TO THE PEOPLE.
[np: Massachusetts: c. 1820?]. Broadside, 8-3/4" x 11-1/4." Toned, chipped at blank edges, some foxing, a couple of small holes affecting about three letters. Good. Signed in type at the end, "A Citizen of Massachusetts."
This apparently unrecorded broadside denounces "the enormous salaries of our public officers" in Massachusetts. The author defends his call for reform during an era of political complacency. "As we are enjoying peace at home and abroad, and every one can sit under his own vine and his own tree, with none to molest or make him afraid; when can be a more proper time to look into our public expenditures and see if they are managed with economy and prudence. We know when one attempts to suggest a reform of the times he is generally branded with the epithet of a radical, democrat, jacobin, &c. Just as if because one should wish a reform, he would become a radical, democrat, &c. In this case we do not appeal to a few pampered office holders, but to the good sense and intelligence of the people themselves...."
A comparison of expenditures in Vermont and New Hampshire demonstrates that Massachusetts residents pay their officials exorbitantly, and hire too many judges. "The people can very easily correct these abuses, only let them be FIRM and UNITED at the next election, in support of those candidates that advocate a reform, and these EVILS vanish."
He urges "The People" to "circulate this as extensively as possible, as the editor of the Hampshire Gazette has refused to publish it, for reasons best known to himself."
Not located in American Imprints, Sabin, or on OCLC or websites of AAS, MA Hist. Soc. as of December 2025. Item #41562
Price: $850.00