Mexico weekly ledger., 1904-01-21


ruption made against the WHO'LL n
cratic party by foes within and sno EMO
without. 'aus
Recognizing the fact that thi.
posture and punishment of corrns IL
appeals 70 tho public sense Of morpy4oa
Republican papers, fearing 10 n.y..
those Democratic officials lmmadI.s
engaged in the work, haze sonsS.
~counteract the beneficial political 90.
OF this performance Of their nnsS
duties by applauding the clrcui, =
torney for his work, and charging
he stands alone in 1t. disereditin, s ~
rest of the party and eulogizing NV
alone. "
That the circuit attorney should h.
permitted this to be done to the MAJ
fest discredit Of the party to whom :.
owes everything, and that he has my
mitted himself to be made the will
tool Of designing Republican no1s
~ticians. is a matter OF deep regra, ,
those Democrats who gave him wb,,
ever opportunity he has for polI,,a',
advancement. And he has now fan
SO completely into the clutches of tbs.'
Republican manipulators that he +.
up to the present time made evs''
charge against the Democratic ns,t'
repeated by the Republican press in n,
last two campaigns. excepting the on.
single absurdity Of The footing of N.
school fund.-
THE LOBBY.
Much Of the corruption in Legislative.
bodies is due to an INSCRIPTIONS lobhv
which uses money IL bribing membar
either to support or oppose some IegIs
lative measure. Equally corrupt an
more d~espicable. however, is the sand
Dagger, who introduces a bill affactinl
a great interest, not with the expact,]
ton of passing the same, but for nj
purpose OF forcing these persons wh,sa1
property would be destroyed by II nj
come to Jefferson City, and there nj
intimidates them with the threar n,
passing the bill, and by this means
forces the corrupt expenditure of
money.
am personally convinced that of all
corruptionists, the ~sandbagglng mem.
Der is The worst. Corrupt and as mn
scrupulous as a ~highwayman, he placed
not a revolver hut a legislative bin tol
the head OF his victim and demands
money.
While | believe a corrupt lobby isl
dangerous, ] am on the other hand ah-l
solutely assured that It is not onlvl
proper, but that II is best for the Sta,al
that those citizens desiring the pagsage|
Of a bill should appear at the legisla.
ture in behalf Of its passage, or shopldl
with-equal propriety, and with equal
benefit TO the State, appear in opDo-l
sition 20 a measure which in theirI
judgment would be bad. In each SEX
sion of the legislature bills are intro
duced affecting almost every known
occupation and business, affecting in
diyidual rights, city rights and ~countjl
rights. Unless those to be affected
appear and properly explain their ap.|
probation or their opposition to th,|
measure, ignorance may do irreparaule
injury.
Instead of remaining away from a.
State capital when legislation is under
consideration, citizens who will bo'
affected by it ought TO go there aud bel
heard. Two classes. however, should.
be absolutely driven from the capital
One, the man who tempts a member
Of the legislature with money; Tho
other, the sandbagging legislator who
tempts the citizen with the fear of tina
destruction of his property. Eliminate.
ing these two classes, there is no dan
ger from the rest. The s~andbaggcr
usually pretends to introduce his MAS.
ure for "the benefit of the dear people
Take the sandbagger out Of the legiS.l
lature and fifty per cent of the corrup.
ton will stop. Impeachment of rep-I
sentatives engaging in this kind Of
work would have a most s%alutary
effect.
ONLY ONE REMEDY.
Corruption is the most dangerous
poison with which 10 destroy govern.
ment, Those found guilty of conspir.
ing against the State should, after duo
process Of law aud fair trial, be sem to|
prison and kept there both as a pun.
ishment for their wrcngdoings and al
a warning to those persons who would
engage in like crimes.
There is but one permanent remedy
for corruption. It Is as old as he
history OF man, has never been tried
without success, has never failed in
effecting a cure, and Is the only remedy
! have to offer. and that is tho
OF honest mon to office. Plati-
tudes and quotations. examples aud IL
Illustrations, may please the multitude,
but after all is said the one remedy
will be the election of honest men 10
Office.
| do not think that there lives in
the whole State OF Missouri a man vino
believes that any public official who
has proved untrue during the recent in
vestigations will be returned to official
life. If the Democratic party does not
return 10 Office those officials whom It
has discovered to be corrupt, wherein
can be raised the issue of bribery
There is more than one honest Demo-
crat in Missouri. There are hundreds
Of thousands from whom to select men