The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1895-12-27
LIVE ISSUES.
OUR GOVERNMENT.
The Necessity for Changes i'm Its
rlachinery-POpular Will
is Defeated.

OAe'Ah khO vi CuO triumph VI icpuUll-
can ideas in popular government.
Every political speaker of the two
principal parties takes special pains
to proclaim that this great nation
breaches and practices the doctrine
ola government "of the people, for
the people, by the people, y
The most humble American voter
is each year assured that his fran
chise places him upon an equality
with the greatest, wealthiest and
most influential man in the land,
and that upon his intelligent use of
the power conferred upon him by
the ballot depends the hope of him
self and the generations which are
to succeed him.
These assertions will not bear a
very close analysis, and those not
deliberately false are so deficient in
proper explanation as to be prac-
tically false. In the first place we
have not, and have never had,
popular government in this coun-
try. We have representative gov
eminent, which means that the
representatives are elected appar-
emily by the people, but after being
once elected are, during their term
of service, wholly independent OF
their constituents and in a position
to ignore, if not Numerically OPP
pose, the known desires of the peo-
pie whom they are presumed to
represent.
Popular government means that
the representatives shall be at all
times under the control of their
masters, the people, and that at
any time they fail, or refuse to
carry out the wishes of those re-
sponsible for their election, they
can, by the enforcement of the i'm
perative mandate, be at once re-
called from public life and suffer
the penalty of breaking faith with
the people.
The present system of placing
candidates in nomination by parties
is also open to serious criticism as
the entire party machinery is ma
nipulated and contrlled absolutely
by small cliques Of men, all OF
whom, months before the voters
begin to consider politics, are busily
engaged in preparing to guide the
various party caucuses and conven-
tions, and hoodwink the great
American people into believing that
only the most popular and able
men are put forward as candidates
for their suffrages.
The success of such tactics means
the perpetuation of lobby OF
"third house," a collection of veil.
ed blackmailers, who, for a consid-
Grafton, will persistently button
hole, cajole, bride and occasionally
threaten our proud legislators, in
the interest of such measures as
their employers desire approved,
or defeated as the case may be.
The continuance of this system
means the absolute futility Of
securing any adequate relief for the
mass of the people through rene
dial legislation; and it is therefore
the duty of the hour for all whose
eyes have been opened to this in
iquity TO join together and demand
reform of these abuses, and the
introduction or substitution of a
government that shall be actually
popular" in the true and literal
sense of the term.
To do that it is necessary that we
have the initiative, the referendum,
the imperative mandate and last,
but not least, proportional rep
resentation.
These matters are of peculiar Inn
portance at this time, to Onr read
ers, as the recently adopted amend
ments to the constitution of the
Order, which are now submitted to
a referendum vote, deal with just
these things.
The initiative and referendum we
now have in the Knights Of Labor,
also the imperative mandate, in a
modified form, confined to the
officers of the General Assembly
and it is proposed to amplify the
Use of all three and to add to then
the system of proportional repre-
sentation by which every party oil