Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-06-14
RURAL AND INDUSTRIAL LEGIs-
LATTON.

The great State of Illinois has set an ex-
ample worthy of the imitation Of other
States. The increase of members in both
branches of the General Assembly has given
the industrial classes larger representation
and has prevented hasty and improper leg
islatiOn. 1t has been found also much more
difficult to get up rings in the interest of
mOneyed corporations and no previous leg
islature has ever done as much to forward
the mechanical and agricultural industries
of the State, and so little for the benefit of
the non-producing classes. The farmers
and mechanics, according to a correspondent
of the Prairie Former, find that it is
scarcely worth while to ''nominate lawyers
because they make a better appear
ance on the stump, when these
same gentlemen of 'genteel speech are
utterly ignorant of the wants and necessi-
ties of the working and producing masses"
Nearly one-half the members Of the Illinois
Legislature belonged to this latter class and
that was a small rate of representation; for
ninety per cent Of the people of that State
are workers with their hands.
There can be no question In our mind as
to the injury done the great industries Of
the county by the election Of men, whose
whole course of thought has been confined
to the dead past and not to the living pre-
sent. We admit the necessity of lawyers
and Of the ministers Of the law. There
can be no good government without them,
but we deny most emphatically that they
make the best legislators. In speaking ca
pacity, in the ability to draft laws and in the
arts of fnesse and diplomacy they are IN
questionably superior, but in that kind of
knowledge that advances the material
greatness of State, in the matters of de-
tail concerning the industrial Vocations it is
impossible in the nature ofthings, that pro-
fessiOnal men should be as well acquainted
as those who have served an apprenticeship
in them. A large part Of our legislative
bodies should be composed of representa-
tive men--men whose interests are identi-
fed with those persons whom they repre-
sent. If majority of q population are
lawyers, then lawyers should predominant
in the Legislature. If a majority are mech
anics then the Legislature should have
majority of mechanics, and if majority
of the citizens are farmers then a msjority
in the Legislature should be farmers. 1t is
a self-evident truth that no one knows how
to represent a class so well as an intelligent
member of that class. A farmer cannot
represent the legal interests Of the State,
nor can lawyer properly represent the
agricultural interest. Let each class in the
community have its own representatives.
The class denominated ''professed poEti-
ciaDs," whose occupation is to court all
classes and deceive all classes, should be
ignored by all classes.
There are some minds, like Webster's, 80
graspiEg as to be fit representative of all
classes, but such minds are rare, The bulk |
of politicians are not statesmen. They /
give their voice for whatever will swell the
interests of their class, and it is high time
that the farmers of the country should |
burst the film with which politicians have
surrounded them, and act for themselves.
A good rule is never to elect any man who |
makes his living by being elected. Such
men win represent nobody, will serve no
interest, will do no good for any one but |
himself. They promise everything to
everybody, and perform nothing. The /
question they consider most when they are
called upon to act, is, how win this affect |
my chances for reelection. These barDa-
cles that cling with lifelike tenacity to the !
bull Of State, should be scraped of, and then
the country will move on with accelerated
speed in its course to greatness aud pros.
perity. We throw out these suggestions |
because we are satisfied that we are drift |
ing in the same course that has made the
legislatures in some ofthe States synonym
for fraud, crime and corruption. t-
LIME.