St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1895-01-13

ing need OF the pioneers, crowding
further and further away from the
rivers ont onto the prairies, was some
better and cheaper means of transport
alton for their produce 0 the markets
than teams, and that to those who pros
vded the means there was promise OF
rChreWard for their efforts. He gave
to this work his time and talents, and
reaDpd a harvest of wealth. In many
other directions, as wealth came to him.
he lent his means and abilities to enter
pIiSeS aiding in the development of the
state, and is entitled to take place
among its prominent builders.
THE THEORY AND FRACTION.
philosopher. queried an embryotic
American citizen, taking his first inlcok
into the political formation CT things
and asking why with all the curiosity
Of youth, why do they not elect sem
at0rS us soon as The Legislature assem-
b!es instead of waiting two Weeks?"
And the philosopher laid his pipe aside,
and, dropping his plummet into the well
where only absolute truth prevails, thus
diScoursed to the receptive youth.
My son, the potent, grave and reVer-
end seigni0rs who did the carpenter
work in constructing this union OF states
were idealists. They built house that
for the most part the people have since
refused to live in as built, and have
gone about tashiouing and reshaping it
as they wanted it. The builders laid
down the framework Of theory, and the
people have shaped it into practice 10
suit themselves. The theory was that
the people in the first place came to-
gether in their political gatherings and
elaborated who among them were the
WiSest and best to be chosen as their
legislators. Then these. when chosen,
assembled to elect senators, among the
other affairs Oh which they were 10
focus their wisdom. Naturally. so i'm
pOrtant all act should not be precjpitate-
~ committed. There should be ample
consideration and discussion Of who,
among the wiser wise men OF the state,
should be sent as its ambassadors to
represent it in the national c0unsels.
And so it was provided. lest some i'm
petuous and indiscrcet legislatures
should act with unseemly and undigni-
fled haste, that the first two weeks after
the assembling of the wise men Of the
state should be given TO meditation. re-
Election and examination before they
began expressing their choice.
"But, like all these beautiful theories,
so easy to construct and so difficult TO
work cut in practice, the fruition of the
hopes of the builders never material
lied, or SO rarely as only to make the
failure more general, because they had
to depend on the human animal for the
execution of their design, and the ayer-
age man is not moved by high motives
of patriotism, or possessed Of the in
telligence needed for the perfect execu-
ton of the design. So it came about in
the practical working of the plan with
lis human motors that, instead of the
people getting together and couuseling
wisely as 10 the best man among them
for a laWgiver, some one man or more
among them became seized with de-
sire 10 lie q maker of laws and senators.
And thus, instead of being council,
the gathering was simply the adherents
OF Gne OF more OF these seekers, by
whom any suggestion of fitness was re-
garded as an impertinence.
80 it comes that the fittest man in any
district is never chosen to be legisla-
tor, and it too often occurs that not even
tit man is selected, although it is true
that the man chosen regards himself as
not only fit, but the tittest Every thing,
my son. depends on the point Of view in
this life. Everything is relative. You
will observe as you gain experience that
we can elect people TO Office, but not to
wisdom. The certificate of election
carries with it no magic which makes
the man whit wiser or better or hon.
ester than he was before he received it.
Everybody seems to think it does, and
acts Oh that suppositlon, but it is a mis-
taken one. Some day some Berlng OR
RouX may come vino will discover some
way of inoculating men with wisdom;
but he isn't here yet.
1.-The same process goes on in the Leg
iSlature that went on in the several
fields in which the Legislators strove aud
won. There is no deliberation among
them as to the best and WiseSt and fit
test man Of the state, as the fathers as
sumed there would be. Sometimes
some one man and sometimes several
men have announced their wish to 60 TO
the senate. There is nothing highly
improper in this, for it has been re,
marked that all these offices quit hunt
ing men long ago; in fact, it is quite
out of fashion now for offices to do this.
But what will strike you as strange is
that in the little fields of county politics,
and as we'll in this larger senatorial
field, the men and Legislators feel some
how obligated to take their choice from
among the men who say they want the
place. NEEDN'T tell you how modest
real merit is, and how it waits yet to be
recognized and called, and so it comes
about that real merit is always waiting
and never gets called.
$50 in its workings the situation
evolved is one in which the two pre-.
liminary and preparatory weeks are
mostly given to what is termed logrolI-
ing, combinations made to gain som
desired end for those in the combina>
ton in exchange for votes for this or
that one of the asplrants. Sometimes
less worthy motives influence the votes
of men. 1t is said that there are those
base enough to make this important duty
matter of bargain and sale, and cred
IDLE stories are told OF men who Will
not stay bought, but sell themselves
again to some other bidder. But in it
all the purpose of the fathers Is de-
feated in the practical working of their
plan, and there is vast difference, my
son. between the theory and the prac-
tice of senate rial elections"