The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1910-02-04
STRENGTHEN CORRUPT
 PRACTICES LEGISLATION
THOUSANDS OF VOTERS HAVE LOST ALL INTEREST IN POLL
 TICAL AFFAIRS BECAUSE THEY FEEL THEIR EFFORTS ARE USELESS, SAYS EDITOR TROUP.

l USELESS, SAYS EDITOR TROUP. I did not come down here tonight l to proselyte Republicans or to talk to 1 you as @ partisan. l was quietly in- l formed before l came that Mr. Nor
 ris was Republican, and while l profess too little knowledge of the 1 merits of the controversy Waged Ill your city over your magnificent .har- | hor, second in the world only to the 1 one we have over in New Haven, l while as l say I know little about your contest over here, l gleaned enough from it to know that a certain gentleman called Charles Morris was fighting for the public rights against
 overwhelming odds and in the face of 1 almost certain defeat. And that was | recommendation enough for me. MT. Chandler. has told you what he'd like to do with his public utility
 idea. I desire to tell both you and
 before we can expect to do these things, he so ably advocates
 First we have got to forget that we are partiSanS and remember that we
 are patriots. We too often make the
 mistake of looking upon political i parties, especially our own as fixed entities, remaining the same from
 year to year, whereas, it is in reality simply a collection of individuals who agree to disagree about a whole lot of things in order to make effective their common belief in some great reform or principle of government that they deem paramount.
 The members of the Republican
 and Democratic parties in city, state and nation differ as widely as the
 poles on many important questions, some being radical on some questions
 who are conservative on others and
 vice versa. But taken as a whole I , hn Tod lc of hot t1a
 parties and the conservatives of both
 parties are closer together in their
 ideas than the radicals and conserva-
 tives of each party. Let me illustrate.
 In national politics LaFollette and
 the Insurgents are closer to Bryan
 State politics Chandler, Whiton, and
 Bishop are closer in their ideas to
 radical Democrats than they are to
 the men who control their own par
 tvs destiny.
 Fellow and Democrats when we think alike why not get to-
 gether and see that men are nomi-
 mated and elected to office who will support our ideas.
 But my friends, am reminded in
 this connection of an old adage which reads, Divide and cOnquer.'' When the jealous Grecians centuries ago de- sired to overwhelm a neighboring state, or a foreign rival, they first stirred up dissension among their enemies and then they conquered them. When Rome desired to gain the mastery of a powerful nation she their midst and then she conquered them. Divide and conquer is the watchword of those in this country today who are attempting to use both our great political parties to con- serve their own selfish ends. These influences really have as J. Gould was frank enough to admit absolutely no political convictions. Their effort is to gain control of both political parties whenever they can and one of them at all hazards.
 In our own state, I believe they have too often controlled both of our political parties. Progressive and patriotic Democrats and progressive and patriotic Republicans have too often found themselves in a minority in their respective parties and have lacked the courage and wisdom to break away from it's party fetish and to unite and strike a blow for the common good. The time has come in this state for progressive Demo- crats and progressive Republicans to unite. The time has come to forget party and to remember the higher duty of patriotism. To forget names and symbols and to remember and
  which we are agreed.
 There are many reforms in this | state that one might mention on which the prOgressives in both our | great political parties could unite, for | instance there is the public utilities ! bill so ably presented by MT. Chand- l Ter this evening, the employers lia bility bill, bill to allow adequate damages in death cases, reform of legislative methods and procedure | that will stop interference with our city government from Hartford and insure home rule in purely local af- fairs to our municipalities and towns. I have no desire nor have the time tonight to discuss the pros and cons of these suggestive reforms. It strikes me that before we can hope to do along the lines proposed we must strengthen first our corrupt practice acts and second through the direct primary we must get the con- trO1 of nominations closer to the people.
 Over a century ago the great French commentator on American institutions De Tocqueville, made one of the sagest of truths when he ssaid, '"The only cure for the evils of Democracy is more Democracy Half the cor ruptions and nearly all the mistakes made in our body polite can be traced in large measure to the fact tI1clL WC oL OoA SONOAiliAAChS Oy HI | direction. There is not that direct control that counts. We elect our United States Senators by indirection the legislature and the char acter of the United States Senate shows it. Half of it's present mem tership couldn't be directly nomi- mated and elected by the people for pound keeper or dog warden for the town. Thousands of voters have lost all interest in political af- fairs because they honestly feel that their efforts are useless and their votes count for little or nothing. In fact I believe one of the most serious phases of our own political life is the little interest that the people take in great political questions.
 It is an admission that one hates to make but is, nevertheless, a fact, that very few of our citizens take any in- crest in political questions between elections, and too few take more than ] casual interest even during a cam oaign.
 Americans taken as a whole are pri- narily an amusement loving people. Dur sports. our theatres, our books )ur fads and hobbies gain full pardon for any other sin, but their failure to muse. That alone is a capital offense. A dull game, or play, or books, we will not long tolerate.
 There is, however, SOMETHING THAT CAN BE SAID IN EXTENU-