Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1898-09-22

will be unassailable, and the Republi-
can party will be united and harmo-
nious.
Your action, or rather non-action, in
permitting the reins of leadership to
be usurped by irresponsible lieutenants,
has subjected you to a torrent of abuse
because of the doings and failures Of
the last legislature. AS a matter Of
fact, you probably knew little of what
that body was doing at the time. Your
own duties, as member of the fed
eral legislature, prevented your close
attention to the details of legislation
as they developed at Harrisburg. Yet
you are charged with all the short
tomings of that historic body. l have
no doubt you did not read before in
PRODUCTION. the titles of ten bills out of
many thousands presented by members
of the two houses. and doubtless you
could not give the titles of six of them
now. During all the years l was asso-
ciated with you I never knew you to
be interested in a dozen bills before
the legislature, you always evincing a
Discrimination to interpose in what, you
claimed, did not concern you, except
as private citizen. / never failed to
combat this theory, maintaining that
while the people might have no right
to demand such service from you
they would, however unjustly, hold you
responsible for the misdoings and fail
ures of those claiming to represent you
No matter how irksome the task,
trust you will give your personal scru-
tiny, SO far as your duties as a United
St1tes sens tor will permit, to the doings
cf future legislatures. to the end that
their acts and non-acts may not be
reprcach to the Republican party AMI
TO the commonwealth.
1t canot be denied that the perform
ances of the last legislature We're not
acceptable to the people of the state.
But / speak advisedly when 1 say that
It was not one whit worse than any
one of the dozen legislatures which
have convened since the new constitu-
ton went into effect. There was this
difference-the doings of the legislators
last year were, as never before, made
known to the people. During the ses-
sion of '97 I had personal supervision
of the work of supplying weekly infor-
nation to over one hundred state news
papers. exhibiting the shortcomings of
the members and giving wide publicity
to what they did and what they failed
to do. This had never previously been
done, except by the metropolitan jour
nails. and because of it, the people
were informed as they had never been
before regarding the movements Of
their representatives at Harrisburg.
The latter were no worse than their
predecessors for the last generation
had been, but the public knew more
about them. This line of work should
be kept up during the next Legislature.
II it is, the Republican party and the
taxpayers generally viii be the gain
ers.
While, however. the last Legislature
was no worse than its predecessors, it
was bad enough. But it is a mistake to
assume that all the legislators We're
corrupt. or that the wrongdoing was
confined to the Republican party or to
a faction thereof. There were many
conspicuous members in both branches
who valiantly battled for the people.
but it is historically incorrect to assume
that all of them were from the So
called 80" who supported Mr.. Wana-
maker for the United States senate
The two leaders in the crusade for
clean legislation were Hon. Samuel
Crothers, of Philadelphia, and Hon. L.
A. Coray, of LuZerne, neither of whom
was a member of the 30" nor did
either of them vote for Mr.. Wana-
maker for senator. On the other hand,
not few of the much lauded "76"
proved derelict before the session
closed. OF course, many of the ''76'
did heroic work for the people, which
should never be forgotten: but so did
other members of both houses, who had
not been Mr.. Wanamaker's supporters
for the senatorship. In other words,
both the wrongdoing and the right
doing. so TO speak. We're non-factional
and 1t is a perversion of history to
claim the reverse.
Nor was the wrongdoing partisan.
Those now engaged in a crusade
against the Republican organization
are forming alliances in many of the
counties with a view to the election Of
Democrats to the legislature. While
in the last legislature some of the Dem
ocratic senators. and a number of the
Democratic members of the lower
house, led by the incorruptible Greasy
of Columbia county. were always found
upon the side of the people, others, and
the majority. gave their sup
port to the various vicious bills which it
was sought to enact, and which the re-
cent Democratic state convention so
assailed.
In word, it is strikingly uni to
charge all that was vicious in tn st
legislature to either party, or to ta9ef
faction of the dominant party. 1t was
simply case of some corrupt men get
ting into the legislature-as they have
gotten into every Legislature since
Republican form of government was de-
sought to further their own
at the expense of the peoples.
How supremely idiotic, therefore, %
held any one party, or any faction of
party. responsible for the perversity CT
human nature. How infin-
iteiy more idiotic and unjust TO hold
yen responsible for such condition, be-
yond the fact that you ought to have
in my judgment corrupt
or selfish men from obtaining and ex-
ercising control of Legislative proceed
inss. even though you should have
found it necessary to resort to a more
exhibition of ''bossism" than
...,. u