The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1911-09-19
s1oRMINe TIE CITADEL

papers in Vermont and the big city
papers whose owners are mostly in
the millionaire class are fond OF
abusing, looks somewhat different in
the middle west. William Allen
White, one of the ablest of our Amer
lean writer's and thinkers has an ar
tlcle in the September number of the
American Magazine from which the
following extracts are taken.
Legend tells us that once upon a
time In the old days in Denver a
naughty person from Virginia ran
for office. After the custom of the
time and the place, but much to his
disgust, the naughty person went out
among the voters, buying them
drinks, shaking their hands, praising
their virtues, and permitting the hot
breath OF vox populi, laden with
onions, to permeate his system. II
was sore penance for the naughty
person. But he needed the Job. So
he held his nose and his peace and
persevered. He was defeated.
Remorse overcame him. He hired
hack; turned down the top, climbed
| in, lolled back upon the cushions In
he ordered the driver to take him
heordered the driver to take him
through the principal streets of the
city; and upon the sides of the car
rage he had banners bearing the In
scriptlon: Damn the people-the
poor man stinks" Thus was Virginia
avenged.
Now this attitude of mind has not
been entirely confined to the Virginia
gentleman aforesaid. There has been
more OF 1t during our century OF ma
tional life In the American mind than
we like to admit IL has been too
obvious In many OF our unconscious
manifestations of public opinion and
caste Of thought.
We have been democrats for publ
cation rather than as an evidence or
good faith. Democracy among too
lmany OF our rulers has been purely
Pickwicklan. The idea that the PEG
pie actually have an opinion, that II
lis worthy OF serious consideration. or
that 1t should be clearly and unmis-
takably expressed In government, Is
rather new In our politics. "Of the
people, by the people. for the people
has been too often merely phase
which sounded we'll as the close OF a
lperoration. We have had much to
lsay about representative government;
but the government for the most part
represented the forces that made the
government; and as the government
was based upon party organization,
land as party organization was fnanc-
led by persons who had special favors
to ask OF the government, and as
those having special favors to ask OF
1.-The government always asked them
flor property that they held or repre-
scented, government In the United
States was representative, but fire.
quently 1t only represented property
The advance of the rights OF men
over the rights of property was slight
in this country, from the close Of the
lCivil War until the beginning OF the
, new century.
The citadel of unfair property de
I lmands In America during the third o.
a century following the Civil Wal
was the United States Senate. Time
was during the late eighties and nine
tiles when the Senate was known as
lmillionaire's club. II contained II
Those days a conslderable-lf not re
pectable-minority OF exceeding!
Irich and often ignorant and general!
vulgar men, who bought their way In
a. rnnWaunnfAH ahIaHl
themselves-their own interests an'
some allied business men who made
political contributions. Later men o
great wealth, who sought special fay
Iors. organized the State and chos'
: men who directly or temperamentalll
represented them and their business
;, Interests. The railroads and the rac'
track people, and the insurance com
panies and the brewers, and gambler
and packing.house people hayinl
common cause learned that II paid u
work for common end. So the,
controlled parties through campaigl
contributions, manipulated conven
tions. dominated legislatures. AM
thus having the machinery OF loca
government fairly well in hand. tn
| Representatives OF the interests desii
ing special privilege found the cleo
| ton OF United States Senators CON
| paratively easy. Sometimes Senator
| ial elections were contests betweel
| candidates all OF the same genera
stripe but representing different II
Iterests. Hence we had In the frs
= decade OF this century large errant
boy contingent The majority In IN
: Senate was composed OF shifty. plaui
ble, well.educated, courteous gentle
y men who we're most hattered whe
n they we're called able"
Early in the century trouble boga
to arise at home. The people bega
making the trouble. The troubl
manifested itself in conventions an
In legislatures Governors began I
" appear who voiced the popular dli
content and these governors becam
candidates for the Senate Law
abolIshing state conventions began I
appear. Laws providing for publioit
OF campaign expenses were enacted
passes we're taken away from pol
tIcians. Reform was rampant
WAS called wave. The errand boy
were told Il would subeide In anothe
year. so most OF them sat tight an
hoped. The first half OF the frst Dc
cade OF the century passed, and SUD
denly one bright morning one OF thos
queer bugs from home-a reformer-
appeared in the United States Senate
He was an amusing specimen name
La Toilette, and the Senate had NOR
fun with him than a box OF monkeys
The errand boys had him pointed gu
7 to them by their masters as the kin
OF n man you got when you dallle
with reform. But they were assure
by the great industrial and commei
clal forces controlling our polite
that a movement was about to be sc