Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1906-01-11

Purge Our Party Politics-"Corrupt
Practices" Legislation and the Ref
erendum as II Check on the Peoples
Representatives.
Corruption of the voters at elections
Is the primary cause of nearly all the
evils in American politics. When the
root is diseased it is useless to expect
a healthy and well developed plant,
and, likewise, when the voters are cor
rupted the body polite is sure to be
distempered and unsound. If only the
most degraded voters could be corrupt
ed the bad effect would not be so disas-
trous, for such would be but q small
percentage of the whole. but %unfortu-
nately some of the we'll to do, who are
considered respectable people in their
communities, are equally venal.
There have always been perhaps
some corruption Of voters and bar
gaining with or purchase of officials,
tional election of 1896, when every
one who could be discovered that was
'open to conviction" was offered in
ducements to vote the Republican
ticket. Boys just of age and about to
cast their first vote were debaucled
ed by the corporations and banks and
the tariff fOstered trusts, the life in
surance companies and all the host Of
those who were holding some special
privilege to plumber the people. Evi-
dence has been accommodating of the
extent Of the political debauchery in
that campaign and in those that have
followed. A species Of political CRATER
has been bred that nothing but strin-
gent laws will suppress, and the evils
that have developed will take years to
eradicate.
The Democracy has. fortunately for
that party, not been tempted by money
donated by the combines and corpora
tons to buy men like sheep in the
shambles and thus has escaped polit-
ical prostitution as a party, but indi-
viduals heretofore counted as Demo
Gratis have "sat Oh the fence until they
got their price"
Public opinion in some states became
so aroused to the evils that prevailed
that corrupt practices acts have been
passed by the legislatures, but none
has gone to the root of the evil. To
compel candidates for office and their
committee to report under oath the
mount Of money they have received
and disbursed is utterly useless as a
remedy. Such publicity can easily be
evaded, for the candidates or the Off
cial committees of parties might not
expend a cent and yet there could be
gross corruption employed by others
who occupied no known political posi-
ton and who, in fact, might not even
be known by the candidates.
DR.. c. f. Taylor, editor of the Med
zeal World, in the November issue Of
that journal calls attention to the chief
feature of the English corrupt prac-
tees act which was enacted to abol-
ish similar conditions that prevailed
there in the last century. He notes
it't IN LIN lNSNulN vi liz Jaw 10
self operative. for it substantially pro-
vides:
"If the defeated side can prove that
the successful side used corrupt meth
OdS-purchaScl Il vote or cheated in
any way-thcn the victory is vitiated.
and the minority party sun of
flee"
And he further says: This causes y
contest for purity as well as for vic
tory, for victory without purity is like
ly to be turned into defeat. How much
better this is than our method of con.
tending for victory regardless OF cor
ruption. The result is that corruption
Is rife almost everywhere In our elect
oral system"
A provision such rs above in Il cor.