnt thea is it, tliat :he friands of virtue and good moráis in the great political parties should rally to thpse priman meeling- wlience al! political enrrgy flows ! Yet we sec ibnt th best men absent hemselves most from these meetings, while varioua classes of the diisolute, unpi'incipled anci vicious - the nimselltr, the dist i Her, the drinking man, thf treater o! elnctions, the profane, the gam' 1 ir, the office seeker, the political Wriguer, the dier, and U&princlpled profligates generally - are very certa:n to !e there. - Henee, the whole govprnment of tne country being in the hands of a bodv compo.sed to a laíge extfnt of such men, we have any amount of nolit:cil corruption, intrigues, continunnce of u!d abuses, Mexiean wars, &c. To lake a single branch of the subject. It is a wel1 known fact tliat Temperance men, as a general thing, do not altend tlie caucuses of the Whig or Democratie parties. Consequently, surh are in n great measure excluded from the ment of the State and nation. And the higher the candidate is raisod from the level of the people, the less prospect there is that he will be a friend of temperance. How stand the case with the Goverr.ors of this State ? It is well knovvn 'J at the personal eample of our first Governor in tbis respect was most iujurious and destructive to the moráis of the young men. The facts are as Inmentrtble as ihey are notorious.- We wil] say no more respecting them. The second Governor, a man of years, and an office holder nearlv all his life, when a member of the State Senate, made an elabórate report in ridicule of ihe unanimously expressed wish of the Temperance people of this Sta'e for a law prohibiting licenses, and when subsequentlv elccted Governor, furnished his public .intertainments with every kindofliquid by which drunkenness is produced. The third Governor of this Slale was a Rumseller - a dealer in the article we are credibly informeel, both by the barrel and the gallon. This, with that part of ihe party who twice elected him, was no disqualification. We never heard it mentioncd disapprovingly by a single Democrat. Our fourth Governor was a gentleman, and so far as we know strietly températe personally in his habita. But we never heard of bis being a Temperan ce man, or of hls rnaking a Temppiañce addrese, or doing the least thing in favor of the cause. The office rnnking portion of the Democratie party contains compniatively few active Temperance men. Like caucus, like office holder. Of the present incumben' we will merely say thnt all the representa! ons of liim we have he&rd go to sliow that practically he is very far removed from being a friendof tlie canse. And how stands the case wilh 'lie candidales for Governor now before the people 1 Are they e.xcepiions to the general rule? ( 'ne of them connJenancos the drunkard by panaking of ihe destroying beverages, while the other is well known to the whole cominunity where he resides as a Distiller of some years standing. - Yet frorn ten to twenty ihousand tnen, who cali theme'vps Temperance men, wil) vote for these cnniidales next monlh, and elect either ihe Distiller or the Drinker to the oflice of Governor, and shout in exultation at the success of their efïbrts. Had we the dala complete, we might gn through with all the other high offices, both State and National, and i, lústrate from each the great trnth8 we are aiming at - that tliose who altend the caucuses govern the community, and select candidatos from their oirn numbpr ; and that men more virtunus and intelligent m'ght be made to fill all the public offices, if all intelligent and virtuous men would attend, in their respective parties, and make their influenco feit at thee fountain-hoads of power. We are hippy to say, however, while on this sujbect, that the course of tlie Liberty party, in this respect, has ever been consistent. Their candidatos for the highest as well as for the lower offices, have been notonous as far as their ñames were known, for the adyocacy of Temperance as well as Liberty, and evpry popular reform ; and our present nominees for Goernorand Lieutfnanl Governor, Vessrs. Gurney and IIalloctC, have become well known to the Temperancfï men throughout the Slate for therr zealous and self-denying exertions in this departinent of reform. How far this fact should g in entitling ihem to the confidence ani politica! support of their fe!lov lab irers in the same causo, in prefeence to candidatos whose t provos therrr decidedly hoslilc to the mensures of this mighty rpform, weshall lenve to thp c"nsüicncesorTemprrancp men to determine. Our candil! ates, in this rs in all other things. will do their duty fai'hlullv, however mnch or li lie mny be the degree of eiifouragenent vvliich the popular voioe will avvard.

Article

Subjects
Signal of Liberty
Old News