The Madison daily leader. [volume] (Madison, S.D.) 1890-current, 1905-02-10

hu0uS lSldIlu mas SUCH u SCueluc. 1ue
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
cumstances which some leading citi
zens'' in other states think would cor
rect their evils.
Leading citizens" have made Rhode
Island what it is. They always have
ruled there. I have called the state
an oligarchy 1t used to be an aris
tocracy. "Freeholders" and their eld
est sons alone participated In the
colonial government under the charter
of Charles H., and after the Revolu
tion, when all the other states adopted
constitutions, Rhode Island went or
under it's royal charter Of 1868 and ar
"unwritten constitution" till 1912.
cannot stop to describe this "landed
aristocracy" in an American state. II
is sufficient that 1t closed with the
Dorr rebellion. The abuses were 80 in
tolerable that the people, the patient
American people who have submitted
to Croker Quay, Cox and other des
pots, rose in open revolt.
The next experiment was a "com
mercial arlstocracy." The constitution
of 1912 extended" the suffrage from
holders of real to those also possess
ed of personal property-if they Were
native born. The foreign vote" was
restricted, as before, to real estate
holders till 1888, when personal prop
erty qualified foreign born as well as
a native voter. The "mob," which
owned nothing and paid no taxes, was
allowed to vote, but only upon regis
tering four months before election and
then not upon any proposition to Inn
pose tax or the expenditure of mon
ey." These registered voters, for ex'
ample, cannot vote for members of city
councils.
The most effective restriction of the
suffrage, however, was established in
the constitutional scheme of dispropor-
tionate representation. The governor,
elected by a majority (now by plu-
rarny) of the voters of all classes, was
made a ''pure executive" he has no
veto. All legislative powers were lodg-
ed in the general assembly Of two
houses. The lower branch, the house
Of representatives, is limited to seven
ty-two members, no matter what the
population may be, and, while each
town shall have at least one repre-
sentative, no city may have more than
one-sixth of the membership. This Is
undemocratic enough, but the senate,
says the constitution, shall consist Of
one senator from each town and city
In the state.'
Here is the cruX of the situation. A
town in Rhode Island Is what Is known
to most of us as a township. There
are thirty-eight towns and cities" in
the state. Their population in 1900
was 42S,551. OF this total 36,02T lived
I'm twenty towns. Thus less than one
eleventh of the people of the state elect
more than five-tenths-a majority-of
the senate. Providence, with 29,03O
qualified voters, has one senator; Little
Compton elected one one year by a
unanimous vote of rs. There are four
teen such towns" with less than 500
qualified voters; there are twenty with
less than 1000 each. Thus was the
sovereignty of the state put into the
hands of the good old American stock
out in the country"
What happened? The "best people"
continued to rule. The "best people
of the period after the new constitu-
ton We're manufacturers, but their fine
old houses stand today as witnesses
not only to their wealth, but also to a
refined taste. There can be no doubt
that they came as near forming a real
aristocracy as commercialism can pro-
duce. They certainly were just the
kind of men that many theorists say
should have control of government.
Well, they got control of Rhode Is
land. How? With money. Aristocrats
though they were, they were business
men first, and they went after the key
to control In businesslike way. They
bought up the towns. The 'best peo-
pie" sent offers of bribes to the good
people of the countryside, and the good
people took the bribes and let the best
people run the government. 1t was a
commercial aristocracy that corrupted
the American stock in Rhode Island
and laid the foundation of the present
financial and political system Of cor
ruption in the state.