Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1899-05-10
HARRY FUCKERS VIEWS.

-
| man fuckers. which appeared ID 'e''o'
days Dispatch. is richly worth iep,o-
ducine In our columns to-day, espec'ahs
AZ hundreds OF persons are mere "o"
| who probably did not see our last issuc'
| Though MIR. Tucker cannot atteho '"e
conference. he Is in hearty sympathy
with the movement, as appears from MS
| Communication to Us, winch Is as ioi'o"S'
Lexington, va. May s. 1872
| TO the Editor OF the. Dispatch:
| / regard the May conference as the mus
| important step taken In Virginia ioi
| Years for the maintenance OF Dehociau0
principles. Responsibility for power py
/ the public servants TO those LOT "hVse
benefit such power Is bestowed Is
| mai principle OF Democratic faith. but
60 hom Is the senator responsible!
TO the LEGISLATURE that elected hin'
But that body has been dead at least
| four years when the senator reappears
| fou.s recollection. Can he be held TO MS
| responsibility by voice from the deao
If,the constituency to whom the possessor
! OF power is responsible for Its proper
use be dead or unable, for any REASON
| To hold him TO strict accountability III
Its exercise of what use is such respon,
sibility? Responsibility and power shouiu
| no united for the protection of liberty, as
their divorce will be the forerunner OF
tyranny. w.
No intelligent man can have failed TO
notice the great change IN the past lew
years in the political elements with which
we are surrounded. The past thirty years
have witnessed the enormous increase OF
individual and corporate fortunes In this
A.. lion. srN = VI
a rarity. This fact has served TO develop
the insolence and arrogance OF wealth,
until intellectual endowincnts are dwarfed
i'm It's sordid presence, and moral charac-
ter lies PROSTATE in its path. The power
TO rule men By intellectual and moral
force. the test of a craftsmanship OF
former day. is fast passing away. while
wealth, the uncrowned king, oftentlmes
lacking both, and coveting neither, AFRO
gantly seeks to rule In domain where
il is only fitted to serve Its altar mas
been erected in every community; mas
given place 10 material eXpediency and
an aptness for percentages and the sue
cessful manipulation OF railroads ana OF
stock boards are often regarded as the
most essential of senatorial equipments.
But there is another element more dam
gerous 10 the liberties Of the people than
that OF individual wealth In its influence
on the election Of senator's. The wonder
full growth OF our country has been great
~ accelerated by the combinations OF
wealth in corporate forms. These, in
their proper spheres, are TO be encouraged,
rather than condemned, but when they
leave their legitimate fields of operation
and seek to control, against the interests
OF the people, the legislation OF the coun-
try. whether they be banks or railroads,
corporations or trusts or combines, they
will meet with the indignant protests OF
all true friends of the people. The num-
Der of employees in their control the con-
centration of great wealth in their trea-
sures. and the parliamentary favors,
which they are able and most willing to
bestow. render their advances most en-
ticng and their approaches most insin-
uating. Their interests are guarded by
the ablest men of each community, and
if public rumor be true, they can lay their
hands on representatives, of the people
in many Of the legisla lures in the land,
and claim them as their own.
The change in the mode of election
of senator's will greatly minimize these
evils, though they may not be entirely
eradicated. The objection that the pres
ent is not the proper time to inaugurate
these reforms, seems to. me unsound, II
the principle be desirable. Why is not
the present the accepted time? Shall
we wait until the old Commonwealth
whose political methods have been free,
open, and frank in the past history. Is
bound, hand and foot, by some miniature
Quay when resistance will be useless
or can we better secure an improvement
in the election of senators by waiting until
the time has passed. and no senator Is to
be elected?
The change Is aimed at no man. but at
methods. Surely, no man in Virginia who
aspres to the Senate is afraid, or
ashamed to face the people in the main
tenance of his candidacy