Mexico Missouri message. (Mexico, Audrain County, Mo.) 1899-1918, 1908-08-13


tributionH from the beneficiahes Of pro-
lection. a. % make that party powerless
10 bring TO the country any material re-
lief from the present tarin burdens
Why No Railroad Leplslatlonf
For ten years the Interstate Commerce
Commission has been asking for an en-
largcment Of It's powers, that u might
prevent rebates and determinations, but
Republican senate and a Republican
house OF representatives were unmoved
by It's entreatieE. In 1870 the Republican
national convention was urged to lndorse
the demand for railway legislation, but
lie platform was silent on the subject.
Even In 1901. the convention gave no
pledge TO remedy these abuses. When
the president finally asked for legislation.
no drew his inspiration from three Demo-
cratic national platforms and he received
more cordial support from the Democrats
than from the Republicans. The Rcpubli-
cans In the senate deliberately defeated
several amendments offered by Senator
IaFolette and supported by the Demo-
rnts-amendments embodytng legislation
asked by the Interstate Commerce COM
mission. one Of these amendments au.
thoriycd the ascertainment OF the val
ne OF railroads. This amendment was not
only defeated by the senate. but u was
overwhelmingly rejected by the recent
Republican national convention and the
Republican candidate has sought to res
cue his party from the disastrous results
Of this act by expressing himself, In
qualined way, In favor Of ascsrtalning
the value % the railroads.
Mr. TAFT complains OF tho over-issue
Of stocks and bonds Of railroads, FOR
the unlawful cnriching Of directors and
for the purpose ~ concentrating the
control ~ the railroads undSr one man
ngcment" and the complaint IL well
founded hut. with a president TO point
out the evil. and a Republican congress
to correct H. We ind nothing done for
the protection Of the public Why? Ny
honorable opponent has. by his uonfes'
sion relieved me OF the necessity Of FUR
nishlng proof: he admits the condition and
he can not avoid the logical conclusion
that must he drawn from the admission.
Publicity az TO Campaign contribu.
tlons.
An effort has been made TO secure leEis-
latiou requiring publicity rs to campaign
contributions and expenditures. but the
Republican leaders. even In the fac" OF
an indignant public. refused to consent
To- a law which would compel honesty In
elections when the matter was brought
~ in the recent Republican national
convention. the plank was repudiated BY
a vote of 80 20 o. Here. too. Mr. Tat
has been driven to apologize for his con-
yeuti0H and to declare himself In favor
q
read what he says upon this subject. you
will ind that mis- promise falls far short
~ the requirements OF the situation. lie
says:
~ am elected president. ! shall urge
upon congress. with every hope of sue
cess. that a law be passed requiring tho
hling. In a federal ONCE. of n statement
90 the contributions received by conf
mlttecs and candidates In elections for
members OF congress. and In such other
elections as are constituuonaly within
the control OF congress"
How can the people hope to rule. II they
are not able TO learn until after the cleo
ton what the predatory interests are do
ing? The Democratic party meets 'he
issue honestly and cuuragcously. II says.
We pledge the Democratic party 10
the enactment Of a Law prohibiting any
corporation from contributing 10 cam
paign fund and any individual from con-
tTibuting an amount above "A reasonable
maximum and providing FOR the publ
cation. before election. OF all such CON
trihutions above "A reasonable minimum"
The Democratic national committee i'm
mrdiatcly proceeded to interpret and APP
ply this plank. announcing that no con-
tribuiions would be received from cor
poratlons, that no individual would be al
lowed to contribute more than $4,000. and
that all contributions above 500 would
be made public before the cleCtion-thosc
received before October 10 TO be made
public ON or before that day. those re-
Ccivcd aftcrward TO be made public on
the day when received. and no such con-
tributions to be accepted within three
days of tho election. The expenditures
are to be published after the election.
Here is a plan which Ia complete aud
effective.
Popular Election Of Senators.
Next to the corrupt Use Of money. the
present method OF clcCting United States
senators e. most responsible for the OBJ
struction Of reforms. For 100 years after
the adoption Of the constitution. the de-
mand for tho popular election 81 senators
while tinding increased expression, did
not become dominant sentiment.
constitutional amendment had from time
to time been suggested and the matter
had been more or less discussed In n few
Of the states. but the movement had net
reached point where II manifested it.
self through congressional action, In the
Fifty-SeCond congress. however. n reso-
luton was reported frsn n house COM
mittee proposing the necessary constitu-
tiOnal amendment. and this resolution
passed the house OF representatives by
"A vote which was practically unanimous.
In the Fifty-thrd congress "A similar res
olution was reported to, and adopted by
the house OF representatives. Both the
were Democratic. The Republicans gained
control OF the house as result, Of the
election OF 1884 and In the Fifty-fourth
congress the proposition died In commit
tee. As time went on, however, the SEN
timcnt grew among the people. until II
forced a Republican congress to follow
the example set by tho Democrats. and
then another and another Republican
congress acted favorably State after
state has Endorsed this reform. until near
~ two-thirds OF the states have recorded
themselves In It's favor The United
states senate. however. impudently and
arrogantly obstructs the passage OF the
resolution, Notwithstanding the fact that
the voters of the United States. By an
overwhelming majority demand g. And
this refusal IL the more significant when
Il IL remembered that number Of SEN
ators owe their elections to great corpor-
ate interests Three Democratic nation
al platforms-thc platforms Of 1890. 1904
and i90S-specihcnlly call Tor change In
the constitution which will put the cleo
ton Of senators in the hands Of the vo-
ters. and the proposition has been in
dorsed by n number of the smaller par
Il