Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1899-09-23
MONEY BUYS THEIR VOTES
CONTINUED from Page SiXJ

Suke Oh the IuNpHycFs. IL WIS tUCClVu
for the sake of the gang The com
binntion that ruled had passed all the
bills It wanted to pass and was afraid
II the session were prolonged that
measures unsatisfactory TO II might be
hammered through. Many Republic.
ans were opposed to the early adjourn.
mcnt, knowing that several weeks
more would be required to do dcccntly
and in order what remained to be done.
They sworc at the early adjournment
proposition In their private talks to me,
but when the vote was called for they
all lined up with their party and It's
bosses. SO II was on every other prop.
Ositlon. and so Il will be so long as the
political lives of the members are I'm the
hands of the chair.
II do not think there ever was more
dlsgraccful spectacle than that which
marked the closing hours of the late
session In the House. There was an
utter absence of decOrum and parlin-
mcntary usage. The House was In an
uprOnr. Men rushed about shouting.
gesticulatIng ana curslng. and through
It all bills were passed, or declared
passed, In rapid succession, many of
them not read. Members frequently
did not know how they voted or wheth.
or they voted at all. Twice I went to
the clerk and demanded to know how
! was recorded. ! found both times
that had been made to vote otherwise
than did vote, ana l knew that such
cases were common. Whatever the
gang wanted passed was declared
passed. and whatever It did not want
passed was declared lost. 1t has been
suggested that some bills got through
during that wild scramble which do
not appear In the session laws as pub.
llshed. Whether this Is true l do not
know, but do know that probably the
majority OF the members could not
keep track Of what was taking place.
II am In II position to know that
money Is sometimes demanded by the
men who are bosses of the situation ut
the sessions of the Legislature. Once
! was chairman of u committee of ply.
siclans that was trying to secure the
passage Of u good bill mt u former Leg.
islature. The Speaker promised to call
II up ana failed. I sent u man to him
to ask why he had not kept his prom
ise anu he referred tho man TO u go.
between. The gO-bctwccn told my
man that they would pass our bill for
$1,000. We refused 10 put up dollar
and the bill was lost.
II want to speak of the State institu-
tiOns-the normal schools, the pcnlten-
tIarics, the asylums for the insane,
deaf, dumb ana blind ana the resort for
fceblc-minded. The people would
make money by consolidating these In.
stltutiOns at one place any place.
They arc becoming u menace To all of
us because of their cncrOachment upon
the revenues of the State. Their in
huence upon legislation Is pcrniclOus.
Representatives from the districts
where the schools, ppnitentiarlcs and
asylums are located trade votes for ip-
preparations and get not simply what
they need, but all they want This ii
wrong that the people sooner or later
will he compelled to consider II they
expect to escape being beggared ut the
hands of the taX-eatcrs of the State.
How the Legislature IL to he lifted
to u plane of decency Is Il knOtty prob
lem. will say, however. that some of
its worst evils would he done away
with II there were such u constitutional
amendment rs would properly limit the
powers of the Speaker and provide Il
fitting penalty for any mlsrepresenta'
ton OF u vote on the part of clerk. AS
matters stand ut present We have no
government by the people; what we
take TO be such Is u delusiOn and Il
snare
John McLaucllan, of IaSallc. Is one
of the veterans of the House lie tells
u story revealing the inroads that he
says life ut Springfield makes upon
the sobricty and responsibility of some
men. McLauchlan passes among those
who know him as Il man whose intelli-
gence ana courage are not likely to be
questioned. lie has this to say about
the Illinois General Assembly:
II have served my district five terms
In the Legislature--have viewed the
performance from both behind and be-
fore the scencs-and my honest judg-
ment Is that it Is humbug. We have
no representative government ut
Springfield; it Is government by Il
Speaker, gang the bosses of po'
litical machine-all under the dOmlna'
lion of money. Among the corpora