Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1899-09-23
From Every County in the State Comes
a Demand for Decency
and Justice.
The Culprits, However High. Must Be Hanged
or Driven Out Of Our
State.
In the Meantime the People Are Preparing
Either for Revolution or
for Justice.

set aside At Springfield. Methods thor.
oughly revolutionary are employed. 1t
became necessary more than once dur.
ing the late session for the minority
members of .hc House to assert thci!
rights by physical force. threatening
in the place and his Hudncity was I'M
parallelcd. lie counted men as voting
one way when they voted another. and
was protected In what he did by the
speaker arbitrarily carrying motions to
dispense with the reading of the min
utcs. To this day I do not know how
was written down on the important
measures of the late session. | shall
not know until got a copy of the jour
nal. | know at least one man who
was recorded as voting for the Allen
bill in the Nth General Assembly
when he voted against It.
The situation is anarchlcal and dis
graceful. The people must choose bet.
ter men and have them elect better
speakers. II will require twenty years
for the State To recover from the last
two legislatures.
Said Republican Senator down in
the State:
IF the people Of Illinois knew what
actually takes place at Springfield they
would rise up and drive the Legislature
out of the capital. When the unso-
phlstlcatcd man goes down there he
,.ith iAn nj 10 4 II,
disappointed. During the late session
II was n game between certain Sena-
tors and the speaker Of the House.
These Senators would 90 about saying,
This is Sherman's bill; we want you
to vote for it, OF course they were
drawing upon Sherman for correspond
ing favors to advance their own meas
ures. and In the meantime men outside
Of the combination We're struggling In
vain for even the scantiest rccogni.
ton"
Charles c. Craig, of Galesburg, Dem.
ocratlc member Of the House from the
Thlrty.lif,h District, said:
zone day fellow called me out and
offered me 500 to vote for the butter.
Inc bill. took 1t as a joke and laughed
at him. My opinion Is that the corpora
tons work more effectively through
various forms of suasion than by nat
footed bribery. Their machinery fol
influencing the course of legislation Is
sklllfully constructed and works with
ont friction. The source of their pow
~ lies far outside of Springfield. And
then ones constituents are much "a
blame. He is scarcely in his place until
they begin 10 yell for passes and force
him TO put himself under obligations
10 the railroads. Al Glade and J. T.
Cavnnaugh, of Chicago, occasionally
ran things with sweep in their com
mittce. ! have seen them declare Il
committee adjourned when numbers OF
men We're on their feet protesting. They
lock up the room"
Several members interviewed cN
/ pressed sentiments Ike those of til,
senator quoted above, who said thai
. the people would rise in rcbclious pro
test II they knew how some of thcll
/ suppos d representatives acted. An
other Republican Senator remarked
zones faith In the dignity and honol
/ at humanity l. likely to undergo So
we're strain If one spends II term or tw,
/ ~ Springfield" Charles \. Davidson
/ Of Newton, Democratic Senator from
the Forry.Afth District, put 1t thus: -
have said If the people could see thci
. 4 La Il. 81 4.
vote to abolish it, and believe the!
would"
James IIackctt, 1861 Wabash avenue
Chicago, u Democratic member Of tn
house, said: Respect for government
would vanish from among the people
# they would 90 to Springfield and SEE
nov their laws are made Mr.. Hack
rtt cOUIinucd:
"lUur or five weeks Immediately fol
lowing the opening of last winters SEES
sion of the legislature were given nj
10 pulling ana hauling over the commit
/ toes. There were corporate Interests
/ 10 he looked out for, and these wcr,
we'll represented at the capital. Corpor
alton attorneys and lobbyists swarm
+ ed over the iioOrs Of Senate and House
frequently occupying almost half ot
The seats that were supposed to bclon.
10 members, In my Judgment the cor
p0rat.Ons dictated the commlttecshlp,
ana practically organized the Leglsld
rurc.
"What are my reasons for believing
50: Why, ! was convinced by what
saw and heard, In the first place thf
attorneys and lobbyists Of wealth were
there, and in the second place no meas