Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1903-01-21
Cost Of pleasant Relatians.

Cost of Pleasant Relations.
For may years with each recurring legis-
latiye session it has been the comforting as
suranee conveyed TO the people Of this
commonwealth that the relations existing
between the people and the railroads were
pleasant and harmonious 1t woulu
Indeed have been eaus- for eongratulation
had ii been fact that hose relations were
grounded upon conditions that we're Just y
the people aud the railroads alike. But II
the people Of Wisconsin are to pay million
dollars of railroad taxes annually In order
10 maintain pleasant relations with these
companies. and If they are also to pay
many millions Of dollars year In tfanspof-
tation charges more than other states pay
for ike service for the continuation Of har'
manious conditions agreeabls to the rail-
ways then Ii Is high time that the people
of Wisconsin see to 1t that instead OF
pheasant" and Harmonious relations Of
that character. there should be established
sound business relations based upon bust
ness principles Of exact Justice to public.
service corporations and the citizen as we'll
We know from the experience In Other
states, We nave learned he lesson IN way
to remember here IN Wisconsin, that THESE
measures cannot be secured without en-
eountering the most vigorous opposltof
from the railroad interests Ii may b,
quite as well for us TO be admonished al
this time that opposition to the establish
ment OF q commission TO regulate trans
portation rates will not be limited TO the
corporation and their lobby agents before
the Legislature. They VIII De attic I, sum
mon TO their support every shipper In Wis
consin who Is, or who thinks he Is, at this
time receiving some special favor or con
cession from the railroads, or who has. OF
thinks he has, assurance which will give
him exceptional rates and advantages oven
his rivals and competitors in business fol
the future. The shippers will be able
through organized effort TO make their In
fiuenee felt as a commanding one, but II &
well for us to 1 lhefnbpr that we stand here
representing the interests~>of an the PEG
pie of Wisconsin. the thousands Of mrr-
chants and manufacturers who are not re
cetying special rates and concessions, and
the hundreds of thousands of producers
and small shippers who are being grossly
wronged In the millions Of dollars exaeted
from them In excessive and exorbitant
transportation charges year after year.
They are entitled to an equal chance with
the merchants and manufacturers and
farmers of adjoining states. ! submit that
II Is our duty 10 secure this for them and
10 secure 1t now
Nominations by Direct Vote.
Every established practice and custom
which tends o impair in any degree the
citizens right Of suffrage subyerts the prin-
ciples of representative government and
undermines the foundations OF democracy.
Scarcely Il score of years has passed since
the sacredness of the ballot was made a
prominent issue In national campaigns, and,
doubtless as a Jesuit, there followed much
of the legislation which effectively guards
the casting and counting of the ballot IN
the general elections.
1t is plain proposition that the right OF
suffIage is much broader and more com
prebenslve than the mere physical act OF
casting the ballot without interference, ard
having ii returned, as cast, without fraud.
All of the guarantees of the constitution,
all OF the acts of legislation, ale designed
to secure and record the VIII of the citizen;
10 make ii certain that untrammeled ana
uninterrupted, the influence of his iudg
ment may be felt In matters pertaining to
government. If this be the real substance
Of 81 sfsFlaf of ar1ff fhnT Hng yfpl
an equally sacred obligation on the part
of the law-making power TO so safeguai d
every step aud proceeding which constitutes
any element of the rights of suffrage that
the citizen shall be protected with respect
to It.
When the voter enters the election booth
to exercise that tight he finds prepared
for him an official ballot upon which is
the offices to be flied at that election.
This is the first point at which the citizen
comes in contact with the perfect system
of laws governing general elections. From
the moment he enters the booth until the
ballot which he casts therein is counted
and returned, he can find no cause for
complaint.
But there are important proceedings, vi
tally essential to the tight of suffrage,
which are foundational, not only to man
hood suffrage, but to the whole structure
Of government Itself What transpires back
of the moment when the voter receives his
official ballot must be as strongly fortified
and as sacredly guarded as that which fol-
lows in the consummatlon OF this night
after he receives the official ballot. In
other words, the act of suffrage consists
not only In the voting and counting of the
ballot, but in every step and every pro
ceeding which is IN any way connected
with or involved in the preparation of that
ballot before II comes to the hand of the
voter.
If by had practice and bad laws all the
proceedings which control In the making
- ba hal lpf 10 ha fpI IA ouf of
the hands Of the voter his right of suffrage
is not only impaired, but he has been de
plived of IT, The voting VI a ticket at
the general election. in the making of which
he has had no voice. robs him of his voice
IN the election. He has simply been an
instrument In the hands Of those who pre-
pared the ballot In casting which he re-
cords not his will, but their will.
Two Separate Transactions.
The preparation of the ballot and the
placing thereon Of the names of the candi-
dates of the respective parties, is, there.
fore not a matter of secondary, but a
matter of primary Importance to the exer-
else of the right of suffrage 1t is a mat
ter of supreme Importance to the estab-
llshment Of good government and to the
protection of the basic principles of democ-
racy.
ed into two separate and distinct transac-
tons each necessary as complement TO
First. all Of the proceedings, acts and
measures necessary to insure to each citi-
zen the right TO vote directly, under the
sanction of law which shall protect him
from interference, in the selection of the
men as the candidates of his party to be
voted for at the general election.
Second, all of the proceedings well
provided for at the present time by statutes
governing the general elections.
The first step In suffrage is exercised in
the selection or nomination of the candi-
dates of each party. The second step in
candidate to office. ANY Interference with
the citizen In the exercise of his preroga-
tive in either case Is equally destructive
TO his right of suffrage.
nomination of candidates for office has IN
very large measure passed out OF me
hands Of the citizen, For many years IL
mas been popular with certain theoreucai
writer's upon the subject TO place the re
sponsibility for this entirely upon the Gu
zen himself, and to charge him WIN
defelictton OF duty and want OF interest IN
public affairs, absorption in business inter,
ests and pursuit of fortune being assigned
as primary causes of neglect of these eie-
mentary duties Of citizenship. But 1t Is
fair to say that the citizen always has
manifested the same willingness to par
ticipate In the affairs of government, to
perform his duties in the elections, to serve
In the. rank and ile of his party In the
campaigns, that he has to defend his coun-
try In the field when the sterneF duties OF
war summoned him In its defense. A
close study of the history of caueuses and
conventions win convince any unbiased
mind, In search for truth, that the voter
has been gradually eliminated as factor,
after long, pauent trial. because the dele
gate system has utterly failed 10 represent
him or TO reflect his opinion In its results.
Through the succession of generations
human nature is the same, and when De
TocquevilIe declared that the most power
full, and perhaps the only, means of In
teresting men In the welfare OF the eoun-
try is to make them partakers in the gov
ernment," be uttered truth which applies
quite as forcibly to the primary step IN
suffrage, as TO the secondary step In
suffrage-to the nomination of candidates