Chicago eagle. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1889-19??, 1899-09-16


bills that the corporations frowned up
on could not be got out of committees.
or. IL they could be, they were killed in
the Senate. must say, however, that
we had clean House, at least for the
most part. There were some bad men
among us-especially on committees
but no Objectionable bill could pass II
the members knew 1t to he objection.
able. I .,m fully convinced th:: Speak
er Sherman was partial to the corpora
tions in everything he did. II his mo.
tives and intentions had been correct
he would not have violated precedent
and sacrificed fairness by throwing
down the McGoorty committeeman.
This he did, as 1 believe, in order that
he might have committees that would
be pliable to his wishes.
Evidence of the influence of money
ed men upon legislation came directly
to me I'm the matter of my bill regu-
lating the foreclosure of chattel mort
cages. 1t came up In the House and
was referred to the committee of which
Ar Glade. of this city, was chairman.
I was admitted to the meeting at which
my measure was to he considered, AMI
when 1t was mentioned Glade exclaim.
ed 4 can't let this bill be reported out
now. I must have time first to see n
friend of mine In the Eighteenth
Ward James +. Cavanaugh was a
member of the committee. and he also
opposed reporting my bill out. OF
course, the secret of this opposition
was that the installment houses did
not want law passed that would place
goods sold by them upon the same
footing with other goods upon which
there Is n chattel mortgage.
"There was money floating around in
the interest Of the bottle BILL This I
personally know to be true, for saw q
Chicago member offered 500 to sup
port the measure. The bribe was re.
fused. The brewers Of Chicago want.
cd the bottle bilr passed, and they
were no doubt putting up some money
to further their wishes In the matter,
but the measure was made to wear
the guise Of country bill. The ship.
pers Of milk from the country were
supposed to be the only ones to he
benefited. The latter, Of course, want.
ed the bill passed, but they did not
want 1t any more than did some other
people. Still, the whole amount of
money devoted to this legislative prof.
Get was comparatively small.
TT Is my opinion that few bills
were introduced for the sole purpose
of shaking down the corporations.
Their promoters had no hope Of pass
Ing them, but believed that they could
make the representatives Of the inter-
ests affected be good fellows
I'VE talk about the lack Of decorum
in the City Council Of Chicago. want
to say that the council Is church--a
model Of parliamentary correctness
order--compared with the Illinois
House Of Representatives. We often
had disorder bordering upon riot in
our branch Of the Legislature, and dur.
Ing these rows we detected the clerk
rushing bills forward to the third read.
Ing. This we stopped, and later I saw
him, while calling the roll, recording
men for measures to which they werc
opposed. My anger was aroused SO that
grabbed the sheet from him and tore
1t up. The methods generally and the
whole situation were shameful.
''There Is remedy. 1t lies In the
selection Of Speaker who will repre-
sent the people rather than the corpor.
atiOns. The Speakers will Is practic-
ally law In the House. He can recog-
nize men or refuse to do 80 as he
pleases, which means that he can pro-
mote legislation or balk 1t, as he sees
fit. Furthermore, he makes the CON-
mittees, ana the committees have pow.
er to Tx the fate Of all bills and resOlu.
tons that reach them"
Stephen A. Malato, of 1877 North Hal
sted street, was a member Of the late
House from the Seventeenth District.
He complains bitterly of the way af-
fairs were conducted, declaring that
the corporations usurped the place 0f
the constitution and left In the hands
Of those aggrleved no power Of redress.
Mr.. MalatO said:
while should not be able to prove
| 1t, l am convinced that the corpora
tiOns dictated the organization Of the
Legislature and enjoyed complete pro-
lection ut Its hands. That money was
used to shape the course of leglslati0
l am practically certain. know that
an effort was made to influence my
vote In the matter of the bottle bill.
l was given to understand that II ]
would support the measures remunera.
tlOn for my services should not be
wanting. l told the man who approach.
cd me to go to h-l,' and that was the
last heard of the matter"
Mr.. MalatO Is an italian by birth
He Is Democrat, a university man
and a linguist. He commented thus
upon Speaker Sherman's admlnistra
tlon:
"Much has been said of the Czarisn
Of Tom Reed. have watched the
Maine statesmans rulings personally
and can say that he never dreamed OF
resOrtlng to such tactics as We're habit
ually employed by Speaker Sherman
There was no such thing as recOgni
tlon of a members rights or of parlia
mentary procedure where the men II
control feared that their interests Ol
those Of the people whom they repre-
sented would be jeoparded thereby.
; have Travelled good deal In Europe
and have given some attention to tn,
parllaments of that portion of tn,