The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1911-11-02
Mrs. La EOHette'S Part

The second installment of Senator
Robert NJ. La Follette's striking auto
biography is published in the Novem-
Der American Magazine. La Toilette
tells how he spent 10 months follow
ing his first election to congress, but
before he entered upon his duties,
reading and studying and watching
the old congress, day and night at
Washington, to prepare himself for
his new public service. He tells the
; inside story of his first personal Skin
big business, from 1885 to 1891, when
1.-The onslaught Of these private inter
ests was reaching its height
II did not then fully realize" he
writes, "the evidence Of community
of interests which was rapidly getting
control of our political parties, our
government, our courts. The issue has
since become clear Whether it shows
| itself in the tariff, in Alaska, in NUM-
ciral franchises, in the trusts. in the
railroads or the great banking inter-
ests, we know that it is one and the
same thing. And there can be no COM
promise with these interests that seek
to control the government Either they
or the people will rule"
Naturally. the machine crowd didn't
want La Toilette reelected to con-
gress for a second term. So he built
! up machine" of his own--the COM
mon folks in his district He made a
list of all the voters
1T was clear to me-" he says, that
the only way to beat boss and ring
rule was to keep the people thorough
ly informed. Machine control as based
upon Misrepresentation and ignorance
Democracy is based upon knowledge.
| So he sent out hundreds of thous-
ands of public documents to the men
most interested, paying for the print
ing himself.
"The size of the bills paid the gov
eminent printing Office for many
years was one of the reasons why I
found myself so poor when l left con-
gress. The bulk of the ac-
tual mechanical work of all this cor
respondence and pamphleteering fell
upon Mrs. La Toilette and myself Oc-
casionally we INDUCED in the extrava-
sance of hiring stenographer for a
few weeks. but as a rule, while I was
engaged in my congressional duties,
hours, writing letters, addressing en-
vclopes and sending away stacks of
speeches. We do not look upon these
days with any self pity. We were both
young and vigorous and they were
among the happiest and most hopeful
years we ever spent.
| "The task of building up and main
tanning an intelligent interest in pub
lie affairs in my district and afterward
in the state was no easy one. But it
was the only way for me, and l am still
convinced that it is the best way New
er in my politica! life have l derived
benefit from the two sources of power
by which machine politics chiefly
thrives-1 mean patronage, the control
of appointments tc Office and the use
ton. During my fight in Wisconsin the
old machine used it's power of dispens-
| ing patronage to the utmost against
me-
In general it can be said of all the
group known as insurgents or pro-
gressives that they have won their
| victories without patronage, often
without newspaper support and with
the use Of very little money. Nothing
could show more conclusively that
| they represent a popular feeling 50
deep. that it cannot be Influenced by
machine methods"