The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1911-12-10

The modern world is, of course, a
business world. A great many Of the
older and more fundamental questions
of our politics we regard as long ago
settled. The business Of politics is now
adays a business of adjustment, of
meeting now conditions as they arise
and making law suitable to our chang
ing life. The most remarkable and in
duental changes that have taken place
in recent years in Ameriva have been
economic rather than political. Bust
ness has bulked larger and larger and
has consequently been more and more
interlaced, not only with natural pol
icy, but with legislative change
throughout the country.
1t is perfectly legitimate, of course,
that the business interests CT the
d. country should not only enjoy the pro-
lection of the law, but that they should
be in every way furthered and
strengthened and facilitated by legisla-
ton. The country has no jealousy of
any connection between business and
politics which is legitimate connec-
ton. 1t is not in the least averse from
open efforts to accommodate law to
the material development which has so
strengthened the country in all that it
has undertaken by supplying its ex-
traordinary life with its physical
foundations.
But the ilIegitimate connections be-
tween business and legislation are an
other matter. Every community is
vaguely aware that the political ma
chine upon which it looks askance has
certain very definite connections with
men who are engaged in business on a
large scale, and the suspicion which at
tacheS to the machine itself has begun
to attach also to business enterprises
~ o%f aVsa
known to exist. If these connections
were open and aVowed, if everybody
knew just what they involved and just
what use was being made of them,
there would be no difficulty in keeping
an eye upon affairs and in controlling
them by public opinion. But unfortu-
nately the whola process of law max
ing in America is very obscure one.
There is no highway of legislation, but
there are many by-ways. Parties are
not organized in such a way in our
legislature as to make any one group
of men avowedly responsible for the
course Of legislation. The bills intro
duced into our legislatures are intro
duced upon private initiative, either
the initiative Of individuals outside the
legislature who desire certain changes
in the law for their own convenience
or benefit, or the initiative of individ-
ual members Of the legislatures them
selves. The whole process of discus
sion, if any discussion at all takes
place, is private and shut away from
public scrutiny and knowledge. There
are so many circles within circles,
there are so many indirect and private
ways of getting at legislative action
that our communities are constantly
uneasy during legislative sessions.
The Result of Privacy.
1t is this confusion and obscurity
and privacy of our legislative method
that gives the political machine its
opportunity. Apparently nothing but
the political machine can bring order
out of the chaos. There is no central
force in any legislature which can it
self guide the course of lawmaking.
There is no publicly responsible man
or group of men who are known to
formulate legislation and to take
charge of it from the time of its intro
duction until the time of its enactment.
II has. therefore, been possible for an
outside force-the political machine.
the body of men who nominated the
legislators and who conducted the con-
test for their election-to assume the
role of control. Business men who
desired something done by way of
changing the law under which they
were acting or who wished to prevent
legislation which seemed to them to
threaten Lu6lT own nave
known that there was this definite
body of persons to resort to, and they
have made terms with them. They
have agreed to supply them with
money for campaign expenses and to
stand by them in all other cases where
money was necessary if in return they
might resort to them for protection or
for assistance in matters of legisla-
ton. There have been times when it
was a matter of no surprise to us to
learn that legislatures looked to a GER
tain man who was not even member
of. their body for instructions as to
what they were to do with particular
laws; we have become cynically ac-
customed to the presumption that the
instructions they received were re-
ceived after the majority had conferred
with those who were backing him and
assisting him in the business world.
It is not altogether just to indulge
in indiscriminate blame for this state
of affairs; our legislatures being at
loose ends. nobody in particular being
responsible, it was natural, not to say
inevitable, that some sort of control
should spring up. The machine, which
was the centre of party organization
was the natural instrument of con-
troll, and men who had business inter-
ests to promote naturally resorted to
the body which exercised the control
There need have been nothing sinister