The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-03-18
HOW TO REFORM CONGRESS
WHAT THE MATTER IS AND WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT
The Kind of Corruption That Makes the Senate and the House of Repre- sentatves Honestly Mreprsen the Couhe Useessness Qamorng at It-Nationa Reform Must Begin at Home
 in Cities, Counties and States

and employing thousands of men" For
 seventeen years those Senators have
 held off on that bill, and when, thss
 session, public elamor" got aftsr them. and they had to do something. they heinmed and hawed, discussed the constitution and fixed the bill to pro tect this ..indust-y' and that: and then, when they had done ali that they dared to 1t, they passed that bill against frauds In foods and drink, with much the same feeling that Gladstone ex- pressed when he disestablished the English Church in Ireland.
 Meanwhile. q ship subsidy bill-a bill to make you and me put up the differ- ence between loss and profit in an un-
 profitable business, that bill sailed like Q ship under full sail on it's annual cruise across the waters of the Senate, where scowling seas and contrary winds await the rate regulation bill asked Senator to introduce A bill to subsidize all writers who exposed" the Senate, but he laughed. That was ridiculous But the '.exposure" is more worthy of support out of the United States Treasury than that of the Stand ard oil Company which has to run it's own tank ships anyhow and shouldn't have to be paid for floating the Amer ican flag"
 What the Senate. what Washington needs, Is a preacher of ordinary ethics not an exposer of morals. The spirit of the place reminds one of the life in- surance officers who really seem not to have known that they were doing any thing wrong Washington Isn't as bad as New York; politics isn't as corrupt as big business. Business men are im- proved by little public service here. remember that Paul Morton, formerly of the Santa Fe Railroad. when he was called out of the Cabinet to the Presl- dency of the. Equitable Life Assurance Society, asked me if I didn't think that bribery was bad and should be stopped. He apparently had got some light here. And the Union League Club of New York was, startled when Elihu Root, having given up the Secretaryship of War, to return te the practice of the law, announced in a set speech that business men should stop giving bribes; that they should learn that there were ether, better ways to get what they want
 So the spirit of Washington. and of high politics. is capable of raising the tone of New York and high finance. Nevertheless, somebody ought to come here and teach the Senate what corrup- ton Is, ann that bribery isn't the only form thereof. Let me try to show one point.
 Suppose should find that q certain Senator, say, Alger of Michican, was opposed to the Statehood bill, and hear- ing as a reason, that he owned certain property down there which paid prac- ticaliy nc taxes, suppose I should run down that clue and discover and prove with an exhibit of documentary evil denee that the suspicion was correct That would be sensational, wouldn't 1t? It ought to be. for it Is corruption; it is personal consideration influencing the vote of a Senator. We'll, it's true. don't have to go down there to prove it. Senator sllger won't deny it. He said 1t him4 4{If in open debate on the floor of the s.senate, with all the world listening He interrupted Senator Bev- eridge, who was advocating the bill. to .nterject this most statesmanlike argu- ment:
 q made some investments there that will sell in a minute if this goes through
 'oh!'' said Sepa tor Beveridge, After that there is nothing more to be said'
 It is charged. and generally believed, that Senator Thomas c. Platt. the Pres dent of an express company, represents that business in the Senate. Now, if President Platt should pay to Senator Platt & bribe to beat bill against the express business, he would know he would be corrupting that Senator and committing a crime. But when the President-Senator himself, without any unnecessary bribery. opposes bill be- cause 1t affects the express business, he is as innocent of wrong doing as Senator Alger or the late John A. Mo Call. That sort of corruption he has confessed.
 Charles W. Post. business man. de- vised at his leisure once a cheap, easy post card for the transmission through the mails of small money orders. He offered It to Congress, and the House Committee liked It's ingenious simplic- ity. MT. Posts bill started off we'll But 1t stopped. It was stuck. and 1t wouldn't come out Why? ''Platt," they told him. The express com panies wanted to keep that Susiness" Mir. Post sent two young men to Sena- tor Platt, one to ask questions, the other to be witness to the Senator's answers. The two young men tell n an affidavit how they called on the Senator handed him a copy of the bill