Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1905-01-12

v AN ~ NhC pNOPAN8 ooN
of. for n by the few with wealth
to purchase official favors. 1t Is
the highest duty of every legislator, OF
ali that he can to eradicate this evil,
is the greatest enemy to free gov
eminent inc the gravest danger That con,
fronts this nation to-day. Let missouri
be distinguished as no other state Is DIS
for good government; let a
world know that in Missouri Of
fetal ono and integrity are held as sa-
cred as female virtue.
Thomas Jefferson once said: the time
to guard against corruption is before It
gets hold of us. 1t Is easier to keep the wolf
from the fold than to trust to drawing
his teeth and claws after he gets in 80.
The best way to keep corruption from
the legislative halls is by the aggressive
honesty of legislators. 1t is easy enough
to be merely honest, but the man worth
while is the man who can be honest IN
action. Legislators hould speak out ana
denounce corruption when they hnd II.
They should expose venality and In no
way conceal Information concerning II.
Let the people know who the rascals are;
publicity is a great preventive OF civic
evils. If there be found any OF a Venai
nature among your number they should
be expelled from the general assembly as
moral lepers. There SHOULD be no poi,
has no pontics; he uses party names only
to serve his own ends. l should ike TO
see everv political party put corrupt men
OUTSIDE OIL ltS RANKS olrlppeu u ny
party clothing, their capacity for harm
would he reduced to a minimum, Tor II
is by working through party ~preJudices
that they are enabled to have power.
Suggested Laws in Bribery Matters.
In order 10 aid in the investigation of
rumor of corruption, laws should pc
enacted compelling witnesses to teStlfy
tons and eXempting such witnesses from
prosecution for any matters directly or
indirectly growing out of such SUMMON
1t often happens that corruption, by rea
son of the secrecy with which it works
like the mole underground, does not come
to light Until years after, and the present
statute of limitations of three years is
too short a time to bar prosecution Tor
years instead of three. To take away
the incentive for bribery, as far as pos
sible, all franchises, rights and privileges
secured by bribery should be declared
he can not transfer any title to 1t,
the owner may recover it wherever
found. This rule should be made to Apply
to the peoples property, stolen from the
people by bribing their representatives,
and the people should be entitled to re-
claim their own. The law should re-
quire all franchises to be sold at pubic
auction, and a sufficient length OF time
allowed after the sale for anyone TO
raise the bid, to prevent collision. Ihese
laws will aid in suppressing bribery, but
all laws will be impotent to accomplish
his result unless the hearts of the people
are right, for the remedy for corruption,
in it's last analysis, is in the public con-
science.
Evils of Railroad Pass.
In investigating legislative corruption,
it has been my experience that the first
step a legislator takes toward bribery, as
u rule, is the acceptance OF a railroad
mass. The constitution of the state and
tIo etn ttIta r1Ln II a mjSHnnlpan0T Tor q
LEGISLATOR to accept a pass, and for any
one to give a legislator free transporta-
ton. With the wisdom OF this law we
have nothing to do; 1t is the Jaw. When
a legislator accepts a pass, he puts 1t IN
the knowledge Of the representative or
the railroad that he has violated the law
and is subject to indictment. This knowl-
edge can be used by the railroad repre-
sentative to club the legislator into sub
mission to corporate interests. If the
legislator hesitates, it has only to be sug-
gested that information may be, given
the prosecuting authorities regaralng tn nn
bow his head like a slave that is courged
and do his masters bidding. l nave
. found instances, in the course Of investl-
CATION, where men had zone to the legis-
Iature imbued with high and noble pur-
| poses of serving their constituents non
tstly and well; first seduced by. a rail-
| road pass, the road to. destruction was
swift and easy, and they would often
| sure that you agree that rail-
roads must not get a grip upon the legis-
lative body through the railroad pass.
The law on the subject of free passes
should be strictly enforced. 1t is my pur-
pose. and, of course, 1T is yours, to give
railroads and every other interest fair
treatment. They shall have every right
| the law gives to them, but no more: they
shall have equal and exact justice, but
no special privileges. That much they are
entitled to-; more than that they should
not receive. / a no patience with the
demagogue who attacks corporations
merely because they are corporations.
They have rights under the law which
must be preserved, but they have no
right to demand special favors.
In Lobby.
! 1t is proper that railroads and all inter-
ests, quasi-public and private, should
have the right to appear before leg1slat-
i've committees and present reasons for
or against the passage of any bill. They
likewise should be accorded the privilege
of addressing the individual legislators. in
a proper way, but the maintenance of q
professional lobby breeds corruption, and
should not be permitted. professional
lobbying should be made a crime. The
excuse for the maintenance OF a profess
sional lobby heretofore has been that 1t
was necessary for the protection of cor
porate interests from unjust legislation
and from sand-bagging measures pre-
scented by corrupt legislators. l VIII, as
far as lies in my power, see to 1t that
there is just treatment, and l believe that
il the railroads would only keep their
professional lobbyists away many of the
troubles complained of would be averted.
1t is sometimes hard to determine where
legitimate lobbying ends and professional
lobbying begins, but l apprehend little
difficulty in the line being drawn at the
proper place. No legislator should per
nit a lobbyist, or II one else, to urge
upon him, in private, reasons for OF
gains the passage of a bill that could
not be published.
Local Self-Government.
The government of the large cities Of
the state Is a subject of great impor-
lance. The police departments of St
Louis, Kansas City and st, Joseph are
controlled as an arm of the state by
boards appointed by the governor. This
mas been the system in our state fol
more than forty years, and changes thai
are made should only be after due CON
sideration and close study of this Sc
ures intended for the benefit of some ,po
litical party may lead to serious public
injury. These questions should be APP
preached with a due appreciation O
that would result from n new law:
on the subject. I believe the people cal
be trusted to govern themselves, ant
that if these cities are given the priv
lege of selecting their own officials thu
people there will give more attention t.
their political affairs. If it be wrong tt
give local self-government in the seleC
ton of local officials to any part of tn
state, then it would seem that the entit'
theory Of our government is wrong. I
the people Of these cities do not tak
enough interest in public affairs to secut'
good government for themselves, the.
ought not to expect to get It from th
outside. 1t is insisted that the crimina
classes c~ongregate in the larger cities
and If the police departments, for. in
stance, are subject to local control, thes
criminal classes would have an undue In
iiuence over the members Of the depart
ments. unfortunately, 1t Is true that n
criminal and corrupt, though constitutirl
but a small proportion of the entire ror
ulation of the great cities, have a pow
erful influence in politics, by reason y
their pernicious activity. They nave tn
influence, however, because of the mac
tivity of good citizens, Local ~self-goverr
ment would compel, the latter, In sell
protection, to attend to the public bus
ness, which is their own business, afte
all.