The Findlay Jeffersonian. [volume] (Findlay, Hancock County, Ohio) 1870-1881, 1875-04-09
Ta= o:iIo LEGISLATURE.

: J9TrHq' does pl-tisi justice if ever
that wore possible +, flr most corrupt
and veniai Legislature. that has eyer dis
| Srsced the fair fame OF the Buckley
; State:
'-Our present Legislature has done
many things of which the people of Ohio
are not proud. 1t has left undone every.
thing that could have redeemed it. In
all IFS doing and misdoIngs, its failures
to DO alI lis failures to not do, it has at
least dDIe one thing for which Republi-
cans can render unfeigne thanks it has
made tie very name OF Democracy to
stink in til. nostriI- of the people For
that service much thanks.
For months it. bast friends have been
neseechin9 of it as the best service IT
could DO to tha Democratic party, that
it would die T. has lived. ia spite Of
these entrcatieS, until it i eonunjrum
that no mln can answer, whether it can
do most harm by dyin. with all its sins
on it, herl, or living on to further dis
grace its plr-ntlg. Ii it dies to morrow
it leaves everything un lone that could
have ezcdsA is coming Ito being; il
it Iives Oh, it continues an intolerlble
burden OH the finances of the State.
''The people will fix the responsibility
where it belongs with the entire Demo
cratic State \ n;riS:rtripl. 1t i NOT a
supp p-;ibl,. cIS.. fhtt Governor Allen did
not hIv. influence enough to control the
Legi>llture-tie sdppoSition would be
an inS;ilt 10 his popularity and his ca
paciiy for moulding affairs. We cannot
read the recor OF the State Alministra-
ton in any other way, than with one
obvious rendering: 1t came into power
by a scratch, and it determined to make
the most of its accidental Opportunity,
well knowing that it will never htvral
other chance Tie reckless di-rr Elr,l Of
the pIblic Interest, an I tn. contem ptu
Gus snubbiuE Of public sentiment, can
have no other explain ttioI. The Lagis-
latura AM the State Executive have pill
lage1 the STATE government as an army
might p:lIls a c tytureI city or province
which il dill not expect to hold in pos
session longer tiIn to ''gD through it. "
''FIe Dam DcrItic Exc :utive WIS forced
to testify, on coming into power, that
after twenty years Ot UndisturbeI pos
session By the Republican party. he
found no symptom of pa:ulation or fraud
In the conduct of the business of the
Stat. He was hIrIly warm in his seat,
before one of the offIprings of the Dem
o:ratic administration, administering
one of the IN pst delicate and responsible
trusts IN Ter its charge, became an OBJ
ieet of suspicion ali investigation, the
result Of when wtS tiIt tla Orphans of
our dAIl Soldiers anl SIiIDr|, the pecI,
liar wards of the S5Ite, w.re shown to
have bsen oltra sed AMI inSultel by the
man set over them in loco pIreH:iS, and
it became nee aS'ary to eXp-l him from
his ofi:a Unler frivolous preteXts,
basel upoa professional jealOusies, the
trustees of one of our most important
public inStitutionS-man of unsullied
lives, working without pay for the pab
lie, with "A singieneSs nf purpose rare in
deed in any age--were superseded by
body of high salaried officers, who spent
thousands and tens of thousands in mar
ring the work of their predecessors.
New Boards wera contrived for other in
StitutiOns, the mem.hers Of which out
ragged even their own partizans by
shameless nepotism The chief penal
institutions OF the State, from being
source of revenue ~ the SGate, became
public cl!aFg-, with balance sheet
against tlte STATE of tens of thousands.
The management became 50 inefficient
that NOR. '.,ici,i..at alone prevented a
disastr"us outbreak, and 50 random in
its character that its directors and its
administrative officer cnnnot a,ree by
thousands "a ia the arsnunt of lis ra
ceipts anl expenditures, and ths public
cannot know whatirer one o. the other
Is right. or biil are wrong.
Tir only institutions IN the STATE that
have escaped t.I.- sIsPiciDns of even the
party ia power, are those that have re
manned in undistuFbel Possession Of Of
ficers placed in charge by Republican
Administration. The Legislative body,
instead of giving industrious attention
to necessary legislation and making a
prompt adjournment, has dragged its
miserable length along from November
to the last OF March, Occupied chiefly in
investigating well-founded charges of
corruI ton ,ainst its own members. 1t
has. for the first tim, In our history, i'll
troducr.l ia. feature Of seotarian legis
lation. |. has - blullerel IN lsgisla-
ton that il cut OH d ,mOcratic heads
with the blow aimel exclusively at Re-
publicans, and is driven to spend the
last hours of the session i'll repairing the
damages. It has disfranehisad an entire
city, by the unparalleled outrage of
a5plishing the munic;pl legislative
body, leaving Toledo as the only city il
the Union without a city council. IL
has, for the first time in our history,
brought upon us the re2roaeh of bribery
as an element of legislation; and not
only 80, bIt at such contemplate fig
ures that the prize OF legi>l Itors has
ruled IN the III lrket from that of second
class swine up 10 that of a scallawag
steer IL has fee!ly dD1ged the pledge
in the platform, that it would give the
people OF Ohio chaac, to vote upon
n license amendment 20 the COnstitu-
ton; and it has instead emasoulated the
Adair law, at the expense of many
thousand dollars for blank books. and
has taken away the right of local op-
ton. by depriving cities, towns and vii
Iages of the right to indulge public SEN
timent By prohibiting the sale of certain
IiquorS. In short, it has dribbled away
two long sessions in defeating almost
every measure of value, in forced inves-
tigations of its own oorruptions, in pass
ing a few measures of doubtful expedi-
ency. and in forcing through many meas
ures of undoubtei impoliey, wrongful
ness and malignity, at a burdensome ex-
pense TO the S ate, both directly for its
own pay. AMI Indirectly for the results
of its WORK. The people of Ohio can
not eonscientiously say Adieu, Good-by,
or Farewell, to such body. They can
only say, Go, and may the Lord have
mercy on your miserable souls.