Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1883-09-13
Parties and Corporations.

Speaking Of n proposition to form
n peoples party composed Of the in
dependent and thoughtful men Of both
the leading parties Of the country, in
order 20 control the dominating infiu-
ence of corporations in the affairs Of
state, the Washington Post makes the
following sensible and timely remarks !;
Tickets and platforms are made by
conventions whose delegates are chosen
by primaries open to all members Of
the party. If the people who find
fault with the action Of conventions
wsuld consent to abate something of
their dignity and 20 into the primaries
they could outvote the rabble that
generally controls those assemblages.
OF the ten million voters in the
United States, it Is large estimate to
say that one million have any direct
agency in nominating candidates for
Office. All the rest have no choice
further than to express a preference
between two competitors. They leave
the local bosses, who are still a great
power in the land, to run the party
machine. And when the machine has
ground out It's ticket, thousands Of
men who have let their case 90 by de-
fault, rise up and condemn the results
for which their neglect is responsible.
So long as We have parties-and We
don't see how parties are to be dis.
penscd wi,h-thc character OF the
men who get into Office will depend on
the personnel Of the primaries. If the
respectable majority leaves the prima.
ries to the management Of the disre-
putable minority there will be no i'm.
proyemcnt.
That there is a growing sentiment
in favor Of restricting the advances
Of corporation interests il undoubted-
ly true, but the time has not yet ar.
rived, and may never come, when this
feeling will have force enough TO give
birth to new pariy-we mean a
party in fact, not in name, a party
capable Of taking the field with a rca.
-ouable hope Of success.
The evil complained of is one that
cannot be cured by very sudden or
| impetuous movement. The interests
Of all the people are intimately asso-
ciated with the Interests Of the corpora
tions. The general prosperity Of the
country would be blighted If the great
corporations were ruthlessly stricken
down. Many Of them are grasping
aud holding two or three times as
much Of the products Of the general
industry as they ought to have. They
dictate legislation and, to some extent,
own the courts of the country. The
great problem Is, how to regulate
the corporations so as to give them
fair chancc-how to cure existing evils
without creating greater ones.
The Post hopes that the reform
needed will be inaugurated and sue,
cessfully carried out under Democratic
rule. Under Republican rule We have
seen the corporations having their own
way in all things-electing Presidents,
controlling congress, meddling with the
selection Of the judiciary, debating
veto messages, and insolenuy lording
over the people. This is one of the
chief reasons why the people demand
change--why they seem to have de.
termined upon sending the Republi.
can party to the rear. But when the
Democratic party finds itself charged
with the duty and responsibility Of
regulating these great corporations in
such a manner as to promote the gen.
eral good, it will find itself face to
face with the most difficult problem
that our lawmakers have ever tried TO
solve"
A GEORGIA Republican complains