The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1911-04-14
THROW OPENGA
OF OPPORT
CONTINUED From First Page,

OF them, honest. The great ma iorI1v
1nenl oelieVe that In serving their.
wv. u"n tney are serving the interests OF
t tne country at large. Their concep-
tion OF prosperity Is that it will best
proceed and gather under their man
agement They are willing, indeed thnv
are anxious, that the people should
snare In It, but it must originate with
tncm and be under their experienced
control. They stand ut the wrong
point or view; they seek their objects
not by public argument. but by mi.
Vate management and arrangement
~ influence. not BY open political pro-
cess.
Not In the OPEN
Ihey are serving, served and as.
sisted, not only by the political or
CARNATIONS which put men into Office
ana into our Legislature but also by
our present methods of legislation
Legislation. as we nowadays conduct
II. is not conducted in the open II
it not threshed out in open debate up
on the floors Of our Assemblies. II Is
on the contrary, framed, digestcd and
concluded in committee rooms 1t is
IN committee rooms that legislation
not desired by the interests dies. 1t Is
III committee rooms that legislation
desired by the interests is framed and
brought forth There is not enough
debate Of It In open house. in most
the proposals made Clauses lie quiet
ly undiscovered In our statutes which
contain the whole gist and purpose of
the act; qualifying phrases which es-
cape the public attention and casual
definitions which do not attract atten-
ton. classification 80 technical as not
TO be generally understood and which
every one most intimately concerned
Ia careful not TO explain or eXpound
contain the whole purp of the law
Only after II has been enacted and
has como TO adjudication in the
courts is It's scheme as whole d.
vulged. The benenciarics are then
safe behind their bulwarks.
"Of course. the chief triumph OF
committee work. Of covert phrase and
unexplained classification, Is the tar
III law. Ever since the passage Of
the outrag eous Payne ldrich tariff
law our people have been discovering
the concealed meanings and purposes
which lay hidden In st. They are dis
covering Item by item how deeply and
deliberately they were deceived and
cheated. This did not happen by ac-
cident it came about by design. b.
elaborated secret design. Questions
put upon the floor in the House and
Senate were not frankly or truly an
swered. and an elaborate piece or leg
islation was foistcd on the country
which could not possibly have passed
If It had been comprehended By the
whole country.
Other Ambushes.
But there are other ambus hes
Take, for example. the entirely legiti-
mate extensions made OF the idea OF
private property for the beneht of
modern corporations ari trusts. a
modern joint stock corporation cannot
In any proper sense he said to base
.t%rt,S \
c!plcs OF private property. It's powers
are wholly derived from legislation
II possesses them for the convenience
OF business at the suffcrance OF this
public. It's stock is widely owned
passes from hand TO hand brings null
titudes OF men into its shifting part.
ncrships and connects 1t with the In
tcrests and the Investments Of whole
communities. It is segment OF the
public. bears no analogy to part.
nership or 20 the process by which pri-
rate property is safeguardcd and man
aged and should not be suffered to
afford any covert whatever to those
who arc managing it. Its mana gemen,
liz Of public and general concern, Is In
very proper sense everybody's busi-
ness.
Hence, our objects as party /
take these objects 10 be to open all the
processes OF politics-open them wide
to public view; to make them accessible
to every force that moves every opinion
that prevails in the thought Of the
people: to give society command Of ITS
own economic life again, not BY rcvo-
iuttonary measures, but by steady
application OF the principle that the
people have right to look into such
matters and to control them; to safe
guard our resources and the lives OF
our workmen and women and children
tour chief natural resonrces) against
the selhshness Of private use and
profit: to cut all privileges and pat
ronage and private advantages and