The Plymouth tribune. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1901-1911, 1901-11-28

laws for the state is composed mainly
of small lawyers, well-to-do-farmers,
ambitious editors, popular tradesme1
and few physicians, insurance agents
and union labor men. In the main
they are shrewd, quiet and honest:
but their shrewdness is limited &c
their usually narrow experience, Their
quiet habits are disturbed by the new
opportunities of their unaccustomed
life in the city, and their honesty is
even to themselves an unknown guam
tity when tested by undreamed-o
temptations.
They are usually narrow-minded
and slow to receive new ideas, but
when an idea is once firmly grasped
they adhere to it tenaciously. often
without understanding it. If they
are not native Americans, as they
almost invariably are, they are fully
Americanized in their ways and
habits of thought. There are always
a few tirSt-claSS men among them ard
the intelligence and integrity of these
few command the profound respect of
the others and elevate their possessors
to positions of leadership that the de-
signing ones find difficulty in break
ing away from.
The larger cities generally furnish
the corruptionists and the smaller
towns the corruptibles, though this
situation is quite apt to be reversed,
at least in measure. The members
who are secretly employed to foster
special interests and to aid and guide
the lobbyists for those interests are
almost always city men, and city men,
also, are nearly always chosen to look
after political matters. Indeed, they
are sent to the legislature for such
purposes and being bright. entertain
ing, open-hearted good fellows. per-
fectiy at home in the city and able to
call the leading men in the state by
their first names, they naturally i'm
press the lesser members and readily
secure the influence their objects re-
quire. They oppose their trickery
and Establishments to the impressive
scholarship and rugged honesty of the
educated and high-minded members,
greatly to the disgust ana often to
the confusion of the latter. The
ignorance of the bulk of the members
is more depended upon than corrup-
tion in most cases of Objectionable
legislation.
Bribery undoubtedly occurs and it
can for the most part be detected by
those who have breathed the legisla-
tive atmosphere and know the signs.
An asse nblyican in Indiana gets 1866
for the session, to which is added a
small amount of mileage. His cam
paign expenses have been ordinarily
between 5000 and s40O and his expenses
during the 81 Gays of the session will
run seldom less than four dollars a
day. Many q man has spent as much
as 81, 900 for lis election, and an equal
sum during the two months he occupies
his seat. That rare bird, the men,
Der whose salary covers his campaign
and session expenses, or even the latter
alone. and leaves him balance saved,
is not regarded as mich of man and
will make no friends.
Under such circumstances it is very
easy with some men, those who can i'll
afford to give their money and their
time too for a mere fleeting honor, to
compound with their conscienceS and
accept little honorarium for vote or
a word where they cannot see that
any one will be hurt by it and where
they fondly imagine that no one out
side will ever know the circumstance.
In lieu of money it may be an over
coat, or hat, or the promise of an
appointment, or an annual pass. or a
nights spree-some men are exceed
ingly cheap-but when the man has
accepted the price aud delivered the
goods he is marked with V on every
lobbyists list and the rapidity of his
descent is only measured by the fire.
quency with which his vote MAJ be
needed. The letter V stands for
venal and X, the sign of the cross,
stands for exalted, unapproachable.
The lobbyists exchange this informa-
tion among themselves for their
mutual benefit and also tell few
just as a matter of idle curios-
Ity. 81
Tie secret almost invariably escapes
and gets back to the bribed one IS
home, and his subsequent conduct,
such as dressing for time little
better than usual, or living a little
higher, or ma.lng an unaccustomed
in reJ estate, confirms the
rumor An amateur thief will
always give himself away by soon
spending the money he steals. So,