Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1905-02-10

Of n state and Laid the Foundation
Of it, Present Financial aad Po-
IitirnI sJ.tsm-
Aren't Tue people ta--.~s.re- dis
l1ue>r:" ASKS Lincoln St-I-as ~ al
a--.,.. 10 McCiure's Magazine fY- Feb
rr.Iy .4t.t.el "I,H - i-..l.'i---, state
E.- sale" The ~grllters' Wa bat
t,.. ra u- SAY - Politicians have eX-
,..-rI t-e.E own corruption - .A- time
aI.. a-a.n hy declaring t.sTr we're III
-l-r." aih promoters and Wind ers
alike de-cri . their victims a. smart
fs.s who think u h--.t I- - oL- own
game Without going int tic cTa.c's
sweeping SUMMARY that IMAM 1iwsys
va- .ud always will be cp-r'rf." it j.
hut fair while We are fJIIVTZ Tie
t.au o.. the grafters 70 CONSIDER u.eir
pl-a that the corrupt p0l.t.ca. system
LEY a-. upbui.d.u. = founded on tie
dishonesty Jf the American people. i
il:
Il s. .u Rhode Island. The system
~ i.odr Island which has produced
tie man WHO j. al tie head oi tie 20
Ui.caI system Of the United State =
gryuuGe-! On tie lowest layer ~ rpg-Tp-
ton HAT / have found thus flr-the
bribery u voters with cash z th- polls.
other states know the practice. In
Wisconsin, Missouri, Illinois and Penn
syIyau.a workers" are paid 10 get
ont tho vote" but this is only pre.im-
mary. tie direct and decisive purchase
Of up.-.r comes later in conventions
and .,-4slstures In these states tie
cUrrUptiouists buy the peoples repre-
srntatives. In Rhode Island they uuy
the people Themselves.
The conditions are peculiar. ~ the
Rhode Islanders say. their state j.
peculiar In many ways PM il =
American. The smallest Of tie states.
It Is one Of the biggest in our history.
Poor in soil it is rich in waterways,
and tle Rhode Islanders. turning carly
from agriculture to manufacture. made
gods which they sent forth from their
magnificent harbor to all the world in
ships that brought home cargoeS Of
wealth One 81 the New England
group u colonies Rhode Island was
founded rs a refuge from the Puritan
intolerance Of Massachusetts. one o!
the original thirteen states" it was
the first May l. 1916 to declare its in
dependence Of Great Britain and the
last fSlay %. 1880 to give allegiance to
the United States So the American
spirit u commercial enterprise and 20
litical independence has burned high in
Rhode Island There is nothing re.
cHIiar about that. and there Is nothing
peculiar about the general result Of the
corruption Of the state.
Rhode Island is an Olicarchy. But 50
were Wisconsin and Illinois and Mis-
souri,, and 80 are New York. Fennsyl-
vauia and New Jersey The oI igarrily
is the typical form Of the actual gov
eminent Of our states There Is one
popularity about the Rhode Island oil
garchy, however. 1t is constitutional
The Oligarchies Of other states were
grated upon constitutional den1cra-
cie4 Rhode Island never was 4 dem
ocracy. and in that popularity lies the
peculiar significance Of this state TO the
rest Of Us.
Rhode Island has a restricted suf-
fragc Many O good American thinks
that If we could keep the ignorant
foreigner from voting" and otherwise
limit the suffrage to persons Of prop.
crty who would have a direct personal
financial interest in government we
then should have good government.
Should we: Rhode Island can answer
that question. Again, many thinkers
have thought that it was the wicked
cities with their mixed populations
which have degraded and disgraced US
and that if we could but devise some
scheme of representation by which the
balance Of power could be given into
the honest hands Of the good old Amer.
lean stock out upon the healthy coun,
trrSde we then should he saved
Rhode Island has such q scheme Tie
Significance to the rest Of US Of the
story Of Rhode Island lies in the fact
that its essentially typical condition
was reached under extraordinary cir
cunstanres which some leading citi
rect their evils.
"Leading citzenI' have made Rhode
Island what ii Is. They always have
ruled there. I have called the state
an Oligarcly. 1t used to be an arts
tOcracy. "Freehoders" and their cid
est sons alone participated in tht
colonial government under the charter
Of Charles H., and after the RevOlu
ton, when all the other states adopted
constitutions, Rhode Island went or
under its royal charter Of 1863 and an
"unwrtten constitution till 1912.
cannot stop to describe this LANDED
ariStocracy' in an American state II
Is sufficient that it closed with the
Dor rebellion. The abuses were so in.
tolerable that the people, the patient
American people who have submitted
20 Croker, Quay COY and other des-
pots, rose In open revolt
The next experiment was a com.
merciaI aristo'racy." The constitution
Of 1912 extended" the suffrage from
holders Of real to those also possess.
ri Of personal property-if they were
native born. The foreign vote" was
restricted, as before to real estate
holders till 1883, when personal prop
erty qualified q foreign born as well as
native voter. The mob which
owned nothing and paid no taxes. VS.,
allowed to vote, but only upon regis
tering four months before election anf
then not upon any proposition to i'm
nnSn Il faN Or the nXnnnditnrn nf man