Waterbury Democrat., 1901-04-18


 respect for their constituencies, those who have no respect for their own manhood, those who surrender away their every right, those who grovel in the dust and seem to rejoice that they may so crawl, instead of stand ing erect, as God probably intended they should do.'
 That sounds like a part of . po- litical speech, but it was not. 1t was aimed at men of both political parties who were giving up their. in- dividual opinions in order that they might get at the "pie" bills, so that political thrift should follow for their own selfish purposes.
 There should be some remedy for this condition of affairs in the con gress, and the remedy lies with the people. Every man in the republic should divest himself of partisan feeling in the matter. It is useless to blame either party, as a party, for their representatives are human, and in that respect are all alike. The people should give their senators and representatives to understand that appropriations for exploiting the in- terests of favorite localities are un- constitutional; and that appropria- tions for rivers and harbors must be made on the plane of statesmanshiPs and not on the plane of the partisan or politician.
 Senator Allison, of Iowa (rep.), chairman of the senate committee on appropriations, and Senator Cock rell, of Missouri (dem.1, former chairman of the committee on appro. priations; the two men of different parties who know most about na- tional appropriations, frequently spoke with earnestness, with words of warning, and with pleading, that the expenditures might be cut down; but those honest and painstaking leaders were powerless. st
 The regular subscribers and read CTS of this paper must have noticed that the correspondent has dealt in kindly manner with public men, and they will understand that it is with "a very keen regret that these truths are told concerning them. Every man, including the politicians, de- sires to better his condition. Repre- sentatives desire to become senators, and senators desire to become presi- dents. Like merchants and mechan- ies who seek their individual better ment these public servants some times subordinate public interest to self-interest, and they are going too far in that direction.
 Although there are many politi- clans who believe that he did not fulfill the requisites Of his own deo- laration in all respects, Grover Cleve- land certainly penned an axiom which all public men ought to know and un- derstand when he said: Public office is public trust.'' The representa- tives of the people and the senators of the sovereign states ought to real- ize that fact better than they have re- gently done.
 In the house of representatives the speaker has absolute power over the appointment of chairmen and mem bers of committees; and every speak CT selects the best men for those po- sitions because 1t is to his own in- sterest, as we'll as to the public inter- est, to do so. But during the session WHICH AdS iSSSut1y cloSSo bAS SpcdhcN was powerless to prevent the univer- sal demand for appropriations of al- most every description. He could shut off special bills; but the repre- sentatives who failed to have their way in the house would go to their senators and induce them to place amendments upon house bills where by their results were to be accom- plished.
 So, you see, you cannot blame in- dividual leaders nor political parties, but the individuals themselves, who are seeking to accomplish their own ambitions. The sooner the people understand these conditions, and bring their moral suasion and infiu- ence to bear upon the men whom they choose to represent them in the federal government, the better it will be for all the people in every way; and the better it will be for our sys- tenn of government, which is not, as 1t ought to be, government "of the people, by the people and for the people," SMITH D. FRY.