The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-07-03
NOT ILLOGICAL OR IMpRuDENT.

NOT ILLOGICAL OK 1MPHUOENT.
 Commenting upon this papers views as to the unwisdom of the proposition to elect Railroad Commissioners by the people. The Norfolk virginian- Pilot says:
 It seems to us that The Advertisers sume the Railroad Commissioners will either be chosen by the General Assembly. appointed by the Governor or elected by the people; If they are sppoin,ted by the the be greatly simplified. They will only have to control the nomination for Governor.
 If, on the other hand, they are chosen by the General Assembly; is 1t not req
 railroad lobby will do business with that body? Does The Advertiser main- tain that 1t is easier to corrupt the whole people than to corrupt the General As. the latter is less7
 If the history of popular government in this country has taught anything, IL
 is that the people alone are to De sT srus.ea ssSs tried election by the Legislature or ap- pointment by the Governor. have been compelled to make Railroad Commis- sioners elective by the people as the oniy means of securing fit men.
 We think our contemporary has not thought about this matter with due consideration. It has not taken all sides of the problem into consideration. We don't think our position is illogical or imprudent.
 The Advertiser does not maintain that it is easier to corrupt the whole people than to corrupt the Gener Il As- sembly. or a Governor, if the undertak- ing is looked at simply from stand point of magnitude as our contempo- rary implies. But from the standpoint of difficulties and expediency. we are not prepared to admit that the task would be easier or more desirable. Candidates for Governor, men who can be and will be nominated by the peo- pie. are usually the highest type of men. They are much above the aver age either in ability or character, or in both qualities. It would be vastly more difficult in most cases, take the whole country over, to corrupt '3ov- ernor than to corrupt a sufficient num- Der of voters in such a number of critical counties as to make up a ma jority in those counties and in .he State. The latter scheme has been worked in Alabama, on a greater or less scale. in more than one instance in the last few years.
 Nor would we maintain that 1t would be more difficult to corrupt the General Assembly than the whole people. We have seen too much management and hoodwinking of Assemblies for that. But in this case, both the Governor and Assembly would have to be fixed" for the Governor appoints while the upper House of the Assembly confirms. It would be very difficult to corrupt the average Governor, who has either high character or great ambition. and also a majority of the State Sem ate at the same time for the sarne pur- pose.
 Our contemporary asks if the moral turpitude would be less in the matter of corrupting the officials than in the case of the people. Certainly not. But the immoral effect would b, great CT and much more unfortunate. If the people are corrupted, the stream is polluted at the fountain. If their rep resentatives are corrupted. only a tiny portion of the stream is affected. If the people are corrupted. there is lit- tie chance for reform. If their repre- sentatives are polluted. they can be be and will be cast aside, disgraced and incapable of further evil influence.
 There is nothing more dangerous than the introduction of corrarting methods among the mass of vor ITS. 7 It Is a gangrene which deepens and spreads, resulting in decay and death. That is the trouble with many of the Northern States today. There is htt'e fraud at the ballot-box. but a vast deal of corruption of the voters before tl.ey reach the box. It is most dangerous and unwise to take any step that in vites corruption of the individual voter It leads to almost hopeless condi- tions.
 The Advertiser still maintains its po- sition-, It does not want to see the railroads driven or tempted to go to the ballot-box. Better by far the cor ruption of officials and Assemblies than of the people themselves. the source of all power, the hope of all betterment, the moulders of the opinion that ccn- trols officials and legislatures