The Sun.
London, England, 1867-05-07 00:00:00

LEGISLATIVE CORRUPTION.

(From the Anglo-American Times.)
History does not confirm the statement made by
the Conservative organs of England, that legislative
corruption is the result of an extended franchise.

On the contrary, the closer the body and the more
secret its proceedings, the more corrupt it has in-
variably been. The great cry for Reform in Eng-
land in former years arose mainly from the corrup-
tion with which the Government was administered.
The difficulties of governing have chiefly arisen from
the tendency of individuals to use their power for
selfish ends. When the aristocracy wholly ruled in
the British Empire the ante-rooms of nobles were
thronged with place-seekers, and the patronage of
the country bestowed almost entirely without regard
to qualification. The most iniquitous measures
were passed, the most flagrant jobs perpetrated,
and it was in the face of these pbuses that the
Radical party acquired strength. When the Court
ceased to be the scene of intrigue and dishonesty
Parliament became that stage, and when Parlia-
ment was reformed, and Ministers no longer dared
to appoint their own creatures to posts of trust, the
venal gang sought other fields for the exercise of
their talents. Political corruption gave place to
commercial immorality, and the theatre of late
proceedings has been transferred to that small but

most influential portion of London, called The City.
It is seldom that so grand an opening has been

offered as that supplied by the Limited Law of
Liability, and the manner in which it was

seized upon, and worked out to the detriment

of the public, may be judged by the vast ruin
wrought, and the utter annihilation of confidence
and credit. Men of the highes' position, elected
to manage the affairs of their brother share-
holders, have not hesitated to use the trust, for the
accomplishment of their own ends--to cover defal-
cations and mismanagement by, deceit and false re-
ports—to attach their names to documents contain-
ing declarations which they must either have known
were untrue, or have known nothing of the statements
certified to in these reports. The direction chiefly
taken by corruption and immorality of late years
in England has been in commercial affairs, simply
because it was there, that most profit was to be made.
But 'with the wrecks of all this grievous dis-
honesty around us we should pause when discussing
the venality of the Legislatures of the United States
before attributing the cause; to the institutions of
the nation, while in reality, it lies in the corruption
of the human heart. Civilisation does not tend to
make us more honest. The main advantage it con-
fers is in giving another safeguard, and even a better
safeguard, than that of law. Where the Press is
free, a man who may fear nothing else, may tremble
at the publicity of a stigma which can never be
effaced. What it has to do is to secure a healthy tone
of public morality, by the universal denunciation
of those who transgress. The three States
in which legislative corruption has obtained the
strongest hold, are New York, New Jersey, and
Pennsylvania. "It is notorious," says the Nation,
" that no measure can ever be carried through the
New Jersey Legislature without the consent of the
Camden and Amboy Railroad Corporation, nor
through the Pennsylvania Legislature without
the consent of the Pennsylvania Central Rail-
road Company. Those great Corporations own
the Legislatures of their respective States, and
can pass or reject bills at their pleasure. The New
York Central Railroad Company has long exer-
cised a powerful, though not undisputed, control
over the legislation of its State, and its power is
constantly increasing." This is narrowing down
an interest into the shape of a single Corporation ;
and from the Corporation there is but one step, to
narrow it still further, to the individual. So long
as the interest remains general, its representation is
not only legitimate, but one of the main duties of
the Legislature. Thus railway property has as
much right to be represented, as landed property;
manufacturing industry, shipping, or any other in-
vestment. The difficulty is, to maintain the general,
and to sink the individual, interest. When the latter
becomes paramount, the door is open for all sorts
of intrigue. The fight is then between Corpora-
tions representing the same class of property, and,
next to the public good, the greatest injury is sus-
tained by the very class of investment to which the
Corporation belongs, that obtains the control.
When a Legislature is owned by a Railway Com-
pany, the chief injury is done to the other railways
of that State. The way in which corruption grows,
and the influence exercised by the dominant influ-
ence, is shown in the following extract from the
Nation':—

" Corruption does not necessarily or exclusively
take the form of pecuniary bribes, though these are
becoming more and more common. A member of
the Legislature has almost always from one to a
dozen pet measures upon the success of which his
political future may depend. He soon finds that he
can do nothing with these, however just they may
be, without pledging his support to other schemes
which may not commend themselves to his judg-
ment. Thus he is driven to take the first step in
trading his vote, and soon finds himself ensnared
into the support of bills which he knows to be
opposed to the public good. Having gone so far,
it is plausibly urged upon him that, since he must
sacrifice the public interest, he might as well gain
some little private advantage. And having once
voted for a bill because of
a friend' in it, or in
the expectation of a share in its profits, it is easy to
take the next step and accept a direct bribe. In
this way, many respectable men who commence
public life with a horror of bribery gradually sink
into habits of corruption."
It is shown that the growth of this corruption
has been in proportion to the growth of wealth, and
it is. almost invariably so in the history of all