Kansas agitator. [volume] (Garnett, Kan.) 1890-1905, 1897-08-13
BY Francis R. Cole, LII. d.


corruption in office? Because the people
have little to say about it. Their repre-,
sentatives are the masters and do as
they please; no matter how treacherous
to their constituency, or to what extent
they violate the pledges on which they
secured election, they cannot be re-
moved. When another election comes
around new questions arise and COM
mand attention, old wrongs are forgot
ten or lost sight of and other untrust-
worthy men sneak into office. to again
do the bidding of monopoly and neglect
measures that would promote the gen.
eral good. In a discussion over the Off
cial conduct of legislator, one neigh
Dor asked of another what he really did,
anyhow, and was answered, What has
he done? Why, he built two houses
and started store" Is not this about
all the general run of them do? Local
and special interests are served, the
public domain freely granted in chunks
as large as principalities without con-
sulting the owners. the people, much
less gaining their consent. The policy
OF government should be to make 1t as
easy as possible to do right; to make
dishonesty and bribery as hard as posi-
BILE and remove unholy temptation.
Our present system throws the doors Of
fraud wide open and sets premium on
dishonesty and perfldy. The people
ha OF
legislation and franchises. The talk Of
sending rich men to Office because they
don't need bride money is all bosh.
They may be honorary (onerary) and
chaste, but are not the common people
intelligent and chased? The patches
on their trousers seem to say SO. The
dogs of special legislation are ravenous
and cunning. Under normal conditions,
such as existed in the early days Of the
republic, when the country could boast
OF sterling charactered yeomanry, and
before property was exalted and labor
degraded, when wealth was fairly we'll
distributed and ere Mammon and his
whitening creed held sway DER the ma
ton, 1t was not so much needed; but
now, since manhood has been so under
mined, wealth so centralized, and cor
porate interests 30 inimical to the COM
mon welfare, 1t Is a crying demand of
the times. There will be no bribery
and deals when there are no franchises
to give away, and no selling of votes
when the votes do not insure the deliv-
cry Of the goods. No, let people take
hand in legislation. They have been
frozen out long enough. Adopt that
statesmanlike. scientific, efiieacious re-
form, the initiative and referendum, by
which the people can initiate beneficial
legislation by popular petition, and al
so, when desirable, compel the submits
sion Of any law to the great jury of the
people for approval or rejection. Then
no such lobby poetry as the following
would be inspired:
midas, they say, possessed the art, of
old.
on turning whatsoever he touched to
gold;
Modern monopolists reverse 1t with
ease,
Touch with gold and turn 'em as they
please"
Campaigns would then reach maxi
mum of education and minimum Of
personalities. This law should be sup
plemented with the imperative mandate
by which obnoxious officials could be
recalled during their tenure of Office.
1t should also be supplemented by civil
service and proportional representation,
by which the legislature and govern
ment would be true counterpart of the
people. Each party would be repre-
scented in the halls of legislation to the
force and extent manifested in the
elections; no more, no less. No i'm
aginary lines of district boundaries are
to be allowed to disfranchise minorities
and rob them Of voice in the govern
ment The senate committee on repre-
sentation once reported, Proportional
representation is system Of great
merit" Our system of districts you
readily see can be so arranged by the
party in power at the time of districting
so as to capture for the party as many
of the districts as possible. If 100000
votes are cast and say 20 senators are
to be elected, 5000 should be sufficient
to elect one. If there are four parties,
the Republicans casting $4,000, the
Democrats 10000. the Populists $4,000,
and the Prohibitionists 10000 votes;
the Republicans under our present
system would likely elect all the
senators, while the other $1,000 people
wouldn't be represented at all, whereas
an equitable division would be seven
Republicans, six Democrats, five Popu-
lists and two Prohibitionists. Garfield
showed in the lower house, in 10, the
non effectiveness of the vote and an
initiation Of the freeman's will: I'm
my judgment 1t is the weak point in
government, as now or
ganized, that large portion of the peo-
pie are DISTINGUISHED. There are 10000 |
Democrats in my district voting year
after year without any more hope of
having a representative on this floor
than the commons of Great Britain"
should cease 1t is |