The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1905-06-24

/ Legislature a Cheap Lots-Pay-
| ments Made for Putting Through
/ q Street Railway Measure - How
/ the Organization Politicians Melted
| Small Forum s-te Farm" Given for
One Vote-How Briber Got Even
with Troublesome Boodler - A
Briber Bitten-Honest Legislator
Bought Without Knowing It =
How CRATER Beat Railroad Com
/ pany.
BY AN EN-sPEAKER OF THE LEGIs-
LATURE OF ONE OF THE LARG-
/ EST STATES IN THE UNION.
Copyright. 1866. by Joseph B. BowIes.)
Much has been said and written
about the big prices paid for votes
in state legislatures. The popular con-
ception of boodlng assemblyman is
a poor man who serves in one or two
sessions and ever after is able to be
on speaking. terms with multi-mil-
lionaires. I don't like to puncture toy
| balloons, but the contrary facts are
that the average run of boodlers in a
state legislature are a cheap lot.
Before became speaker a certain
/ street railway company wanted some
special legislation enacted so that it
would be able to maintain its monop-
| oily in the metropolis of my state. The
company sent its skilled lobbyists to
the capitol and the tip went around
that easy money and plenty of it was
to be had for the asking. The bill
came out Of committee; it went from
one step to another and finally passed,
Its every move was followed by a con-
yulsion Of public sentiment in the
city. The newspapers attacked the
bill bitterly and every member of the
legislature who in any way contrib
uted to the advance of the measure
was called a boodlg-.
Rumors that extravagant sums were
| offered and paid for votes; that small
fortunes and big ones were being dis
| tributed among the law makers were
current and these rumors soon deYel-
| oped into explicit statements that
| $4,000, $4,000 and even S25, 900 were
| paid for affirmative votes The coun-
try press contained stories to the eff
feet that some Of the rural members
had been given thousand-acre farms in
exchange for their votes and it was
commonly believed that several mil
lions Of dollars had been expended for
vote buying before the bill became a
law.
happen 10 know that a few men.
very few men, got $4,000 each, not for
their votes alone, but for their sery-
ices in handling the bill on the floor
Of the house and senate. These men
We're members of the controlling
clique: they put the bill through
One or two members, who did not get
right" for a long time, got something
over $1,000 each for their nerve in
waiting until promises to vote were
more valuable. But most of the men
who got money for their votes on this
particular measure were perfectly sat
isfed with payments Of amounts under
$500
It is true that the campaign for the
street railway bill realized a fair
sized fortune for some of those who
had much to do with giving the trac-
ton company all it wanted, but these
men We're not members Of the legisla-
ture. They belonged to a eoterie of
politicians. most of them holding Of
fees, who controlled the Organization
of the dominant party in the state
The members Of this outside clique
Melted large returns for their inf1u-
ence and eXertions from the rise in
the speculative value Of the stock of
the street railway company They
were carried" in brokers' offices by
the officers and attorneys of the trac-
ton company; not one of them put
up a cent for margins. Not one of
them got a dollar directly from the
company for his services. The rise in
the stocks Of the company, due to the
passage Of the measure, permitted the
company to pay these men out of the
pockets of the public, that is the specu-
latiVe public.
I know one member who sold his
vote for a quarter section of land. It
was agreed between the buyer and him
that as soon as the clerk had recorded
his affirmative vote he would be hand |
ed clear title deed to 100 acres. The
member read the deed carefully and |
memorized that portion which de-
scribed the location OF the property. |
Seeking a convenient opportunity he |
made inquiry of the member in whose |
district the land lay as to the charac-
ter of farms in that vicinity. The re-
ply was enthusiastically favorable and |
he voted aye right heartily.
The title deed was given him after I
the formal transfer Of a dollar as
tangible evidence Of value received"
and he impatiently waited the end of
the week, when the house adjourned |
over Sunday, to visit his new posses
sions. He found the quarter section
all right, with fine farms all around
it, but every square rod Of his land"
had over it from two to five feet Of
slack water It was the wettest real
estate in the district and would cost
q dozen times its value to reclaim it.
This was one of the farms" which
common report declared had been paid
for votes. There were four more like
it; all in the same river bottom.
The wonder is that men viii take
such large risks for such miserable re-