The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1901-12-19

1
than in the lower legislative branch.
Dignity and necorum seldom depart
from the senate but they are frequent
ly driven from the house and the
speeches heard in the upper chamber
are in general more scholarly and elo-
quent and less marred by crankery and
wild departure from the point at issue
than are the harangues delivered in
the inferior branch. The house has
radical tendency while the senate
leans toward conservatism. The real
fight on Objectionable measures is
nearly always made in the senate after
they have been easily driven through
the house, and this is true of political
measures as well as of those affecting
private and corporate or other special
interests.
This comparison is made possible by
the method of electing the members
of the general assembly. Senators,
as rule, in order TO secure nominal
ton and carry the party strength,
must be men of such character and
attachments as to be favOrably known
in other counties than their own. The
body they are to enter is popularity re-
garded as of higher rank and dignity
than the other and more is demanded
of them. Besides representing larger
constituency than members of the
house do, their terms are twice as
long, and therefore liz passing the
honors around" the stock of good men
is not exhausted rapidly. In the case
of the house membership it is far
different. a representative is selected
from one county only, speaking gen.
orally, and usually for but one session
of the legislature. his constituents not
being very exacting as to the charac-
ter of his claims for their suffrage.
Any bright young man in the domi-
nant party in county, If he or his
father is an active party worker, is en-
titled to turn as a sort of start i'm life.
If he wants it; any man who is good
fellow among the boys, or who has
done his share of the party's dirty
work, or who has shown himself able
to make catchy speech at country
pOle-raisings, or who runs country
paper, or who claims to represent
some special element of the party vote
in the community, or who has nerve
enough to ask for the place without
any special qualification whatever.
may have his turn as estate repre-
sentative. F" Frequently the nominal
ton, and sometimes e election, goes
to man by mere accident, or0as the
result of secret compact or disrepu-
table political trade, and often con-
stituency is surprised at the result of
its own apathy and negligence where
by it finds itself represented at the
capital by some man whom it is
ashamed to recognize.
The very direct bearing the state
legislature has upon the legal rights
and personal taxes of every citizen of
the state is curiously disregarded by
the voters at every election. They
are willing enough to admit as an
abstract proposition that honesty.
ability and fidelity are the desirable
attributes of legislator, but in the
conventions and elections they habitu-
ally ignore such essentials and allow
themselves to be led and controlled by
every other consideration than the
right one. Another very curious
habit of these same voters Is that they
look with contempt and suspicion up
on the legislatures they have them
selves created and they attribute all
legislative iniquities to everything
except their own neglect of their own
most Intimate interests. If it can be
said with truth that in the Indiana
general assemblies every class of
electors has at times been found,
except admitted criminals, it must
also be remembered that the voters
put the good and bad together there
by right IL the ballot.
Integrity, capacity and faithfulness
to duty can neither be voted into nor
out of a man by electing him to Office,
nor will a legislature as whole be
any better than the average of
character to be found in its members.
No law can ever be devised to protect
the people against the consequences of
their own indiscreet use of the ballot,
which has been placed in their hands
under the presumption that their
own dearest interests will be It's per-
feet guide. In SO far as this principle
fails, just so far is our American re-
public a failure, not because of faulty
legislatures but because of neglectful
voters. Reform, like charity, must be-
gin at home.
There are many ways of knowing