Clearfield Republican. [volume] (Clearfield, Pa.) 1851-1937, 1881-08-03

y
putting it in the grip of a great monop
oily. You remember the great bribery
case in Kansas involving a United
States Senator. Congressional cleo.
tions in Connecticut are bought with
no moro embarrassment thanyou would
buy box OF strawberries. You know
which is the State of Camden and
Amboy. Last year persons were con.
victed of attempted bribery in Penn.
sylvania. The Court of Pardons ex-
cepting two Judges, Immediately con.
sented to the liberation of the political
felons, and tho two Judges who held
out against the demand for justice were
bluntly told that they were cut off from
all political preferment. A United
States Senator from Pennsylvania for
many years was accustomed to attach
price to many Of the Legislators, Just
as Kcntuckian puts price upon his
raee-horses-this one worth $4,000,
that one worth $4,000.
The railroads are the common car
riers of the people and should be i'm.
partial, but by form OF contract,
which is another mode of bribery, the
great railroads favor this or that bust.
ness. The Standard Oil Company in
eighteen months had paid to it in re.
bates by great railroad trunk com
pany Sl9, 151 900 thus disadvantaging
other companies. That Standard Oil
Company produces only one.fiftieth Of
our petroleum, yet It controls the price
of oil that kind Of light which now
belts the earth. The great merchan-
disc in grains and provisions and cattle
by the favor of the railroads in many
of the cities is gradually being put in
the hands Of one or more firms, and all
others in the same business get hard
pushed. Bribery under so many forms,
| can only hint at them. How much
did IL cost the elevated railroads of .
certain city to keep the fare from drop.
ping from ten TO five cents2 | have
been told 100000 Very seldom does
bill pass through any OF our Legis-
laturcs il there be no money in il.
Sometimes tho bribe is in bank bills,
somctimcsin railroad passes, sometimes
in political prefcrmcnt sometimes by
the monopolist giving to the Legisla.
tors who desire to speculate in Wall
street what are called "points," Per.
haps you may not understand what
points are. The other language of
Wall street has gone into the common
vernaoular, and most of us know what
is meant by Corner" "hyer," a
"cover," "buyer 3" "seller g." "carry-
ing stock" )" washing the street, dong
IN stocks" Sailing down" "ten up"
but many of you may not know what
is meant when monopolist gives to a
member of the Legislature "points." 4"
Do you really want to know what
"points" are Ask the bribed members
at Albany and Harrisburg. But brib.
cry begins away back OF oil this 10 the
money subscribed for election expenses.
Unless a man has large wealth he can
not afford to run for Congress or any
other position. The question asked
before nomination is how much money
has he, and how much will he spend
for his election ? or how much will his
friends subscribe ? And from the great
big reservoir Of subscribed election ex.
penses the little rils roll down in ten
thousand directions, and by the time
that our great Gubernatorial and Con-
gressional and Presidential elections
are over, the land is drunk with brib.
cry. pity that little orphaned $4,000
wandering about the streets of Albany,
and finding no parentage. 1t strayed
off from family of big brothers, who
ought to take charge of the foundling
laid at the Legislators door. What a
striking phenomenon, that, in the last
fifty years, among the millions of dol.
lars expended in the New York Legis.
lature, only $4,000 have miscarried !
1t shows that If there were no God and
no Judgment Day, the safest business
in the United States is bribery. What
other great enterprise, what other great
business involving millions of dollars,
can be carried on for ten years with
only loss of $4,000?
All this contention for the spoils of
office, which kept the Senate of the
United States for four months Playing
the fool, and for the last one month
has made the private parlors of the
Delavan House the centre of national
interest, is only another phase of bri-
berry. 1t is not so much bribery in
cash paid down, but bribery in the
way of offices promised. "You help
me into one office and ] will help you
into another office" II is often true
that by the time that a man is sworn
in he has pledged all the patronage of
that office. The trouble comes from
his unwillingncss or incapacity to do.
liver the goods he sold the first Tues.
day in November, The machinery of
bad American politics just now con.
sists of five hundred wheels, but the
cogs of these wheels play into one
great wheel and that great centre
wheel has tire made out Of railroad
iron, and on that wheel Is crank,
and on that crank is the hand of Sa.
tan, and as he moves the big wheel all
the smaller wheels spin round in the
mandatory. What has been the do.
struction Of other nations is getting to
be the overshadowing trouble OF this
nation. While, through favoritism of
legislation, the great mass OF the peo-
pie finding il harder and harder work
TO make a living, we have too many