, 1865-01-30
TO THE MEMBERS OF THE GEN.
ERAL ASSEMBLY,.

ERAL ASSEMBLY,.
We desire to addtess few words to those
members Of the General Assembly from other
parts Of the State who voted for the Chicago
horse railway bill. If these gentlemen had
been present ut the Bryan Hall meeting on
Saturday evening, they would have heard
themselves spoken Of not only with the ut
most respect, but with that degree Of gcnu-
inc courtesy and friendship which is due from
the fair minded citizen to the honest legis-
lator. They would have heard the Just and
truthful statement from the mouths Of our
foremost citizens that nobody is to be held
responsible for the passage OF. this bill
but the members from Cook county
that 1t is customary for the Legislature
to intrust the local interests Of particular
district TO the members from that district,
and to vote for or against particular local
bill according as the members OF the district
interested vote for or against it. This is all
true, and VIC will add that when a local bill
is presented to the Legislature which is 80
involved In its phraseology, and which refers
10 80 many other Legislative acts, ordinances,
private and unpublished deeds and contracts,
that the ablcst lawyers in our city cannot ua-
ravcl the whole bill in twcnty-four hours Of
consecutive study, It is not to be expected
that the Representatives from Bureau and
McHenry and the Senators from Warren and
ycrm1llion (for instanee) burdened as they
are with measures Of their own constituents,
will gire TINT attention to the bill which will
enable them to vote understandingly upon 1t.
We will 60 even farther. We will say that It
is not remarkable that the Committee on
Banks and Corporations, whose table is heap-
cd with cart1oads Of local bills, all Of which
must bc disposed Of within forty days, did
not give that degree Of attention to this bill
Which 1t should have received. We say It is
not at all remarkable, and We hold these
gentlemen, from the other parts Of the State,
g1li1tlcas Of of[cnse in this matter, unless the
contrary shall be proved.
Having said thus much, nc ask these ga-
tlemcn, In all canaor, whether thcy have
ever seriously contemplated the condition Of
great city delivered over to the yoke Of
moneyed corporation for ninety-nine yearss
We presume not one of them ever looked at
it in this light. We presume our own mem
bcrs have never looked at 1t in this light. We
presume they did not intend to harness their
own posterity for Interpretations to horee
1ailroad car. We have the charity to believe
that they were ignorant Of the real scope and
import Of the measure they were voting for.
"echerish thehope tbat they will repair the
wrong which they have committed by going
III once to Gov. 0glcsby and asking him to
veto allsh hln. 1t is only the marx Of narrow
1n'no md weak vanity to resist tue truth,
and to defy ones constituents.
VIC have yet to hear one argument in fayor
= OF this bill. Arguments against 1t multiply
on every hard. Every man {uot stoct ho,d.
cr)who studies H. tlna. fresh reason fo,
orposingit Here Is new one 1o,,, ~
the phrasco1ogy regarding the rates of c,r.
Under tue old Law the fares could not .x..us
dvTccnts they might be less than av. c.n,.
but they could be no greater. Under the re-