Litchfield enquirer., 1878-08-01
Democracy or Plutocracy |?

The Waterbury Index objects to the discus
 sion of the Senatorial prospects of the Hon
 Wm. H. Barnum during the ''heated term :
 and, furthermore, infers that we consider hi,
 reelection "a pretty sure thing .
 Better IS heated body than a heated mind
 for political discussions. In another month
 the usual ''slam-bang" of partizan elimination
 and re continuation will have commenced il
 this state and no candid consideration of s question that is both personal and political
 will be possible. The new editor of the Index
 who has, we understand, but recently become a resident of this State may not have heard o1 1 the circumstances under which the office oi l United States Senator was in effect struck of to the highest bidder in 1876. He probably knows little, either, of Mr. Barnum's previous record in the Fourth Congressional District. He cannot understand, therefore, that our op- position to MT. Barnum is more personal than political. We should not be at all displeased at seeing Gov. Richard D. Hubbard promoted to seatin the National Senate He is an abler and better man than the Republicans will be likely to select should they carry the next legislature.
 Our objection to Mr. Barnum is not t0 the man, but to his political methods. Though not talker he is an abler man than most of his fellow Senators who, as a rule, talk too much. The difficulty with Mr.. Barnum is that he is an American representative of the English political methods. He took his seat in our House of Representatives just as great English landed proprietor goes to the House of Commons His lecal influence enabled him to control many votes; his heavy disburse- ments of money, to control more. His cap ture of the Senatorship has been even more ob- jectionable than his method of sending himself to the House. The Connecticut Legislature is ''close." A liberal expenditure of money will make it Democratic. MT. Barnum furnishes the money and takes his pay in the Senator ship. The position is a lucrative one to him not because of any personal corruption but because it brings business advantages which more than compensate for the money he may lay out to obtain it.
 We are not willing to believe that MT. Bar mum has pretty sure thing" of the Senator ship. He is tolerably sure of large Democrat ic gains in this county; and we imagine that Republicans outside of the county are not at all aware of the imminent danger of his suc- cess There are two ways of defeating him: one is the politicians way of fighting the dew il with tire;" beating money with money; the other is by arousing the better people of both parties to the danger of allowing the Barnum method to get fast hold of the politics of the State. The manifest objection to the first plan is that it substantially adopts the 'Barnum method; and success merely substitutes Re publican for Democratic Barnum. In the end this method offers all the great offices for sale to the highest bidder, and makes Connec- ticut, like Great Britain, mere plutocracy.
 The second is a reformer's plan. If it sue ceeds, it not only defeats Barnum but it wipes out Barnumism. But it requires more polit- ical morality than exists among our people, says the objector-and every politician is an objector. No doubt little political morality is presupposed. How much? It simply asks every legislator to refuse, under any circum- stances, to vote for any bribing nominee for the Senatorship. X legislative, partisan eau GUS very properly selects one from many fit men for a position like that of United States Senator. It can have no right to force an hon. orable man to vote for nominee he considers morally unfit. Is it asking too much of political morality to hold that such acandidate as Wm. H. Barnum is morally untt-that the habitual corruption of voters in his interest," and his shameful purchase of a Senatorship in 1876, would justify any honest Democratic legislator in bolting Lis nomination by legislative cau- GUS, or any honest Democratic voter in bolt ing Barnum representative at next falls election?