The Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1???-1928, 1904-10-26
TIE REPUBLICAN, RECORD IN ILL
iNoIS.

| Springfield to the extent to which il
! Is proven to have existed in Jeffer
son City Is an assertion which win not
be contradicted by anyone who has
studied legislation at both state CAPT
tails. If an issue of boodling can be
made in Missouri-and. OF course, IL
has been made-the same could be
made in Illinois and the voters of Ill
linois should cast their votes on the
right side of it.
The fact OF corruption a. Springfield
has been asserted often enough in
The Republic, in the press of Chicago
and in the independent country press
to be familiar to the people of south
ern Illinois, But in this connection an
article by Hoy King, the young ecre
tary OF the Voters league of Chicago
becomes interesting MIR King has
contributed effective service 10 a
work that more than any other one
agency, has done most in behalf of
clean politics in his state.
He says, in small Chicago maya
zine, .'The Voter" that while the ses.
Sion of 1908 was not so notorious as
previous legislatures, the members
who submitted to the organization
which ran tina. law-making body soon
found that the reins of government
had been delivered by their votes to
gang OF blackmailers who openly
and VIGOROUSLY conducted their ne
farious business in committees under
their absolute control, appointed by
the speaker whom the votes of we'll
meaning members had nominated.
He asserts that by devices familiar
to the student Of politics minority
rule prevailed in both senate and
house; combination of forty-eight
Republicans ran the house and one
of eighteen members ran the senate.
The forty-eight elected the speaker
holding the other thirty-nine Republi-
cans in. line by the party whip that
binds all party members 10 caucus &C
tion. The eighteen passed rule re
quiring a two-thirds vote 20 bring
bin from committee. scheme which
gave the combination absolute power
10 nail up in committee any bills it de.
sired to kill Conspiracy Is plain.
Holding these facts in mind. consid
er what Mr.. King says: After weeks
and weeks of fighting with an un
friendly and arbitrary speaker, bal
committees and bad floor leaders. the
honest majority was stung to action.
Almost as one man IFS members NOV
ed on the speaker, drove him and his
little band OF lawbreakers from the
house and reorganized 1t, and at once
proceeded TO undo all that the orga-
piza,ion had done, and undo II in an
orderly and parliamentary way In
other words. conditions were so bad
that an honest majority composed OF
Democrats and Republicans charged
the speaker. caused him to take to
flight In .ernor. precipitated a riot and
then organized trump" house The
acts Of the trump" house did not
stand. though the incident broke up
the gang
Now the only point is: How are
the vo.ers OF Illinois to express their
condemnation of the guilty lcgisla-
tors2 Here one other fact must be
stated: Governor Yates was In tina.
combination Its leaders were his
Then, the answer is.
Elect the Democratic state ticket
This. because that same gang ran the
Republican state convention and nom
mated Deneen after tying him down
by agreements as TO patronage and as
20 his course when governor. To vote
against the gang vote against Denesn
because Deneen openly allied himself
with the gang and has not denied the
alliance TO date.
The voters of every constituence in
Illinois should cleo. their legislators
with a view TO Whist they know as to.
their integrity. If they have reason to
think tina. any Democrat whose name
is on the ticket would enter into any
such a combination they should vo.e
against him. But on the vote for gov.
ernor the duty of the free voter is
clear.-St Louis Republic