The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-09-21

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/ very profitable business by preparing and
Introducing bills inimical TO railroad CT
I corporate interests. These were called
I striking bills, and were designed to strike
certain rights already granted - railroad,
/ or 70 Introduce new legislation calculated %
eTubarrass the corporation or iniure IL The
I result OF the striking process was that the
| corporations, in order 10 protect their
own interests and those Of the stock
/ holders, and very often the interests
/ Of the people as well, have prevented
\ the passage Of such laws by deliberately
| buying up the men who were engaged in
pressing the striking legislation. IL is
/ largely due 70 these reasons that tie legis-
! lstures OF the country have lost so much Of
1 the respect and confidence of the people. 1t
| does not follow that because certain legis-
\ latursS have men among its members En-
| gagged in corrupt practices, that all, or even
| a majority OF tbS< Legislative bodies are
| corrupt. But thee are enough OF them,
whose appalling guilt is 50 shamefullv ep
parent, as to bring d-scredit upon the sys-
tenn
DO you think the legislators are solely to
blamer'
1.-The legislators themselves are not the
only people to blame for the passage of cor
rupt measures. II has frequently happe led
that political managers have been able to
use the parry for the passage Of very bad
and dishonest bills by making them party
measures and making the honest mea in the
party vote for them because they were
labelled with the stamp of the party. 1t is
also true tEat only a very small
portion OF the money paid by
corporations TO secure the passage Of
bills in which they were interested
has ever reached the legislators themselves,
but has been retained by the middle parties.
or lobbyists, who, by shrewd and adroit
ma no apnfr al h.
without using much of the money put into
their hands for accomplishing the purpose.
The result has been to cast great discredit
upon the legislature and to bring about
such changes in the laws as / have already
referred to by restricting the power of leg
islators.
Another cause for the degeneracy of
our legislative bodies will be found in the
fact that demagogy has, to a certain extent.
controlled the legislature in many of the
states and much OF the Legislation in con-
gress during the past few years. Many
pernlclous laws have been passed simply
because some pretentious organization,
representing SONS special interest has de-
manded it. The fact is that most of the
people oStenslbly represented by them knew
nothing about them at all. They
consist OF a few men who get together and
agree among themselves that they represent
a large class of people, and that this iegisla-
ton or that must be had. Many legisla-
lures have freq entity given way to the
claims OF these demagogues, and passed
dangerous AID bad laws. There are
many illustrations of this in the
legislature of the state of New York.
Only year ago the legislature passed
q bill making the wages of men en-
ployed on state work 81 per day, without
reference to whether they were worth it or
not, or what labor in any community was
valued at. 1t passed the legislature, was
signed by the governor and became a law
This year it was repealed because every one
was satisfied that is was never of any use.
and that there was never any popu-
lar demand for such law. Many
instances of this kind could he mentioned
When the people see that legislative bodies
are carried away by motives OF this kind
they naturally lose respect for them"
What should the people do to correct
these evils"
The sources of all power in modern gov
ernments come from the people, and must
be expressed through their legislative
bodies. The changes in the future should
not be In the direction of further limiting
the powers OF the legislative body upon the
theory that they may do harm to tho BODY
polite believe that the changes made in
that direction in the past have proved to
have been worse than the evils which they
were expected to cure.
Another instance is the general railroad
act, which was the necess Try result of lin.
ting the power Of the legislature for grant
ing special charters. We see parallel lines
built in every direction, which not only do
no good to the people, because they do not
reduce the cost Of transportation, but rather
increase it, and the final result is that the
weaker company Is absorbed by the stronger
corporation. Then the people are COM
PEELED to pay such rates as viii enable the
company to make fair rate of interest
upon the entire investment. 1t would have
been much wiser for the state to have pre-
vented the building of these unnecessary
lines.n
What about the veto powerg'
While the governor is exercising the
power TO veto separate items in appropria
ton bills, it may seem to save money to the
state for the time being, but | do not be-
lieve that any lasting good has come to the
body polite by giving the governor that
power. 1t has resulted in degrading
the legislature in the eyes Of the peo-
ple, and the law could be used bv anv
governor who would consent to do 1t for
the purpose of trading, and to make the
legislature pass any bills that the governor
Is interested in seeing put through by
threatening to veto certain items in the bill
unless the legislator representing the inter-
eSted district supports the governors meas
uresn
Then you think our legislative bodies
are deterlorating
"A careful review of the history of our
public men will sustain the views that
legislative bodies to-day do not retain the
confidence and esteem of the people to such
degree as they did in the early part of the
century, and that many more corrupt men
succeed in securing places in our legislative
bodies than In the early days of the re-
public. The large cities of the country have
contributed, as a rule. a much larger por-
ton OF corrupt men in OUT legislative halls
than the small towns and will ges. In large
cities, where the interests of the people are
concentrated, it has long been the rule
TO elect men who, instead of represent
ing and protecting the municipality sending
them, have usually preyed upon it. or
course many honest men have represented
New York city in the legislature and do to-
day, but 1t is only necessary to go over the
political history Of the past twenty fl v 9
years to prove the truth of my assertion.
The corrupt dealings of some of these men
have become notorious, and have brought
disgrace upon that body. These have been
seen aud acknowledged by many leading
men on both sides, who have taken part In
the politics of the state Of New York
MANY remedies have been suggested to
cure this cancerous sore on the body polite,
and a few of them have been tried. The
present salary Of members of the assembly
was raised from $500, which was what the