The Montgomery tribune. (Montgomery City, Mo.) 1892-1910, 1902-04-04
Thirty Years Of One Party.

terests, there ought to be n change
In the government of this state.
The signs Of dcgcneracy are SO
many and so grave that they will
compel the people to act In self
defense. Every department when
weighed In the balance Is found
wanting. What Is the situation in
the succession of lcgislaturcs9
They are, as admitted by Demo-
Gratis themselves, under the direc-
ton OF a lobby that can mt its
pleasure pass n bill or kill II In the
committee rooms. Sworn Demo-
Gratis testimony has been printed
lately showing that big corpora
tions, with special fnvors to ask
for private profit, go to the chair
man of the Democratic state COM
mittce, and, by handing him n
cash campaign contribution Of
several thousand dollars. insure
that the coporations will bc per-
mittcd to shape as they please the
legislation In which they are fnan-
cially concerned. The lobby,
partly composed Of state officials,
sells the lawmaking functions at
the auction block. unlcs the va
rious democrats who testified In
the Cardwcll Investigation includ-
ing the present secretary Of state,
u former governor and several
members OF the legislature, per-
jurcd themselves. n supposition
not entertained by the public that
read the testimony.
/ Turning to state officials, they
are found to bc sclf-pcrpctuating
ring, shifting each other within
their circle from one position to
another. The present state audi
tor was the chief clerk of the form
or auditor, the latter moving into
the Democratic state committee
chairmanship and receiving also
the most lucrative oilicc the goycr-
nor fills by appointment. The
present secretary Of state was the
former chairman OF the state COM
mittcc, and is u candidate for gov
crnor. Tho attorney general is
serving q second term. The state
superintendent OF schools, who de-
votes his time to "marshaling the
teachers" for Democratic purposes,
Is IA candidate for recollection.
The governor served sixteen years
In Congress and has his eye fixed
on scnatorship, meanwhile issu-
ing stream OF Official papers that
are practically Democratic cam
paign documents. Take next the
state supreme court. which, within
n short period, has reversed itself
three times In deciding questions
of party advantage. The same
court has denied the constitutional
right to contest an election, on the
ground that the secrecy Of the bal
lot Is higher than its honesty; and
the court has been the champion
of the Ncsbit law, copied from the
Gocbel law, to relieve the Demo-
cratic party from the participation
Of all other parties in conducting
elections.
Financially, the affairs of tn,
state are 80 discrepant and tangled
that "A company of experts en-
ployed by the governor reported
that "entries in the books could
not be traced back to their origin
and in many eases the expert,
simply had to take the entry n,
bona iide without proof, and then
check IL as correct, because II
made the trial balance come GU
right" The governor admits that
the puDllshcd reports OF state au'
ditors are incomplete. and thnt NJ
details were put on the books wher
the government bonds belonging
TO the schools were sold, Demo-
cratic administrations, as the gov.
ernor also states, have used al
$40, 900, 900 to reduce a state deb
of SCI ,00O,0 600 to $1,000, 900, an av
erage expenditure OF s2.46 for ev
7 cry 81 Of debt reduction. Such |
: bare outline OF the sort of mis-
D government OF which Missouri |
r the victim. The voters of the stat
can order houseclcaning in No
vember, or have the operatio
> forced upon them later by strench
Il es so vile as to be overwhelming
and a ring despotism so brutal ths