Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1905-08-23
ElEcTING SENATORS.

The Milwaukee Sentinel complains
because 1.-The trial and conviction oil
Senator Mitchell has, az was to be ex
pected, been seized upon by advocates
of the pro pos ton to elect United States
senators by popular vote as an argu
ment IN favor of their schemes"
The Sentinel states the case this way:
Mitchell, Burton and Dietrich proved
unworthy of the trust reposed In them.
Ergo, the method of electing senators
is wrong" The Sentinel says this does
not fit in with the graft" revelations
that are now being made in all parts of
the country, and that from San Fran
CISCO to New York it has been dIscov.
cred that public officers elected by the
people also have been false to their
trust" The Sentinel says that 1t is no
surprise that among ninety men In the
| United States senate there and there
may be found one who puts pecuniary
profit above personal honor and uses
his position to advance his own for.
tunes.'
1t is, of course. deplorable that men
who have been elected to the United
States senate have laid themselves open
to the charges preferred against Mitch
ell, Burton, Dietrich and Depew. But
while these individual breaches of con.
duct are to be condemned, advocates of
the proposition to elect United States
senators by popular vote do not rely on
these instances for Their argument.
When United States senators are
chosen by great corporations, il Is not
surprising that it develops that these
men are as ready TO indulge in petty
speculation as they are to assist the
corporations, through whose influence
they were elected, to Cypress the people.
But time was when 1t would have been
regarded as very grave situation when
even four out of the ninety members of
the United States senate are arraigned
on charges affecting their personal in.
tegrity. But. as The Commoner has
said before, while the conduct of the
Burtons, the Mitchells and the Diet
richs are disgusting, they are minor Of
lenses compared with those which De.
pew and other senators are constantly
committing.
1t has been repeatedly charged and it
Is generally believed that MANY of the
members of the United States senate
serve as the Special champions of great
corporations rather than as the repre-
sentatjves Of the people. The plan of
electlng senators by the legislature has
given to the corporations, in most in
stances, the power of selection, and
they have not hesitated to use that
power. 1t is true that the people will
make mistakes in the selection of pub
lie officials, but the man who accepts a
public Office at the hands of corpora
ton having no moral right to bestow
the office, may be depended upon to lg.
more the public interests and to serve
his corporation master.
Mitchell and Burton both owed their
elections to corporation favor. Depew's
senatOrship was secured for him by his
railroad employers. When Dietrich
was elected two senators were chosen
from Nebraska, and these senatorships
were diyided between rival corporation
factions, one faction taking Mr.. Mil.
lard and the other Mr.. Dietrich. Had
the people had voice it is well under.
stood in Nebraska that neither Willard
or Dietrich would have been mentioned
for the place.
The senatorial elections of last win.
ter show the unwisdom of the present
plan. In two instances-that of La
Toilette in Wisconsin and Warner in
Missouri the corporations did not win.
But other legislatures elected to the
senate men who were confessedly under
obligations to the railroads. The most
influential man in the senate, Aldrich,
of Rhode Island, has shown himself to
be considerably more interested in up.
holding the interests of the Rockefel-
lers than In advancing the public vel.
fare.
The man who argues that the people
are likely to make mistakes in the SO.
lection of their public officials and who
objects to bringing the government
nearer and nearer to the people, must
be prepared to confess that popular
government is failure. The responsi.
bllity must be placed with the people.
Ihen'they will have the power to cor.
rect their errors, and their anxiety to
protect themselves will prompt them to
act lntelllgently and to profit by any
mistakes they may may have made
Commoner