, 1881-01-16

| company, 0t comparatively small outlay, anu
to the relief Of grateful public from i'm
pending oppression.
THE MORALITY OF PETITIONS.
| The petition business has grown into an
evil Of enormous magnitude, and there is not
person who Is supposed to have any inf1u-
ence who will not bear testimony to the all
noyance Of the practice. and, if he rightly
considers 1t, to its hypocrisy, fa1sehoods, and
worthlesness. There is not an Office In Chi
cago that Is not pestered with the impudent
bearers of petitions. In number they are
legion,- petitions to pardon convicts in the
Penitentiary who ought to stay there; petl-
| tions to prevent men from going to the Peni-
tentiary who ought to go there; petitions to
| put men in Office who have no claims upon
Office; petitions to raise men from a lower to
a higher Office who ought not to be In office
| at all; and petitions for all sorts Of appoint
/ ments from that Of u notary public up or
down, as the case may be. In every instance
these petitions set forth the most extraordi-
nary merits, abilities, and claims upon the
part Of the petitioners which are mainly
mythical, and as n rule they have for an ap-
pendix list Of names Of people who certify
by their signatures that they are cognizant Of
these claims, when in reality they know
nothing about them. These petitions allege
certain facts and their wording. is such that
those who sign profess to have personal
knowledge of them. The hawkers OF these
petitions follow men about besiege them in
their places Of business, harass and badger
them, until they have achieved their object.
In most cases the hrst man who signs knows
something of the merits of the case. The
second man applied to objects to sign be-
cause he knows nothing OF them, wheTeupon
he is met with the reply that lie knows the
first signcr, and at last he puts down his sig
nature, indorsing the statements of the first
Nine men out of ten have not the prin-
ciple or the moral courage to refuse
to sign and to frankly say that they
have no knowledge Of the facts set
forth in the body of the petition. They sign
to escape giving personal otfense or to avoid
the necessity of giving their reasons for not
signing; while many are so reckless that
they sign every paper presented to them
without the slightest knowledge Of the nat
ure Of the petition. a pertinent illustration
of this is found in an ex-Speaker OF the lii
nois House of Representatives. who was ac-
customcd to sign everything presented to
him without reading it, and on one occasion
actually headed petition to the President Of
the United States askingAiu to arrest himself
(the signer) and expatriate him for series
of crimes of the most extraordinary descrip-
ton, all Of which were specified in the petit
toni And in too many cases do Governors
Of States in the matter Of pardons, and menl-
bers Of Congress in the matter Of Offices, act
without any reference to the merits of
the case. How can they do otherwise,
when these petitions do not represent the
personal solicitations of signers acquainted
with the facts, but III reality are filled with
signatures which to all intents and purposes
are bogus, obtained from people who have
signed because they do not wish to be consld-
cred unaccommodating, or wanted to getridof
bores, and In reality have signed a falsehood.
One Of the most specious arguments used by
these fellows, when the applicant informs
them that he is ignorant of the facts, is that
he knows what some one else knows, who
has signed, and that be is a reliable man, no
account being taken Of the fact that however
reliable or honest A may be, he cannot look at
u thing through BIS eyes. There is no greater |
or more discouragins obstacle in the way of
Justice than these petitions. After over
coming unwilling witnesses, packed
juries, bills of exceptions, and all
the tricks and turns Of the law,
guilty man is convicted, and Immediately
there is q rush to the pardoning power to
get him loose, and the very people who care
lesly and tlloughtlesly sign these papers are
often the 1oudest in their condemnations Of
courts and in their structures upon the laxity
of justice. There is but one safe and honor
able course for people to pursue, and that is
to refuse to sign any petition where they
have no personal knowledge Of the correct
ness Of its statements; and, If this rule were
persistently followed, fewer petitions would
be presented, fewer men would get out OF
the Penitentiary who ought to be there,
fewer men would get into Office who ought
not to be there, and fewer people would
indorse statements Of which they have no
knowledge whatever.