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THE HESPERIAN.
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darkness mul chaos rush in nnd envelope nil, they will stand
itphcjd and glorified by the eternal Inws of truth and right,
If that time shall ever conic when that constitution is cast
aside nnd disregarded, then will the wind? sweep over one
more ruined nation nutl America will be no more. Docs the
voter scoff at danger? Let him ponder. Once in the history
ol this country the spirit of the constitution was perverted
and its sublime trutl's rejected. Soon the nation lay gasping
in the awful throes ol internal war. Life, nil but fled. It
recovered but not until destruction nnd devnstntion had
swept the land and blood flowed as water.
The American voter has violated n great principle of that
constitution. In giving himself up to party, in allowing his
vote to be dictated by the "political boss" he has not only
stultified intellect and conscience and lost his individuality,
but he has nbandandoned the very principle upon which our
whole system ol government is founded, representation of
the people. Party spirit has taken from the American citizen
his honest vote, destroyed his individuality and stolen from
him his true citizenship.
This, however, is the source of the real evil. It in itself
does not constitute the peril of the republic. What has been
the result? From it has arisen the greatest danger thnt has
ever menaced any form of government. I point not to
anarchy, to socialism, to polygamy, or race haticd. I point
to the iniquitous source of all these evilsjl point to the dead
liest enemy of national life political corruption. The civil
war was the outcome of open rebellion. That form of treason
was a defiant antagonist to be met in the field and over
thrown. This form of treason is a worm at the vital. This
is an enemy the more dangerous because least guarded
against. Can we doubt its existence? It shows itself in
every department or the government. Hribcry, ballot-box
stuffing, and election m .bbery nrc the indisputable cvidcnccu
of its presence.
Tnc evils that curse this nation nrc the direct results of
corruption in politics. In two wnjs arc they brought nbout:
First, laws are made and enforced for the law mnkcr, and
not for the people; to enrich the rich and impoverish the
poor. The workingmnn demnnds justice and equality before
the law; but in vain docs he raise his voice. Then with wife
and children in want he rises up in desperation and seeks to
secure by force those rights which otherwise he cannot
obtain. Second, the hundreds of thousands of immigrants
pouring yearly into this country become a powerful factor in
our national life. They are ignorant and helpless. They fall
into the hands of the politicians, nnd nt once become enemies
of pure government, lly the very men who should, nbovc
all olheis, be examples of devoted patriotism nnd true citi
zenship, they arc taught to disregard the laws of the nation,
and to trample its very life principle under their feet. They
then become the instigators of treasonable movements, nnd
seek to advance their bloody reforms with the must violent
fanaticism. The result we sec and hear in the multitudinous
forms of anarchy. Hut these nrc surface evils, which can be
seen and measured. What lies beneath? If you would fol
low iri the wake of evil nnd look upon its results, you must
go bnck through sixty centuries; you must wander, amid the
luins of nnlions; you must climb mountains of dead and wade
in rivers of blood; death and decay will greet your eyes at
every step, desolation and solitude surround and attend you.
Rome wf.s once the "Mistress of Earth." In her was accum
ulnted the power of a World or nations, but corruption came,
withering nnd blighting, and to-day the crumbling ruins
alone tell of her past grandeur; the desert sands sift
over the broken columns where stood the temples of ancient
. Egypt; ignorance and degradation hang like n pall over the
lanti wnosc uncnrilird glories startle the world to dny nnd
bring n deeper realization ol the depth or Uabylon's fall. A
Thcodosius, n Cleopatra, and a llelshazznr, but mnrk the
periods when punishment for violated lnw and outraged jus
tice was sent, with nil the potency ol infinite power, by the
drend hand of the almighty, and that punishment was ruin.
The relation of man to God has not been changed, nnd He is
still judge of individuals and nations. Must the nwful les
sons of the past be repented, or will the Amcricnn citizen
tnke warning? Avarice nnd love of power arc the ruling
forces in the nation. He sees it, hems it, nnd feels it.
Slowly the rich life , blood or purity nnd honesty is being
drawn from the veins of the republic, and the cold, black
poison or foulness nnd corruption is being substituted in its
stend. Silently nnd surely the change is going on. Must
this nation, too, be sacrificed as one more terrible warning
to posterity? Wc answer God forbid! Hut let the citizen
remember that he is the source of that corruption in placing
himself in the power of the politician, by abandoning his
individuality and his manhood.
If you would purify a stream whose source is polluted you
do more than cleanse tin bnnks, nnd if you would purify the
stream of national life, you must purify the spring from
whence it flows. Then let the Ameiicuii voter put loith a
mighty effort nnd luust his bonds; lei him feel his rcsponsi
bility; let him nsseit his individuality; let him be true to
himself nnd to his country; let him be an American citizen.
Then, standing in view of the silent centuries of the cast,
with the winds of destruction rising about him. and with the
storm-clouds of blackest peril hanging overhead, let him
stand forth and declare: This shall not be! And as he rises
to the sublime height or his former sovereignty and tnkes his
scat upon the usurped throne or his country, one sweep ol his
mighty arm, fraught with the power or his newly regained
authority, will wipe from our land this curse or corruption.
When the voter again recognizes his individual responsi
bility, and this government is again in the hands or the real
sovereign power, then will the machinery or state resume
its perfect movement, laws will be made far the good or all,
internal troubles will cease, and citizenship shall regain its
lost dignity; then let the stars and stripes, significant or a
free and honest government, float at top mast, and let our
cry be-not "America far Americans" but America far the
world. Let the flood gates of immigration be thrown wide
open nnd let the oncoming tides of humnnity sweep in. In
the strength or sovereignty regained wc will educate, chris
tianize and Americanize them nnd lift them up to an exalted
citizenship. An all pervading purity shall banish imposition
and strife, bring justice and harmony, and our nation will go
ontoagieatcr and grander development, a rcfrge far the
persecuted, favored in the sight of God." f
The Adelphian quartet then sang a number of jolly selec
tions while the committee was adjusting the marks.
The chair then announced the decisions of the judges.
Mr. C. E. Winter, of the Wesleyan, was adjudged first, and
Mr. Chappell, of the state university, second. A number of
students then tossed the orators in the good old stvle, und
everybody went home noisy and happy. The following nre
the markings or the judges. Chnppell stood highest in the
general averages.
MANUSCRIPT.
Chappell Holt Casscll
K. '.. r. o. R.
I little if.rfriei- I An 1 Sn .
j'Marden 48G- 2 88 1 ifi a
M- - ,
Iilckncll
a. r.
80 4
75 5
5. 5
Winter
.""r.
80 4
i5 3
85 3