The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1906-03-04
Washington:

| WASHINGTON, March 1.--some crit-
is have been complaining tint these
| letters are moving too swiftly toward
| conclusions; others that they go too
slow. Fast or slow, they are Hets'ns
| along pretty much as / expected. Sud.
dem or Ignorant" I am going about
| this Job ns l havo gone about certain
| cities and states, laundering, perhaps,
| and cropping, but lin spite OF nil don't
know; I sometimes think because OF
my curious igiioruncn) i hive found out,
finally. what / wanted to know; to-w!t;
Who governed those cities and states.
now; for whom and Mt whose cost?
washington Is more complicated than
Chicago. The Speaker, Mr.. Cannon, told
me / ought TO stay here ten or twenty
yenrs tcforo writing n line. but am
afraid to; I'm afraid that II / remained
In this atmosphere as long rs Uncle
Joe" has ! might como to accept things
as he accepts them. all as matters of
course; like q butcher who can't see the
blood at his killings No, I'm not quite
ready to die for my country, not even
morally. And that isn't necessary. The
National Government mny be deeper to
bottom than tile State of Illinois,; there
but am not after graft. The System
is my subject--the ordinary, every day
business methods by which the Ameri-
can government Card part of the
American press) has been brought to
represent. not all men. but q few men,
and not the best few, but the worst:
those that contribute most Of tho corr
ruption OF our institutions and our life.
Not tho hidden sins of political organi-
ZatiODg. lNif ntbpr n
benevolence of the business system back
of our political corruption, that Is the
Thing which |, personally, want to un-
derstand, and that apparently, Is the
same here as in Illinois.
There nre differences. little while
before .'our'' rate bill came UP in "our"
House. word loated into the Hobbies
of the Capitol. 1t was name: "Tuttle"
You heard 1t again and again. Some
men whispered it, others spoke 1t aloud,
but 1t was "Tuttie this" and .Tutle
that" till at last / asked:
who tho duce Is this futile you all
are talking about?
'Tuttle7" came the astonished answer
Don't you know the President of tho
Boston and Maine? Why. he has taken
hold OF the railroad end of the rate
tight and the New England members
are going to lead the debate in opposi-
ton"
Now, in 'Uncle Joe's' great State
iE the good old days before the reform
ers went ''too far and "hurt business"
If 1t was reported that railroad presi-
dent was going to take hand In q
fight against "antl-railroad' Legislation,
the barkeepers would have polished up
their bars and the hotel servants would
or two the game would be on;
there would be much drunkenness; every
body would lie flashing the green:'
and drivers and newsboys would BIO
disputing over the price OF the last
legislator landed.
Nothing like this occurred here. When
Yerkcs went TO Sprin gfied. H., to fight,
he took chair and sat himself down
at the head of the great stairway In
the Capitol. futile never showed him
self. He never even came here.
And sure enough, a few days later
the Hon. Samuel w. Mccall, of Mnssa-
chusetts, rose in the House. and he
read Very finished essay along the lines
OF that old-fashioned political economy
which counted the wealth Of nations and
forgot like mlser. the character OF
men and OF peoples 1t was against our
"un-American" bill 10 regulate railroads
by governmental commission?
1t was for liberty. Liberty for whom?
For Lucius futile. Mr.. Mccall talked
as though he would rather see rail-
road kill of any number OF little ship
pers than risk check upon the liberty
OF one futile. The Hon. Charles T..
Littlefeid, OF Maine, hailed once as
reformer, followed sadly the next day
with an amendment which was to make
perfectly sure that the "dlnerenttals" in
favor OF New England were not to be
interfered with. And, after n leisurely
interval. the Hon. Henry Cabot Lodge.
tho senior Senator from the Common
wealth OF Massachusetts, stood up in
the Senate, and, to the manifest delight
(who knew that the public would think
tho Presidents friend" was speaking
for the President, Mr.. Lodge delivered
a mastery argument for rate regulation
by the courts. He would keep the inde-
pendent coal miners of West Virginia
hanging about the courts TIL they got
tired fighting and became, Hike New
patient under abuses that
would make Wisconsin. for example. as
is very high spirited. The Boston and
Maine kept out OF the Senate once eyes,
ont OF our, u. S. Sennte) Senator
whom several other railroad presi-
dents advised forGiving.
However, as was saying, this is very
different from Illinois. But It's the Sys-
tenn. Men like Mccall and Littlefeld
and Lodge don't take brides. But bribery
is not essentialato the. System. Most
people seem to think 1t is, but scandal
and drinks and poker and all the sights
and sounds OF the good old days at
Springfield, ILL.,, are but the signs OF the
beginning OF political corruption. by and
by rcformers correct those evils. BY
and by legislatures como to represent
normally tho businesses that have spent
money and years to corrupt them. Every
body hates bribery. The Presidents of
railroads themselves deplore 1t; some Of
them have told mo SO. All they want
Ia to have our representatives represent
their railroads. and take their view OF
husness legislation. And Mcssrs Lodge
and Mccall and Littlefeld took the rail-
roads View they stood on the side of
tho men who represent Bust
ness with n capital B. Why not7
Because while big business is making
some of us very rich and many OF
of us mighty mean. Big business
was the so,irce of the corruption nj