The Labor enquirer., 1883-10-06
RinRH.

o., Rings.
The country is governed by rings
state rings and county rings, and town
ship and city rings. A ring wants con-
troll of public finances, and they work
with those upon either side or party who
will give them what they want. A bank
wants the deposits, of the county treas
urer, and it throws its influence for that
candidate who will promise to dowhat
the bank wants done, and strange as it
: may seem, there are plenty of business
men, who will vote as the bank suggests.
BANKING oncesas' disreputable as: steal
ing, has become SO homo rable in the pub
licleye,that Bankers influence is greater
ahanAhat of men of any other calling. l
A ring wants to get job of erecting
PUBLIC building or paving the streets of a
city, and they want il for the stealing
there is. in it, They form a combination
with those who wislr'to invest money in
the city bonds and by their joint in
huence the job is put through, the city
bonded and the work contracted for at
profit to the ring W ho perhaps manage
to draw the money before the compile
ton of the work and then fail and the
public is the loser.
In case the contract is to be let to the
lowest bidder the ring has an under
standing by which they bid very high on
the first portion of the work, as the first
and second story of public building,
and very low on the remainder, the total
amounting to less than the amount bid
by any other contractor and are awarded
the job. They 90 ahead with the work
until they have completed that portion
for which they are drawing exorbitant
pay, and then throw up the job, and by
the connivance of the ring are released
from their contract to complete the work,
and the job is re-let to some other mem
ber of the ring who also makes n "big
thing" out of it.
Candidates for the state legislature and
for congress court these rings. They
know that the rings control their party
caucuses and conventions, and how easily
the voters can be induced to rally to the
support of the party candidate without
regard to the moral character, or the
amount of which he will probably rob
the people by the legislation which he
will help to enact. And so it goes from
the smallest to the largest Office, they are
as rule filed with the members of the
ring or with those who will at least not
interfere in any way with the plans of
the rings Legislatures meet, and after
a three months or six months session,
costing hundreds of thousands OF dollars,
adjourn without having passed a single
law of value to the mass of the people
unless it be dog law, which even then
is never enforced, because the ring is
notin favor of offending the worthless
voter whose dog. is all the property he
owns and who would retaliate if COM
PEELED to pay his tax or if his dog was
killed by voting against the party who
passed and enforced the law, while the
respectable portion of the voters are SO
tied to party that they viii vote as the
ring says in any circumstance.
1t is the same in national Legislation.
Congress meets, quarrels over the dispos-
ition of offices in its gifts, talks great
deal about the old flag and the needs OF
the country, and ends by voting sub
sidy to as many corporations as will
divide the stock, with the, members Of
congress. And then they go home, the
rings call convention, renomlnate the
member who did nothing to interfere
with them in any way, and all but few
independent and clear-headed voters
throw up their hats and march to the
polls to return him to congress or the
state legislature to again betray the peo-
pie and forwardthe plans of the corpor,
ations and rings. -.
We know of no help for this unless il
be the plan so ably set forth by Mr.
Stetson in these columns during the past
few weeks and which he gives yet more
fully in his published work, and which
is,te,sbolish district boundaries and per,
hit yotefJ 20 cast their votes for whom
they please, regardless of locality. This
would enable the independent voters to
unite upon few candidates and eject
them, increasing the number as their
own numbers increased and assuring
them of always being able to secure at
least enough geod men in congress and