Workmen's advocate., 1889-06-01
CHICAGO.
Interesting Public Meeting of the
 American Section.

For the first time iN many weeks our agitation meetings at Waverly Hali passed off yesterday unmarred by a single disagreeable feature. The exercises were of the most in- teresting and diversified character. The meeting was called to order at the usual hour, T. s. Morgan in the chair.
 The first order of business was the reading of an editorial from local newspaper, calling attention to the inetficiency of the Senate as a legis- lative body, and intmating quite plainly that the country might, without great inconvenience, sub init to it's abolition. This intima ton from orthodox sources, so sig nifcantly corroborative of the social istic idea, was hailed by the chair man as one of the encouraging "signs of the times. He would be glad to hear from any present in re- gard to this subject, particularly from those who are inclined to think that the Senate, the presi. dency, etc., were necessary and be- neticent institutions.
 In response to this invitation MT. Adelbert Hamilton took the floor. He explained that though he was fundamentally in sympathy with the general tenor of our demands, both social and political, he was inclined to apprehend that the same evils which inhere in the body polite as at present constituted might charac- terize any form of government which could be substituted for 1t. For in- stance, he understood that the aim of the s. L. P. was to retain the House of Representatives, with a national or State executive. It ap- peared to him that the corruption and inef1iciency chargeable upon the existing Senate might also charac- terize the proposed executive, with the additional disadvantage that, coupled with the abolition of the presidency, 1t would be well nigh impossible to locate any crime or mismanagement of which it might be guilty.
 He was informed that the pro- posed executive was not designed to be a legislative body in the ordinary sense of that term. It was to be what the name implies, an executive empowered to erecute the laws made and ratified by the people through the principles of the initiative and referendum. It was not contem- plated that the executive should be entrusted with any law-making functions whatever.
 Comrade Adams and several other speakers also explained that we so- clalists do not expect to gain our de- mands immediately; that the people require to be educated up to them, and will be fully ready for the change before it can be effected. As to the danger of corruption, it should be born in mind that when the motive to corruption is removed, when there Is no longer anything to gain by dishonesty, everybody will prefer to be honest.
 At this point Comrade Orchard son took the floor and submitted the following resolutions, which he judged to be in the line of the pres ent discussion; he also read, with favorable comments, several extracts from an interesting article in re- cent number of the 1Weniieth Gen. turg'
 RcSolrcd, That the obstruction that the Merits Antitrust Bill has received. is another illustration of the fact that the Senate is an importation of the House of Lords, which of course is only an or ganization to enable the classes to swim dle the masses. and that the fair name of Madame Justice would be eternally smirched if she should visit this planet before the poodle corrupted Senates are abolished;
 ReSolred, That organized and cooper ative capital is the perverted socialism of wealth for selfish ends that enables those who produce nothing to enjoy all, Whereas cooperation of industry is the socialism of labor for the universal good, reversing the rule that those who pro duce all enjoy nothing. And that the bribery and evasion of law by gas and other trusts make them the only effec-