St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1889-04-07
MONEY In POLITICS.

a lrduk pOlltlcldn III Close Stdle
naively explained the defeat of his
party in the last election by saying:
eve were out-corrupted." There was
a world of truth in that remark; and, as
Mr.. GEORGE WILLIAM CURTIS would
say, it is another illustration of the per-
ilouS mercenary tendencies of politics.
If the corruption were confined to one
party. it would be a comparatively easy
matter to eradicate the great evil which
is positive menace to the prosperity of
the republic; for, happily, there is even
now an aroused public sentiment that
would insure the destruction of the
party that made corrupt use of money
in elections, provided it were the only
party that did it. But when all parties
are infected with this mercenary faint,
the people in body cannot punish one
by elevating the other to power. The
infection has become so general that
in the close states elections are reduced
to mere struggle between parties as to
which can out-corrupt the other.
The only thing that is left for the
great mass of honest voters to do is to
purify the entire ballot system, so as to
protect it from the corrupting influence
of politicians of all parties. To prevent
corruption on both sides it is first neces-
Sary to secure elections free from ma
chine manipulationS or undue infu-
ences of any kind. Ali honest Repub-
licans and all honest Democrats concur
in this opinion; hence we observe very
general movement in both Republican
and Democratic states to secure the
passage of ballot reform laws that will
put an end to the vocation of the ma
chine politician, and will leave the
voter free from all corrupt influences.
The Democrats of Tennessee and In
diana have adopted such a law, and
their example has been followed by the
Republicans of Massachusetts and
Rhode Island. The legislatures of a
dozen or more other states, including
the great state of New York, are now
discussing similar measure, with the
prospect that it will be adopted in most.
if not all those states. In every in
stance where ballot reform measures
have been adopted or considered,
the Australian system has furnished
is conceded to be the most perfect
that has yet been devised.
1t is a matter of no little surprise,
therefore, to find in the Minnesota legis-
lature such strong opposition to the
measure which proposes ballot reform
for this state. and which, like the meas
ureS adopted in other states, incorpo-
rates the Australian idea. There can
certainly be no mistake about popular
sentiment in Minnesota on this subject.
We have but to refer to the platforms of
the various parties in the last state cam
paign to find their united expression in
favor of ballot reform according to the
Australian method. While we do not
attempt, OF even desire, to draw in ques-
ton the motives of any one who may
oppose the measure now before the
legislature, we confess our inability to
see any reason for opposition to it, eX-
cept wish to perpetuate the corrupt
practices that now prevail in the poll
tics of the country.
This is in no sense party question,
and no man with patriotic impulses will
consider it in the light of party advan-
tage. 1t is question affecting the sta
bility of free institutions in this country.
The evil sought to be remedied is can
Ger on the body polite, and is eating
out the vitals of constitutional govern
ment. 1t is no imaginary danger we
are picturing. Every intelligent citizen
of the republic realizes the gravity of
the situation, and unless check is put
upon the mercenary tendencies of
modern American politics, our destruc-
ton will be swift and sure.