The independent., 1907-02-07

law passed that Will put the rub
ber necks" out of business. 1t takes
wise legislator to sift the chaff bills
drawn for the special benefit of some
Of us. from the wheat laws proposed
for the good Of all of us. This is made
particularly difficult because every bill
in behalf of a few has it's strenuous
supporters in the lobby, while it is
usually everybody's and therefore no.
bcdy's business but the legislators to
look after measures of the other sort.
A Minnesota legislator is given credit
for originality b. eastern papers for
Introducing bill providing sliding
scale of expenses permitted to candi-
dates at primaries or elections He pro-
poses to allow the expenditure of $100
for the first 5000 votes, a rate of two
cents q head The rate diminishes as
the voters increase in number TO one
cent a voter. This is almost exactly
the pr ovision of the Nebraska statutes
limiting the expenditures of candidates.
For five thousand voters or less, in
cluding those of all parties, the Ne
braska candidate is allowed to spend
$780, For the next twenty thousand
voters he is allowed to spend at the
rate of $1.50 a hundred, and for the
next rs, 900 at the rate of 81 hundred.
This is the limit A candidate for gov
ernor must keep his expenses both
at the primaries and at the polls with
in $3.50. This is a thing to remember
when the direct primary is objected
to on the ground of the advantage 1T
gives the wealthy candidate. These re-
strictions of expenditure will hold as
to the candidate at the direct prlmar-
les. and any violation of them dis
Qualities him for his office If elected,
and subjects him to heavy fines if not
elected
A story to explain the withdrawal of
passes by the Pennsylvania railroad
last year is too interesti1 to be over
looked, though it may not be true. 1t
is said that delegation or Phlladel-
phia reformers requisite Mr.. Cassatt
to cease oiling the local and state po-
litical machine with free passes. Mr.
Cassatt was sorry, but the machine
would eat him up if he refused to feed
it. Then the reformers got a written
opinion from four leading lawyers 10
the effect that any stockholder could
restrain the road by injunction from
giving away passes. Mr.. Cassatt sub
mitted the matter to his own lawyers,
who pronounced the opinion sound.
Thereupon the passes were withdrawn.
The question mark in the story rests
in the right of the stockholders to in
terfere. If it lay in the theory that
to give away transportation was TO
waste the substance of the Stockhoid-
ers, Ii is hard to see how the claim
could be made to stick. 1t has long
been known that the transportation
given away by railroads brings the
highest profit of any form OF railroad
business. The vigor with which they
fight for the right to give free passes
witnesses to that
Early this week there went into eft.
feet in New Jersey a mo seat, no rare
street car ordinance. The effect Of this
radical method of inducing traction
companies to perform the services for
which they are chartered will be oh
served with emotion by the strap
hangers of a hundred towns though
few, perhaps, can hope to live to sec
the end of the matter. The first effect
will be, of course, crop OF lnJunctlons.
The law has already been attacked by
legal process, and barring miracles we
may as well dismiss the matter from
mind for a year or two or five until
the law which went into effect this
week has run the judicial gauntlet and
is ready to be enforced. Then must be
expected an effort to make the law
unpopular by refusal of the transpor-
tation companies to admit more peo-
pie to the cars than can find seats,
leaving that larger number who erst-
while patronizcd the straps to wait for
another car which If the street car
company knows it's rights, will not be
over prompt in appearing. There may
be expected to arise then clamorous
demand for abolishing the law. This
will come from people who forget the
other remedy of more cars. and they
will get their key from some other neo-
pie who like to have them forget
Meanwhile the widows and orphans
who own the stock will have been do
Ing yeoman service for the company
and the original hackers of the law
will If possible have been driven out
OF public life by wave OF moral"
reform of the varieties so handily
aroused in an emergency by the en-
dangered interests. Jersey City will at