Evening journal., 1897-03-03
POLITICIANS WILL DECIDE IT.

a radical departure from the system OF
government which has been in vogue
here for such long time that It will
certainly encounter antagonism of pro-
nounced character from that large
class Of our citizens who object TO in
novations in anything, and particularly
in matters OF governmental concern.
Not only that, but partisan politics
will play an important part in contrib
uting to its success or defeat, and the
fate OF the measure proposed for enact
ment by the bipartisan commission
appointed two years ago to consider
and report upon the legislative needs
OF the city will depend very largely
upon the attitude which the Whining
ton leaders Of the Democratic party as
sumo towards 1t.
II is all very well to talk of running
the city along bipartisan lines, but
that sort OF thing does not suit the poll
ticians. and especially the party work.
ers in the wards, who are not in poll
ties for the fun of it, or from any es-
pecial love OF the science Of govern
ment. The science Of getting there"
more often decides the fate of men and
measures; and this will hold true in
the present instance.
The partisans will soon put their
heads together and decide what shall
be done with the bill. They will say
whether It shall be adopted or killed as
a whole, or whether 1t shall be so
amended that it will serve party pur-
poses. II a careful study of the work
of the commission demonstrates that II
will result in turning the city over to a
Republican mayor and a Republican
cabinet, and that Republicans will fill
all the places in all the various depart
ments, then the work of the commits
sion will have been wasted, for the pro-
posed charter will never become law.
Moral force and public interest are
all well enough to talk about, but we
know how much they amount to when
the interests OF a party are involved.
Politicians will do many unwise things
to make themselves solid and their
party successful This is as true of
Democrats as it is of Republicans. 1t
would be useless to think of turning the
city over to the Republicans, and that,
too, by means &C 4 Democratic Legis-
lature. Politics do not usually travel
along such lines. We repeat then, that
the Democratic politicians will study
the charter proposed, weigh the
chances of Democratic success or de-
feat under it, and act accordingly. If
they decide against IL, the acknowl-
edged merits of the bill will not save
it from defeat. If they decide for It,
believing that it will lead TO Demo-
cratic success at municipal elections,
the work of the commission will be
ratified. We speak now of conditions
not as they should be, but as they are,
and with no reference to the merits or
demerits of the charter proposed. The
same condition would prevail were the
General Assembly controlled by the
Republicans.
The politicians of a state are it's real
Lawmakers, the senators and represen-
tatives being nothing more than their
representatives, although ostensibly
elected by the people. We all know
how men are nominated how states
are set up, and how seldom they are
broken. Once and awhile the schemes
OF a certain class OF politicians are cir
cumvented but it is brought about by
another and rival set of politicians, and
not by the people. We hear great
deal Of nonsense about the people aris-
ing in their wrath and turning a party
out of power. That sort of talk goes
with those who are not behind the
scenes, but to the initiated, it merely
means that in a battle between those
who are in office and those who are oud
of office the outs beat the ins by means
of clever political work.
No one denies that many Of the pro.
visions of the charter proposed by the
commission would be better for tn,
people, but there are many who deny
that II would be better for the part,
to enact a law which would in all likeli
hood place every executive department
of our city in the hands of Republi
cans and leave the Democratic politi
clans nothing to live or work for.
Not only that, but we believe tha
each ward should have direct represen
tation in City Council If it is to be tn
legislative body proposed. and not hav
its representative named by the pre-
ponderating vote of some other an
larger ward. In addition to that, tn
councilmanic representation should b
so arranged as to give one or the othe
Of the parties a working majorit,
While there is virtue in a strong m.
nority, there is no public good whic
can possibly arise from a deadlock an
subsequent compromise effected poss
bly, along lines which are not polite /
character.
The -Fitzsimmons fight
now evoking more interest thany an,