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About The Conservative (Nebraska City, Neb.) 1898-1902 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 19, 1899)
Conservative. 11 any officer to give bonds for the faithful performance of his duty or for the pro per care of public funds. The theory of democratic government is that a majority of the people are al- therefore , perfect ly competent to govern themselves. In fact , this government is one of commit tees. In the county of Lancaster the whole people desire a treasurer , a sher iff , a county nudge , and county com missioners , together with a county clerk. By a vote of the whole these officers are selected , as a more committee , to attend to business which the people in their primary capacity cannot look after. To these officers are committed all the func tions appertaining to their respective places. They have boon chosen by a majority of the legal voters. If any one of them is inefficient or dishonest , those who elected them should suffer the consequences. The whole community should be bondsmen for the electees of the majority. The community should not plead the "baby act , " and after , by a majority of ten to one , having elected A. B. treasurer , ask eight , ten , or n dozen good citizens who , by thrift , tem perance , industry , and frugality , have acquired competencies , to come forward and sign a bond by which they shall risk all their lives' earnings ( which , by natural rights , in part belong to their wives and children ) in order to indem nify the community against loss by its own choice of an officer. Up to date , the bond-giving system , which is contrary to a democratic form of government , has resulted , as a rule , in fruitless litigation when bondsmen have been sued. That which is true as to the non-bond ing of county and city officers is like wise true of the No Itoud for , , , , , , . bonded state offi cials in Nebraska. The. state treasurer of this common wealth is required to give a bond in the sum of something like a million of del lars. That is to say , two hundred thous and voters , having advocated or per mitted the election of a citizen to the responsible position of state treasurer , then ask that they may be protected from their own selectee and guaranteed that he will not rob those who have chosen him to take care of the public funds. The best type of citizenship is then asked to jeopardize its earnings and the education and happiness of its house holds to protect a majestic majority from the possible consequences of its own votes. Events too recent in the state are ample in potency to prove the fallacy of the bond-giving system when it comes to state treasurers. It , too , results in only litigation and loss. But let the laws requiring these offi cial bonds be repealed , so that neither city , county , nor state officers whether they handle money or perform other duties can bo required to give any financial guaranty as to their capabil ity , efficiency , or honesty. When these laws shall have been repealed , who will dare say that the republican party , the democratic party , the populist party , or the prohibition party of this state will nominate in any city or county a treas urer , or name for a state treasurer , a man whoso character for ability as an accountant and for honesty and so briety as a eitizon is not above and be yond reproach ? The repeal of these laws , which have KoX'll. | . in practice been almost a complete failure , would put a premium upon ability and honesty in public life. No political organization would dare name for public place a man intellectually or morally disqualified for the peformance of the duties which that position demands. There would bo no further pleading of the "baby act" by vast majorities. The whole people would soon understand and fully realize that whenever a dishonest or inefficient official was elected , they themselves were his sureties. The vote of every property holder would then be given after due reflection as to the probabil ities of the candidate being able to satis factorily do the work of the office sought. No longer would men be named for county treasurers simply be cause small bankers furnished bonds for them , in consideration of their fur nishing back the small bankers deposits of public- funds out of which petty money-mongers may , by devious meth ods , evolve surreptitious and unlicensed gains. Until offices are recognized as having been created for public utility and not exclusively for party purposes , and un til salaries are paid only for services faithfully , honorably and wisely given for the common weal , these ills , which are grievous to be borne , will probably remain uncured and become more ma lignant. Until no bonds are required , extrava gance in local governments can and pro bably will be continued. Until there be a premium upon personal integrity and upon fitness and adaptation for given positions , rascality and mediocrity may perpetuate dishonest and extravagant management and taxes may continue to be more now than they were then. CAUK SOU UK/ . Mr. Schurz continues to be a powerful , an honest , and an entirely fearless advo cate of what ho holds to be right and righteous in the affairs of men and governments in our country. Nobody questions his remarkable ability as a purely intellectual force , and partisan bitterness and injustice have utterly failed to disturb him in his high place as a man of fearless courage and clean character in his moral attitude bef oj e the people. As a patriot ho lias proven his love of his adopted country and its free institutions in war and in the higher civil councils of the government , and if may be said of this really great Gorman- American that ho never occupied a pub lic station which he did not adorn. Mr. Schurz is a passionate lover of personal and of political liberty which ho risked liis life to establish in his native country from which he was expatriated to our own. But in this intense ardor for hu man freedom the world all over , Mr. Schurzit seems to us , indulges in a wild j dream when , as shown in his late ad- j dress in Chicago , in opposition to the [ i imperialism of the time , he argues for the impossible in the Philippines. With the solo exception of England , the United States and the Swiss , no people on earth , however cultured or advanced in civilization , have as yet proven their ca pacity for orderly and stable self-govern ment. The so-called republics of South America , Mexico and Prance , are little more than governments of which mili tary force is the real support. When Mr. Schurz talks of our system of politi cal freedom for the millions of the Phil ippines , ho shows that he , like the re publican party in the sixties , when it committed the crime of granting the suffrage to the ex-slave , makes no al lowance for the differences of origin ami environment which mark the ineradi cable inequalities among the races into which the human family is divided. msTOKV. torical Society of Nebraska was particularly favored at its recent meeting by Messrs. Lobongior , of Omaha , and Aitchison , of Council Bluffs. The former had carefully prepared a most interesting and instructive paper on "Some Peculiar Features of the Ne braska Constitution. " It was symmet rical and suggestive and marked its author as a thoughtful and rcsearchful student of causes and effects. Mr. Aitchison presented a very com plete essay upon "Tho Mormon Settle ments in the Missouri Valley. " He evidenced pains-taking , truth-seeking , investigation ; and his contribution to the choicest archives of the State Histor ical Society was thoroughly enjoyed and prized. Other papers may be mentioned later on. Many of them were valuable. Minnesota r o - . ' . PAlOlKIt.S' SONS. ports that the flow of young men from the country to the cities has been checked in that state. Enlightened methods of farming have put the fanner within reach of condi tions evidently much more enviable than those under which the majority of dwellers in cities live ; and the boys from the farms , instead of going to "business" colleges , to learn the alleged business there taught ( with God only knows what ultimate expectation ) are more likely to go , in Minnesota , to the state school of agriculture , there to learn how to get the best returns from the property their fathers are liable to leave them.