According to Noah Webster’s American Dictionary, one of the two definitions of politics defined in the 1828 edition was:  “The management of a political party; the conduct and contests of parties with reference to political measures or the administration of public affairs; the advancement of candidates to office; in a bad sense, artful or dishonest management to secure the success of political candidates or parties; political trickery.”

Politics is a complicated word.  It can be descriptive and nonjudgmental, or it can and often does convey a negative meaning.  English is a flexible language, and it is not uncommon for a word to have multiple meanings which run the spectrum from good to bad.  Some have been around for a long time.  The first known use of “Politics” was in 1529.  The phrase “play politics” has been around since 1853.

The use of the term “politics” was already well established in the language when the area which later became the Dakota Territory was being explored and settled.  From the very beginning, politics and politicians played a significant part in the development of this Republic, the United States of America.  These political activities, some of which were good and some bad, was communicated to the public through the local newspaper.

In South Dakota, the first daily newspaper in South Dakota, The Daily Press and Dakotan in Yankton printed its first issue on Monday morning, April 26, 1875.  This four-page publication was available for purchase at the local news stand and was delivered to the front door of city subscribers.

On page three of the first edition, the editor wrote:  “In presenting to our patrons the initial number of the Daily Press and Dakotan, we have little to say by way of introduction.  Promises are nothing, when pitted against the emergencies of an uncertain future, therefore we promise nothing in a specific sense, but will say in a general way that it is our purpose to publish a daily paper which shall fully represent the people who give it support.  We have hopes, though, and the predominant one is that our venture shall become a success and that Dakota’s first daily shall receive sufficient support to enable us to increase its dimensions at no distant day and to add materially to our facilities for supplying current news.”

The establishment of a daily paper in Yankton, the capital city of the Dakota Territory, was one of the signs of the times.  It assured the outside world that Dakota did not lag behind in the grand march of improvement which characterized the citizens in the area.  It told the world that here on the borders of civilization, the tree of knowledge was already bearing fruit which would speedily eradicate all traces of the barbarism of a not very distant past.

Of the South Dakota newspapers digitized by the Library of Congress, the April 26, 1875 issue of The Daily Press and Dakotan was the first Dakota newspaper to publish a political story.  It occupied the left-hand column on page one under the headline “The News” and contained news items on politics and other topics of special interest.

“The object of just government,” the story began, “is not to carry on business, but to protect life, property and rights, and thus so leave every citizen free and safe in all lawful exertions, opportunities and enterprises in which he chooses to embark.  Wealth or prosperity cannot be conjured up by legislation, nor by political parties.  No sleight of hand can produce it.  No philosopher’s stone or perpetual motion can be discovered by legislative devices, however cunning.  Property is the product of labor.  It must be hewed out of the forest, plowed out of the field, blasted out of the mine, hammered out of the anvil, wrought in factory and furnace.  Labor is at the bottom of it all and the nation in which there are the most laborers and in which labor is best cherished and cared for must be the richest and most prosperous.  Capital and labor are national allies.  When they work together both are enriched.  When they separate, both suffer.  What is the difficulty now?”

Today, most people don’t reflect on the politics of the late 1800s.  During that time, the nation’s wild elections saw the highest turnouts and the closest margins.  This was accompanied by a peak in political violence.  Folks fought over politics, in a system struggling will problems all too familiar today.  America was one of the first in world history to give political power to those without wealth, land, or title.  Working-class voters predominated at the polls.

From 1876 to 1896, elections were never closer.  No president won a majority of the popular vote.  American politics mobilized citizens, but also agitated them to violence. A muckraking reporter wrote:

“liberty produces wealth, and wealth destroys liberty.”

No matter what the intentions of the nation’s politicians have been over the years, the current public trust in our federal government continues to be at historically low levels.  According to the Pew Research Center, in 2015 only 19% of Americans said they could trust the government in Washington to do what was right (3% “just about always” and 16% “most of the time.”)

Negative views of elected officials are hardly a new phenomenon.  For years, large majorities have faulted elected officials for losing touch with Americans and not caring about the views of average people.  Just 22% of the public said that most elected officials put the interests of the country ahead of their own interests; 74% said they put their own interests ahead of the nations.”  Of those surveyed, 55% said that “ordinary Americans would do a better job at solving the nation’s problems than the elected representatives.”

 

Author Clarence Shoemaker, originally published in the Gregory Times-Advocate on July 12, 2023