The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1896-03-23
RING RULE MUST GO
The Rev. John 1. Scudder
breaches Another Polit-
ical Sermon.
CIGARETTE PICTURES DENOUNCED
Services in Various Churches
Throughout the City
Yesterday.


The Rev. John u. scudder at the Taber-
nacle last evening preached a prelude on
Boss Rule-can it Be Broken?'s in
which he said
There is something essentially wrong
IN our present political system. This is
the conviction of muititudes, If not the
majority of the American people, and
recent occurrences in the State of New
York have strengthened that conviction
throughout the country. Although the
people possess the right of suffrage and
exercise q theoretical rulership, they FREE
quently find themselves tricked and tyr
annized by those whom they have placed
In power. They a ascertained that
this is largely a government of the people.
by the politicians for the party boss and
his machine. Usually the boss holds
some official position, but in the Empire
State today the dictator. Mr.. Thomas c.
Platt, is a private citizen. The only
office he occupies is an express office in
lower Broadway, and yet from his throne
Invisible he rules his party and the en-
tire people with a rod of iron.
The comical feature of the present dis
tress lies In its following so closely upon
the heels of a great reform movement
in which the two principal parties changed
places and the people who naugurated
the change now find themselves. in a
tfiraldom as grievous as ever. Their cries
of indignation are vain, their denuncia-
tons have no effect upon the occupant
Of the express office. A short time since
Boss Croker was Gear of New York city,
but Boss Plat outshines and surpasses
his predecessor in that he dominates the
entire State. The papers cartoon and
lampoon him and make the people laugh,
but it is no laughing matter when one
can own the Legislature Of New
York. control its Executive, and snap
his fingers in the face of six million SOW
ereign people.
Here is a circumstance worth noting
"a private citizen ruling an empire; a
self-elected boss, to whom the people are
bitterly opposed, but whom they are
powerless to overthrow. What a travesty
on popular government! Still this is the
natural outcome of our present unre-
strained representative system. Once
elected. our politicians are independent,
of the people and can act as they please.
The indecent haste with which the Raines
bill was rai.roaded through the Legis-
lature, the marked disrespect shown to
Brooklyn in the matter CT consolidation.
and a variety of recent violations of the
principle OF home rule by the lawmakers
at Albany; are convincing t~hougntful
done to extinguish boss rule in American
politics. The cause of legislative in
It is our imperfect system Of govern
ment. The people elect men without
definite Instructions, and possess no veto
power when betrayed by their repre-
sentatives. Office holders prove false to
those who invest them with authority,
and bow the knee. to the party boss who
an - + cir nnlTfinoIM AFT ~ vi and A will
certainly turn them down. if they dis
obey his orders. Many representatives
vote contrary to their own Judgment and
and are in bondage 70 the party caucus.
than the people. and it embodies a
tyranny most odious to liberty loving
me n
outrageous and despicable SYSTEM Yes,
answer. and it is very simple. Let Us
Gsdnce aa once n wS e q t fyste psop, Ct s gurg
vote directly on important questions and
thus deprive the politicians of absolute
power and contemptuous Independence.
A servant should never be above to be-
come a despot.. The only cure for ma
chine politics is direct Legislation, for
aalS . saalAf is e. ina r pfinci 81 TT the eYi a.
itiative and Referendum, the people can
enact laws, satisfactory to the majority
laws by recourse to the ballot box. Thus
they place a wholesome check upon their
representatives. and compel them to act
Justly and for the public good. This idea
of submitting important measures to
popular vote is nothing new. We make
use of it now and then on rare occa-
sions. Now what this country needs is
an expansion Of this well.recognized prin-
ure which is distasteful to a considerable
fraction of the people: In this respect
America is woefully behind the times.
Switzerland has adopted direct legisla-
ton with gratifying success and she
beckons us to follow.
TN that model republic there are no
bosses machine politics are unknown, and
measures are, more important than men.
themselves. because any corrupt legis-
lation on their part would be quickly
upset at the polls. It is interesting to
know that Under this wise system, of
SO pure and beneficent that very few
measures are deemed worthy by the
people to. be submitted to popular vote.
This people follow their usual ~vocat.ons,
but they possess the power to l~egislate
directly whenever occasion may demand
and they themselves determine the ocea-
sion. They are freemen, but we are