Litchfield enquirer., 1867-07-25
THE LOBBY.

UT a 1OuS SSt1oS or years It naS been tho pride and boast of the people of Connecti- cut that their legislative halls have not been tainted with corruption; it has been reasonably held that the large representa- tion of the towns in the general assembly was an efectual barrier against successful bribery, which is the rule rather than the exception in legislatures based upon dis trict representation, like New York in par ticular, where the comparatively small number of members has rendered 1t an ea- sy matter to bring money influences to bear upon any legislative act which was for the interest of private parties. We have had the lobby here always in good force, but 1t was rather an outside pressure of ar gument than an inside effort to convince by pocket considerations. There may have been exceptions in general application of thlngs-some men may have ''sold their birthright for a mess of pottage'-but as a whole the legislature has been scrupulously honest, and its reputation has stood high among the highest in the country.
 All this is of the past. The prospect now IS that our general assembly will fall from its proud estate, to a considerable extent, or at least that there will be strong temp tations to bring it down. Already promi- nent members are named in private circles ''open to conviction" whenever the proper pecuniary inducement is held out to them. One of these i'll particular Is pointed out as 8 receiver of substantial gifts, always a condition precedent before he is insured fully to act in straightforward manner But we do not fully credit these rumors, because 1t is more charitable to believe that there is some mistake about it; vet if these stories continue to be put forward the House will owe it to itself to order an investigation. What seems to be the chief danger now-aside from any personal con- tamination brought about thus far-is the growing tenacity of the lobby to button hole and persuade. And this extra pressure is doubly critical because there are large corpo- rations at work to further private interests large railroads pushing forward in this di- rection and that-and money is not taken into account, p :ovided the ends sought are successfully reached. There is danger in- this work even though there have been no greenback manipulations up to the present l time. The tendency is toward demoraliza- tion. Legislators are human, and while ! most of those who are elected as represen- tatives are above any dishonorable act, and will so remain, yet there may be found ex- captions where bait will be taken. A small commencement in this direction will lead to large harvests by and by. Let it become generally understood that the Con necticut lobby is purely money lobby, and seats in the assembly will be sought by de- signing men, who will manage by some ho- us-pocus to obtain nominations and se- cure elections. It will then become an expen- I sive business all around. Honorable men who desired charters will be forced to buy their way through, and the lobby itself will suffer in proportion as the morals of the law l makers grow loose.
 Some men may laugh at the idea of dan, ger. They may say it is absurd to think of corruption to any general extent. Perhaps so, but it must not be forgotten that the l legislature of New York has not always been what it is now. The time was when iS was respectable body, when men deem ed it an honor to belong to 1t. Now it's emp ty honors are sought in majority of ca ses to gratify desire to ''make"-and 1t is pretty sure that every man who is elected | need not go home without dollar in his pocket if he wills otherwise. So 1t may be
 here; infallibility is not the prevailing at
 tribute in Connecticut any more than it is
 elsewhere. he time to wash off the evil
 to stop it before 1t becomes chronic dis
 ease-is at the outset, and the remedy to-
 day is to choke off the lobby.-Hmffor0 l POsz