Okolona messenger., 1912-02-22
THE POLITICAL SITUATION

general government has become so
large, SO rich, and requires so many to
man it. that it looks like it is well nigh
impossible to have it carried on in
plain, practical, honest business Ike
manner. When it is remembered
that every great corporation and trust
in the land has its United States Sen
ator in Washington to look after its
interest, and that they were put there
through the use Of money, without re-
gard to amount used, you can readily
see that we have come to a crisis in
the country's history, that will tax the
skill, Of the strongest and best men to
tide the ship Of state safely over the
shoals OF danger, made so by the lust
for gaia BY these monster combinations
Of organized wealth, They undermine
the very bedrock principals upon
which the government is founded, and
if not curbed in their mad career. will
be The RUN Of the grandes government
that has ever existed in all the annals
Of time. It's a trayesty on Gus boasted
ciyiligation when man can bay his
seat in any law making body Thom,
as Jefferson never dreamed the day
would eyer come, in this lair land,
when the fitness Of man for United
States Senator would be measured by
his money instead Of his merit. II
that's proper diagnosis 0. the case,
Whats the remedy? If the trusts are
doing the damage, who made the
trusts? The high tariff Then, who
made the tariff? the government And
thus we see the government strangIlng
itself, by its own supreme EoIly. It
has created monster, that now
threatens to swaller it.
When you note the fact that the
. Republican party has been in power
almost uninteruptedIy for the past half
a Gentry, you can trace the trouble di-
|. rectIy to their doors. These high
tariff laws made to raise revenue to
run the civil war half a Gentry ago,
and the Republican party inherited
! them, at its close. when they should
4 have been reduced to a basis to run
the government economically. But
] they soon found that this vast revenue
unjustIy laid on the shoulders Of the
country at large, gave them the power
perpetuate themselves in Office and
disregard the voice Of right as it come
from the people who had tc pay these
unjust taxes. But a bad principle
/ followed up persistenly will some
| day turn and crush those who have
lpro6ted by it. Nov we see men
ylike Lorimer and Stephenson, who
| used over one hundred thousand
/ dollars each to get to the Senate
trying to prove to the world that it
was legitimately spent, No matter
/ how much white-wash their fellow
members may put on them it will not
be thick enough to hide their guilt
from the world at large, the peoples
verdict has been rendered.
The United States Senate has been
styled the graatest law making body
in the world. They have been
always heretofore elected by the
legislature of the state. SO as to put
Them out Of the reach Of people, two
= from each state so as to give all
equal representation, a kind oi
| Supreme court in legislation, a bal
ance wheel to regulate and keep on
1 the track the machinery OF govern
ment. 1t worked we'll for one hun
/ dred years or more and you never
heard of electing United States
ISenators by direct vote Of the people
until predatory wealth began to buy
legislatures and prostitute its high
{ standing among the nations Of the
9rId' to j. "a market place for the
ID ,.Jney changers. Now the prevail
l. Eng sentiment is to put it in the hands
Yf tie people, the source Of all
power in government like ours anc
thus restore it to its former prestage
Z as the strongest arm in the making o