ONE of the prevalent and lamentable tendencies in political life in America during the last quarter century is boss rule in politics. Twenty-five years ago it was manifest only in New York. Boss Tweed was a unique figure, condemned by all parties and papers outside of those under his immediate control. Now we have bosses in national politics, bosses in State politics, bosses in municipal politics, and oftentimes bosses in ward politics. It is no longer in New York only, but in nearly every town down to 4,000 inhabitants and lower. So everywhere present is the Boss, with a big " B," that even decent men feel they must reckon with him if they are to achieve success. Men bow to men, and the evil is increasing. Not merit but money and the boss win elections now. And in this we are not discriminating between parties nor referring to recent local elections. We refer to the boss in politics, irrespective of party, as one of the excrescences of the body politic, showing its innate corruption.
It is not personal knowledge of bosses or politics which we present. We know no boss control, and are not politicians. We present the testimony of one of the "bosses." One of the most successful and respectable of this class in the Union is Colonel Dan Burns, of California, who does mining in Mexico for a business, and politics in California as a pastime. What we quote from Mr. Burns was written about two years ago in a signed article shortly after election; we clip from the San Francisco Examiner:
"When the delegates selected by the one-man power go to the convention, do they express their own wills?—Why, no; they await orders from the boss, and obey his bidding. Take the municipal convention of two years ago (1894), which I controlled. I never heard of a candidate going among the delegates and soliciting their support. They knew better. They came to me or sent their friends to me to obtain my consent to their nomination. They knew they could do nothing unless the master hand was on their side. That hand was the hand of the boss.
"These methods are un-Republican; they are un-Democratic; they are un-American. If the people do not wipe them out, they will see this great government wane as I have seen it wane. Our institutions will disappear from the earth, and another form of government will be established. Trifles that at the outset seem matters of but little moment often determine the fate of nations. Throughout the country political power is being centralized. In all trusts, pools, or combinations of whatever nature, the power finally rests in the hands of one man. He is the boss."
Summing up the one-man power in politics, Mr. Burns thus forecasts the future:—
"The United States will become another Europe, with all the class distinctions of the older countries. Before that time comes, tho, blood will again have drenched the land. The horrors of war will once more devastate the country. Even now the murmurings of a dissatisfied people may be heard from sea to sea. Soon these murmurs will increase to a roar of protest against existing conditions. Then the money barons will say: 'We can no longer bear the ravings of these rascals. We will suppress them.' The result may be foreseen. Money usually wins in a war or in any bitter contest, because it can last longer. Money will be king and the people serfs."
Mr. Burns, as boss in his party, engineered it again to success in 1898. Verily there is need for a new Declaration of Independence.
In the Church.
While in His church God designed that there should be but one Head, that head is not to be erring humanity. "One is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren." "For the head of every man is Christ." And yet, despite these and many other similar declarations of Holy Writ, it is a patent fact that the church to-day in most of its aggressive work is looking to men instead of God. Many thousands, especially of the youth, are often largely controlled by one man, and this not in Roman Catholicism, where we look for such things, but in modern Protestantism. How many times in the religious press is this man or that man lauded to the skies, while the Maker of man and the Redeemer of men is barely mentioned!
God uses men; but He would use them in His church "as good stewards of the manifold grace of God;" "not as being lords over God's heritage, but being ensamples to the flock." But for the good of all, He Himself should have the glory. Therefore in the very message for this time, the last great threefold message to a dying world (see Rev. 14:6-14), that thought is emphasized right in its very beginning. The message implies the very conditions we see. But it calls to the condition which every true Christian should occupy. Listen: "Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come; and worship Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters." This is man's duty, to fear God, to look to God, to worship God. "Ye were bought with a price; become not bond-servants of men."
"God give us men! a time like this demands
Strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and ready hands;
Men whom the lust of lucre does not kill;
Men whom the spoils of office can not buy;
Men who possess opinions and a will;
Men who have honor; men who will not lie;
Men who can stand before a demagog,
And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking;
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog
In public duty and in private thinking;
For while the rabble with their thumb-worn creeds,
Their large profession and their little deeds,
Mingle in selfish strife, lo! Freedom weeps,
Wrong rules the land, and waiting Justice sleeps."