Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1892-03-02
LET The PEOPLE CHOOSE.
Strong Argument In Favor Of Popular Elections
Of Senators.
REPORT OF THE CHIPMAN COM.
MiTTEE TO THE HOUSE.

!, sure is being brought to bear on the
, Senate to secure a report from com
/, mittee of the bill providing for the
election of Senators by direct vote o.
the people. The movement has re
ceived a great impetus from the hearty
support accorded it by Senator Palm
er and the prompt actio-, taken by the
Ho use Committee on tic election OF
President and Vice-PresiC emit, of which
Representative Chapman, OF Nj chigar
is chairman.
The report of Judge Clipnan'a com
mittee, which has just come from the
public printer, is regarded as a very
able preparation of the case. tits large
ly the work of Representative Tucker
of Virginia, who, though q young man
is one of the best lawyers in the House
'The proposed change" says the
report, has the sanction OF almost 8
universal popular demand. This is moi
conclusive of the propriety of the pro
posed change, but is strongly per
suasive of the inadequac! of the pre-
i sent plan. Your comm ittee submit
the following reasons for recommend
ing the proposed change:
"1) The Legislature be .ng body, OF
limited numb 9rS is more amenable tC
undue influence and the corruptine
power of corporate aggre sions and in
dividual wealth than " ould be the
entire population of State. The
public press for years lin each recur-
ring year, has been teeming with
legislative scandals in the election of
Senators, until bribery and corruption
are, we fear, in some ocalities, fast be-
coming recognized as a part of the
legislative function, while the capacity
of the pocketbook rather than that of
the head is regarded in like places as
the test of Senatorial equipment.
Committees of investigation and the
Grand Juries of the State have been
unwilling, or unable, to detect the
frauds, so skillful have the manipu-
lators of it become, until at last, an
outraged public sentiment has become
aroused and has found its just ex-
preston in the proposed amendment.
SO. Power and responsibility should
go together hand and hand. In re-
public like ours the representative of
political power, for the good of the
Republic, should be answerable for his
acts to some certain constituency. To
whom, we ask, is a Senator now an
swerable for his conduct? To the
Legislature This body changes three
times during his services. A Senator
elected to-day for six years by a Leg
islature comes back in six years seek
ing reelection before another Legisla-
| oil,
men. His pledges to the body that
new Legislature, which was not a
Il party to the contract of his service or
to his pledges.
II 80. The States made the Constitu-
ton. 1t was a compromise between
n those in the Federal Convention who
desired a strictly national government
and those who strove for a purely
federal union, The representation in
the Senate was the result of the de-
mand ian ultimatum) on the part of
the several States inasmueh as repre-
sentation in the House of Representa-
tives was to be proportionate to pop
4 ulation, that in the Senate the States,
as such, were to be represented. They
were to be the units of representation.
The State, as political organization,
is not represented by the Legislature
any more than it would be by the judi
ciai department of the Government or
the Executive. The ultimate sover-
eighty of State rests alone with the peo-
pie or with their accredited chosen
Representatives in convention assem-
bled.
Surely then the creature (the Legisla-
ture) is not above the creator (the SOW
ereign people,, and the State, as po-
litical organization, is more fifty repre-
scented by the sovereign power of the
State than by one of the mere creatures
of it's sovereignty, and the plan propos
ed preserves the State as the unit OF
representation in the Senate, and al
the same time leaves the choice to the
people, who are the sovereign power il
the State.
I Il. 1t is the duty of the Legislature
of each State by law to lay off the leg
| islative districts in the State. Under
the present mode of election of Senators
the Legislatures may be induced tt
make an unfair appertionment and lay
off unequal and unfair districts in or
der that the party then in control il
: the Legislature may reap the reward o
the election of one of its partisans tt
; the Senate. This system OF gerryman
dering State is notorious, and the dis
position to adopt it seems to be on thu
increase in many of the States. Thi
evil would be greatly modified by The
adoption of the proposed amendment
IS. State and Federal affairs should
: as far as possible be kept distinct an(
| separate for the purity of each and tn
, betterment of both. The administra
: ton of the local affairs of the people il
the protection of their rights of prop
1 erty and the maintenance of peace AM
good order in society has most properl
: been reserved by the States to them
e selves The point of contact in our sys
e tenn of government with the people
@ where personal rights are to be protect
ed and the home guarded, is for tn
;. most part (as it ought to be entirely
i with the State Or local government. L
the State Legislatures-thel awmakin
power of the several States-the peopl
look to redress their local wrongs an
/ protect their local rights.
q "These same Legislatures, under tn
present system, possess the electors
function in the selection of Senators
y The money which corrupts, by pul
Il chase. the member of the Legislator
! for Senatorial elections has debauche
Il him as a servant of the people. He
y sworn to serve in local legislation. Th
s corporation that can enter the halls
I a legislature and lay its unholy hand
Il upon the members, claiming them a
J, its own in the selection of a Senator
e has already destroyed the hope OF
:, pure administration of the local affair
e of the people of that State by pollutin
# the source from which such administrs
y ton is derived under the specious guls
: of interest merely in the Senator'S
+ election. Legislatures are debauche
II and the purchased member in the Senf
6 toriaI election can hardly pose as tn
II unbought and unpurchasable tribun
II of the peoples local rights. If th
n charges of corruption in Senatorial ele'
e tions are true, the reflex action on TIL
1t legislation in the States, incident t
= such corruption, must be immeasurabl
L in its destruction of the rights and Iii
n critics of the people of the States.
$. 'It is provided that such election
s. shall be held at the times, places an
in the manner as prescribed by the Les
;cIo+uroc Of tho StataS COrnOratn il