The labor world. [volume] (Duluth, Minn.) 1896-current, 1906-02-10
INTERESTING DAY N
OHIO STATE SENATE
How They Grind Out Legisla-
tion in Buckeye State-:To
Abolish Capital Punishment

Bigelow, pastor of the Vine Street
Congregational church again broke
away from orthodox custom and dis
cussed with his congregation the crime
OF legal murder by the state last Sun
day. He said:
The Ohio senators were debating the
question of capital punishment The
Bill under discussion proposed to sub
stitute life Imprisonment for capital
punishment where person had COM
mitted murder but once. If. however,
person convicted of one murder
should commit second. the offender
was to be punished by death.
One senator, speaking of this bill,
confessed that he was in great perplex-
ity as to how to vote, since his people
were sharply divided on the matter
He said that on the previous Sabbath,
two clergymen of his town had
preached on capital punishment one
being against and the other for It,
Now, said the senator, Il always try
to vote to please both sides. and in
this case 1 don't know how to do It,"
The senator extficated himself by
voting to abolish capital punishment
for the first offense and to retain it
for the second One preacher was in
favor of legal murder and the other
was not. The obliging senator there
fore proposed to save some lives to
please one preacher and to kill few
to please the other. >Query: Which is
the greater murderer. the man who, at
his own risk. commits a murder to
steal a purse, or the senator, who safe
ly and in the name OF law, commits
murder to win some votes?
Two Citizens for One Politician.
Having disposed of this bill, an
other was introduced which proposed
to repeal the law prescribing capital
punishment for the crime of trying to
take the lifes of high officials. But the
senate had reached the limit of it's
maenanimity. 1t decided by an even
division of votes to retain the present
law. In the opinion of the noble SEN
ators the safety Of one politician Is
worth as much as the life of two cit
izens That Is, man must murder
two citizens before he will be executed,
and he will suffer the same penalty
II he so much as tries to take the life
Of one politician.
This would seem to put upon the life
of officials a premium not altogether
in keeping with the theory that the
common citizen is the real sovereign
whose life cannot be less sacred than
his servants life. OF course 1t is pos
sible to take another view. 1t might
be argued that this law is really in
the interests Of good government, since
1t deals mercifully with the man who
makes successful attempt to kill a
politician but put him to death If he
fails In tho attempt. No one support
ed the law on precisely this ground
and the determination of politicians
did not appear" to be the purpose of the
measure. On the contrary some Of the
senators expressed their horror of sui
eide.
A day spent in the lobby of the state
legislature will be sufficient to fill the
plain citizen with disgust for a sys-
tenn which takes boys and scheme mers
out of obscurity and sends them to the
capitol where they give themselves
supercilious airs and pay as much
courtesy to a humble constituent as
their conceit and their bosses will per-
NIT.
tician and save the man and the coun-
try? Governor Folk says that the way
to do it is by the Initiative and Refer
endum. He declares that If we are to
have a government of the people by
the people, the nearer it is brought to
the people the better
~.r,>>~.~.~.~..~~~---".~~
Don't you think It idiotic in a land
where you must obey the laws never
| those laws?
Don't you know that it is merely
child's nonsense they talk to you, when
| they tell you that you ought not to have
| any class feeling in politics?
| Haven't the trusts got class feelings
in politics? Haven't they got Thom-
as F. Ryan's Corporation Lawyer Root
N secretary Of state?
| Haven't they got their man Knox
in the senate representing the Steel
Trust. after using him as attorney gen.
| eral?
! Haven't they got their man Aldrich,
! father-in-law of Rockefeller's son. in
the senate. representing the Standard
! Oil-and every other form Of rascality ?
Did you ever know law to get
through the house of congress If the
! railroads and the trusts really didn't
want it?
Workingmen, go into politics. Edu-
cate yourselves. don't be ashamed or
afraid to vote for each other.
If you have a young man of talent,
don't make 1t necessary for him to deny
you and leave you and go into some
wretched lawyers office. or make him.
self slave Of some political boss thief
| in order to get recognition.
Follow the example of the ENGLISH
labor union. Pick out you best young
man. Give him an education, give him
encouragement. He will not disappoint
you. The statement of the men in the
| Trusts that the American workman n
isn't fit for anything but q plane or a
saw or shovel Is a false statement.
| The class that gave the nation Lincoln
| might we'll give the nation a few con-
| gressmen.
Go into politics. The man, labor lead
er, or other, who. tells you to keep out