Jasper County Democrat, Volume 1, Number 46, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 25 February 1899 — MONEY TO BURN. [ARTICLE]

MONEY TO BURN.

They Mty, op thar, in Wall street, that money ’• thar to burn— That the dollars jingle, tingle ever'whichaway you turn. That’s it'a piling up in pyramids an’ floatin’ in the air. Oh, 1 wish that when they bora it they would blow the smoke down here! It meets you and it greets yon—it takes yon by the bandit ripples in the rivers, and it blossoms in the land; It twinkles in the sunshine an' makes the weather clear. Oh, I wish that when it blossoms they would blow tbe bloom down here! They say, up thar. in Wall strec-t, the money's in the way— « You've got to throw a summersault to cross it ever’ day I They say it’s ”goin’ beggin’ ’’ in weather fcul and fair. Oh, I wish 'twould do some beggin’ in the settlement down here! But I reckon that they’re talkin’ just to while the time away— To make us think that winter has a rosy smack o’ May; But es they've got the cash to bum I think it’s only fair To burn it on the hilltop an' blow tbe smoke down here! —Atlanta Constitution.

Some of the democratic papers of the state are engaged in whitewashing those members of the legislature claiming to be democrats, for the position taken against the reform bills—county and township. That these men made a grevious error is a self-evident fact. These bills may not be all that they claim to be, but anything is preferable to the damnable system now in vogue. It is true that all township and county officers are not thieves. But under the present system all of them can become thieves, and we are sorry to say so, bat it is the truth —known to any one who has given the matter even a cursory examination—that many are thieves, and the very fact that they have done all in their power to defeat every measure looking to a curtailing of their chances to steal and compelling them to make public their intentions in official matters, proves it. An - honest official will be pleased to have the responsibilities of his office shared by his fellow citizens —to have his every official act carefully scrutinized by the public. Not so with the official who has a raid on the public treasury in mind. Loose methods and plenty of secrecy suits him exactly. These democrats are acquainted with the needs of their constituents, and well acquainted with the fact that these bills are not republican measures, but are bi-partisan, and that even though they were republican measures, democrats are in duty bound to vote for any meastire even though it be of republican origin if it is meritorious. The democratic state platform demanded reform, and these democrats were elected on this platform. Democrats individually and collectively demand this same reform. The township bill by the aid of five democrats, became a law. No votes were to spare. So the democrats, after all, made township reform possible.