New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1865-02-20
VRNAI. LEGgsL ATORs.

next. and the people say amen. Ihe i'epunhcahs.
although ihcy have been enabled 10 carry through few
important public measures. have not gained much
credit by having majority In that honorable BODY.
The BLACK Laws have been erased from our statute
hooks and the constitutional Amendment has been
ratified; Int u,on other matters the Legislature hns be
hayod shamefuy. Corruption appears 10 bc chronic
disorder wth these bodies aud ono party seems 70 nc
about "a bid as the other in thi, particular: IL Is
strange that men who esteemed honest and honor
able IN pris life will do such dsgraeelu and meFee
nary things in their representative capacity ns ut"
charged. with too much reason, upon The members oil
our los slatVc bod cs
"Ile passage of the Horse Railway Bill. giving TO
existing comp iuie3 franchises for which miIon dol-
lars were offered The part of The city. case 10
point Here was measure onnosed by eiclit'nths oi
our peopleby all. IN fact who were not in some way
peculiarly Interested for Themselves an0 n'enu--d 90
with 9OtD remonstrnnts against ft-passcd over Tie
60, errors veto hy more Than wothirds vote ~ both
Houses II IL true three Of our nine rcprcs NATIVES
favored il hut why should such q measure be forced
upon the people of Chicago hy members from other see
tons # The Stafc, unless money and stock hau b'fh
freely used There II other way Of accounting LOT H.
for the supofseryieeahe zc9I IN ns lvor dspayen
by some leading men in either House. They paid
fr IT, as lawyers are feed for the advocacy Of any bsd
cause The State PAYS bni :! day. Corporations
like this can afford To far oubd the state nhd II Is
these merchautnbc men VINO h!c so euAIous W ~
our Legislatur,s.'
AS We have no special knowledge Of The leg
islation referred 20, we must not be understood
a. indorsing the grave inculpations quoted
above. We cite them only to point moral
and as alording II text for some practical sug-
geoti0nS.
II is not the fact, though often affirmed or i'm.
Piled that legislative ycnality is novel. Our
State had Legislature more than fifty years
ago SO glaringly corrupt that GOV. Tompkins
was constrained to dispense il. Georgia had one
at loast sixty years since which was so shame
less in it bribercs aud robberies that ts success
sor burned it, records, repudia,ng its most i'm
portant oct az a gigantic swindlc. So it has
been elsewhere and for generations at least.
But it IS truc that legislative venslty is
frightlully increasing, having already become
the mightiest evil of our day. 1t must be cy-
tirpatcd, or republican institutions are a failure.
What is to be done
|. We have great faith in populariling lcsis-
lativc bodies BY largely increasing their mum
bcrs. john Quincy Adams held that the
House of Representatives should consist of at
least three hundred members. All intelligent
men are aware that the legislation OF Massa-
chusctts. Vermont Ac., which have very large
Houses, i. purcr and lcss merccnary than that
of Pcnnylyania, New-Jer.cy, AID (alas that
We must say ~ Ncw-York, which have rcla-
lively far tower Legislators
II. The People must give far greater heed 10
the character OF their representative. The
apathy on this point is doplorably general. Til,
City, for example, sends almost every year men
70 the Assembly wl,o VIGOROUSLY should be
s,n, instead To the pcn.tontiary. Very few men
of conspicuou ability and long-iricd integrity
are now found in any OF our legislatures. Men
are ent thithor who wish To- 90. and expect TO
make good thing of goiug-not those who are
generally supposed most capable mud worthy.
We slate but the most oby.ou, truth in saying
that if every voter in thi, City were required Ia
designate on paper the twen,y-one among our
citizens be- deemed itto5t to make laws not a
hundred Of the whole number would place hall
a dozen of our present members Oh bis list.
III. We must kick over and thoroughly
smash the present machines for Transforming
,peculators and scamps Into lawmakcrs. Moth
ing could be- worse than orr Primary Meetings
and Nominating Conventions, unless il be- the
candidates they grind out. This system can
never be retormed-it must De dei.d. Good
citizens Of either party must confer and deter
mine who Is httest to represent them III the
Legislature, ignoring the wretched conceit that
he must necessarily reside in the district which
elects him. Having fixed on the right mail-
one whose name and character Will need no
ommendation--thcy must unite in public
rcquisitioD, calling on him 70 stand for the
senate or A. sembly; and, if he conaents, they
must make the requisite effort for his election.
We can thus elect good men--n0t jObhers nor
send them 10 Albany uu.
pledged TO any interest but that Of the pabhc.
And such men will neither be bribcd nor
insulted. Corruption viii instinctiyeIy avoid
them.
". We have no faith in paving higher ae a
bid for better legislators. On the contrary, We
could wish them wholly unsaaried aud sol |
EMMY sworn to make no money out OF legisla-
ton save in common with oil their iellow-citi. |
len, The British Parliament IL never pOd |
and il Is never bought. We believe the best |
mon among us would sooner serve without pay |
ihn for tho stipend nov offered. But We do
not insist Oh this point.