Evening bulletin. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu, Hawaii]) 1895-1912, 1911-07-15

hnoW Hn! illiiE HbJNl 'lS I"ll. h''t ''.-4I.
pany's bHsinpss IN this state can learn
it for the asking an1 at first hand.
Secrecy and all the varl CS hrGI!5 o.
political sknIdndd'Ey that have boon
admitted la The pa, are {" lie shown
the door Tiils t. the mtiuatiun thai
was made 10 me. Wasn't 1t nndc 10
you;"
Gantry lid not rcply directly 20 the
direct demand. CA the other hand. he
very carcfUlly RETAINED from answer.
Ing II in any degree wlat@ocvcr.
"Iou have your job to. hold down
and have mine" he returned. what
you say goes as 1t lies. Of course. but
shouldn't be too hard on the little
brothers II | were you"
"If by the little brothers You mean
the pie eaters I'm going to fire them
out neck and crop. Richard. They
make NE excessively weary"
Gantry's playful mood fell away
from him like a castoff garment.
II don't quite believe I'D do thnt II
were you. Evan. There are pie eat
crs on both sides In every political con-
test, and. while they cant do any cause
any great amount of good. they can
often do a good bit of harm. I
wouldn't be too hard on them II We're
you"
what would you do, or, rather,
what did you do when you were man.
aging the state campaign two years
agoY inquired Blount pointedly.
81 cut the pie" said the traffic man
ager simply.
"In other words. you let this riff
raft blackmail you and incidentally
put big black mark against the com
pany's good name
"Oh, no: l wouldn't put 1t quite that
strong. Not many Of these little fell
lows ask or expect money. A free ride
now and then on the railroad is about
all they look for"
But you can't give them that I'M
der the Interstate commerce law" pro-
tested the purist.
Not outside of the state, Of course.
But inside OF the state boundaries it's
our own business"
"You mean 1t was our own busi-
ness previous TO the passage OF the
state rate law two years ago." cor
rected Blount
1T is our own business to this good
day--in effect. That part Of the law
| has been Il complete dead letter from
/ the day the governor signed II. Why,
! bless your innocent heart, Evan. the
very men who argued the lOudest and
voted the most spitefully for 1t came
to me for their return tickets home at
| the end of the session. OF course we
4, kept the letter Of the law. 1t says
| that no free passes shall be given.
I We didn't issue passes. We merely
gave them tickets out Of the case ana
charged them up to expense
"Faugh" said Blount. you make
me sick. Gantry, It's that same child
fish whipping Of the devil around the
stump by the corporation. an expe.
dicnt, that wouldn't deceive the most
| ignorant voter that ever east u ballot
its that very thing that has stirred
the whole nation up to this unreason
able fight against corporate capital
Don't you see IT."
Gantry shrugged his shoulders.
IL guess take the line of the least
rcsistance-like the majority Of them, y
was the colorless reply. "When II
comes to practical politics.
Don't say practical politics to me
Dick" rasped the reformer. we've
got the strongest argument In the
world In the fact that the present law
| Is an unfair one, needing modification
| or repeal We mustn't spoil that argu
ment by becoming lnwbreakers our.
selves and descending to the methods
| of the grafters and the machine poll
ticians the country over. If you have
been sending these pie eaters to me-
don't do II any more. have no use
for them, and they won't have any
use for me after l open up on them
II don't believe I'd do anything
rash," said Gantry.
Dating from this little heart to heart
talk with the traffic manager. Blount
began to carry out the new policy
"thc starvation policy" as 1t soon came
TO he known among the would be
henchmen. The result was not alto.
gether reassuring.
Many Of the small grafters were on
the payr0lls of the railroad company.
and Blount was soon definitely assured
OF what he had before only suspected
that they We're merely nominal EN-
rloyees, given payroll standing 50
that there might be an excuse for CIV
Ing them free transportation and n re.
tainer in the form of wages, II need
full.
In many cases the qualifications of
the petty graft We're exasperatingly
intricate For example, one Thomas
Glyson, who was on the payrolls as
n machinists helper In the repair shops,
demanded free transportation across
the state for eight members of his
"famlly." Questioned closely, he adj
mitted that the family" was his only
by n figure of speech; that the rela-
tionship was entirely political.
Blount promptly refused to recon-
mend the issuing of employees passes
for the eight, and the result was an
immediate call from Bentley, the di.
IL