The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1900-02-25

it. The volume of anu-lottery petitions.
for instance. is enormous. Despite the
lack of influence wsnlch a single petitiQn
carries, such an outburst of public sem
timent as this mass of petitions represents.
could not be withstood, and the Fifty
first Congress took action which proved
the death of lotteries in this country. Only
one man had the temerity TO vote against
the anti-lottery bill He was from Louis
lana, and he said he did not think such
a law constitutional
Single Tax and Tariff.
In the next Congress the single tax agi-
tation came to the front and the country
once more resorted to petitions to. Con-
gress. In New York state the Henry
George men started movement that re-
suited in possibly the first of all the freak
petitions that are now sent TO Congress
from time to time. Endorsements of the
single tax movement were solicited in ev
cry part of the country. When these were
gathered together a great oaken bureau
was constructed With drawer for each
state. These state drawers were subdivid
ed for counties and these in turn for
towns and cities. The system was so COM
plete that 1t could be shown almost In
stantly whether a certain person In a GER
tain town had Endorsed the petition or not
tsand the signature found in the great mass
of petitions. One day this costly bureau,
containing the names of fully 10000 per-
sons. was wheeled into the House and
wheeled out again IL is now in room
far down among the foundations buried
under a weight of worthless documents
and fast losing any semblance to its or
iginal beauty.
More recent are the thousands of petit
tions concerning tariff legislation; and
again odd forms were employed to bring
the petitions to the attention of Congress.
The collar makers Of Troy, N. Y. for in
stance, submitted a great book. shaped
like a coffin, containing their views on
the tariff. Then there is the great petition
sent in by a New York newspaper and
bound In two volumes, containing the
names Of subscribers to the $4,000 fund
to provide the Bartholdi statue In New
York harbor with a pedestal In a corri-
dor near the present resting place of the
petition, there is also "A model of the pc
destal and statue.
Previous to the war with Spain, Con
gress was deluged with petitions urging
Intervention In Cuba. one day a certain
New York representative made a charac-
teristic speech in the House. and called
the attention of his colleagues to a mon
ster petition purporting to contain near
ly 100000 names that he presented as the
sentiment of the country favoring inter
vention. The petition was mounted In a
great reel and was resplendent with Amer
lean and Cuban flags. For several days It
stood in an adjacent room and was view
ed by thousands. Finally some inquisitive
clerks took upon themselves the task OF
counting the names. When the petition
was unrolled the entire center was found
to be blank Instead OF millions of
names the petition contained, by actual
count, but 11.000 and the most of these
were evidently written by half a dozen
persons.
Nothing in the past has ever approached
the flood of petitions sent in against the
seating of Roberts of Utah. Seven tons