The daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1873-1877, 1874-01-26
RAILROAD PASSES A SOURCE OF C0RRUP-
TON. -o.g-
"r y~r- ttE
A Republican Senate Refuses to Discourage
Their Use.

prohibits railroads from issuing such pass
es. On call of the yeas and nays the
result was, yeas rs, nays lS
What is the reason the Illinois Senate
refused to pass this bill Is the majority
in favor of bribery and corruptionr That
vote certainly looks like it. Railroads are
not in the habit Of giving passes to people
who can render no equivalent. Why were
publishers of newspapers formerly fur
nished with passes? Because they paid
for them in advertising the time cards OF
the road, and in keeping the public In
formed on matters of interest to the road.
Now, a fixed price is agreed on tor adver-
Using, in such papers only as the roads
wish their advertisements published, and
the sum is paid in thousand-mile tickets.
What service could State and county Of
fcers, and Judges of courts, and members
of the Legislature render the roads in re-
turn for their passes? None whatever,
except by proving recreant to their duty to-
the people whose servants they are. And
yet it is notorious fact that every county
officer, every Judge. and every member of
our Legislature has been, for years, sup
piled with passes over the roads running
through counties where they reside. And
every one of these men thus had bride
in his pocket to favor the road instead Of
the people, whenever he had opportunity.
How? In hundreds of ways,-in the en-
actment of laws affecting railroads in the
assessment and collection of taxes; in
coroners inquests upon persons killed, In
cases of damage to persons or property ;
in cases affecting the rightof way in cases
in relation to extensions, side tracks, build
ings, insurance, and numerous other ways.
And yet, every member of the Legisla-
ture, every Judge of court; every Coron-
er, every Sheriff, every Assessor and Col
lector, every Clerk of Court, every officer
of any sort, is elected to serve the people,
not the railroads 1t is regarded as an ev-
idence of corrupt intention for any Off
Ger to accept pass, for it places him in a
position where he must render some equiv
alent for it, when opportunity offers. Let
us have the yeas and nays on this.question,
and let the people place their seal of con
domination upon all who vote against any
law which prohibits railroads from issu-
ing passes and prohibits public officers
from receiving them-and let the penalties
be such as can be enforced.
In the Wisconsin Senate resolution
was adopted, requiring all members to al
once return their free passes to'the railroad
companies, and forbidding them from ac
cepting any other favOrs of like character
In the Kansas assembly a similar reso
luton was adopted, and several member:
took occasion to animadvert very severely
upon the practice. They showed that the
railroads had been in the practice of sub
sbizing entire Legislatures, making the
members subservient to their every wish
To be sure, Kansas Legislature can be
bought cheaper than the average, but there
is no question but that the same state o
affairs, more or less, existed in every State
where the practice of issuing free passe
has obtained.
Congressman, too, carry the evidence o
corrupt intention in their pockets Colone
Forney, in one of his new series of sketch
es, writes as follows:
Every meeting of "a new Congress polit
gentlemen are seen quietly distributing
cards to the more than three hundred So
Ions who make our laws These are fire.
passes over six or seven thousand miles o
railroads, often including palace cars, sleep
ing coaches, and sometimes meals and bed
in the floating hotels on the Mississippi ant
the North rivers. So universal had thi
business become that at last very few re
fused them. Even the five-cent fares o.
the city railroads are saved to those power
ty-stricken statesmen Imagine JOhI
Marshall and Thomas Jefferson travelling
free to save half dime
And what is the darkest view of thi
subject is the fact that most of the grea
men who take and use these gratuities, ais
vote for and receive mileage for travelling
that costs them nothing
THE new Constitution OF Pennsylvani
contains the following:
"'SEcT1oN g. of Article XVII: No railroad
railway, or other transportation company, sha
grant free passes. or passes at a discount, to an
person except officers or employees of the con
pany'
IAN officer of great railroad told m
last week that he regretted this sectio
could not be made to extend to the State
through which his line runs, as it woul
save great deal of annoyance. / mus
supply four Legislatures and their depend
ents with annual passes, and | cannot des
cribe to you. what nuisance it is
'The practice suggests many reflections
none of them agreeable. 1t is principl
as old as the stars that every favor accept
ed is debt incurred, to be repaid in som
way. / have deplored the practice, an
though using my privileges as journalis
have done my best to induce the men {
my profession to unite against it. At on
Editorial Convention, | think before tn
war, we passed a resolution to this effect
but soon found it impossible to make oul
selves an exception. To the eternal hone
OF the newspaper men of Pennsylvaui
their late stand in favor of the new Const
tuition made it invlncible and nothing nj
their sanction more fully than the sectio
cutting off free passes To many of the
it was serious sacrifice but all felt thu
if the system was permitted to go on
must end in the disgrace of those wi
sanctioned or tolerated it. | have on
limited at the abuses that have grown
under it. 1t had become with us in Pen
sylvania something more than nuisanc
and the convention did wisely in closing
out. 1t was potent weapon of corpora
corruption in public, and even in priva