Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-03-26
THE PEOPLES BUSINESS

L ILL IOl LIZ ID 1JSk
OUR idea of what constitutes the peoples
" business is slowly expanding. In feudal
days it consisted exclusively of paying taxes
and fighting Today it is much the same,
except that in the meantime, the people, by
dint of a couple of revolutions and much
struggle and bloodshed, have gained sort
of left-handed control of what becomes of
their taxes. Theoretically, of course, this
being a democracy, they have everything
to say about it. But, as a matter of fact,
the "sovereign-pepur have mortgaged them
selves hand and foot to local machines and
a couple of national parties that spend their
time playing chess with each other, using
the peoples votes and money for the rocks
and pawns, and-so it is rumored-makng
ducks and brakes of them.
Optimsts hope that some day the people
will tire of being pawns, and will decide to
take hand in the game for themselves. In
fact, they are already trying to do this in
the West with the initiative. referendum,
recall and similar measures In the mean
time however, the national pastime of see
ing how full the national legislators can
stuff their pork barrels without busting"
them rolls merrily on. The March maga-
zines contain dozen articles touching on
various phases of the peoples business, and
their efforts to swing it.
An article by Walter Lippmann in the
Metropolitan Q), points out analogies be-
tween business and politics.
The old theory that a business exists for
its owners is going the way of the theory
that a people exists for it's king. George ",
In his proclamations, still talks of my peo-
pie" as some men talk Of my business" but
every one knows that 1t Is an empty fiction.
1t is no great prophecy to say that in a few
years my business" will seem just as anti
quated phrase. The best clue to the con-
dition of business is to recognize that within
1t the same forces are at work which have
transformed cities and states from crown
colonies and dependencies into more or less
self-governng members of a national feder-
alton These new democratic experiments
are often ignorant sometimes corrupt; they
are easily betrayed they shun the expert
and they fear power.
You cannot have industrial system go
ing in one direction and a political system
going in another, Either they must rein
force each other or they will destroy one
another. Business and politics are so close
together they cannot live on two contradic-
tory principles We sometimes forget the
absurdity of that contradiction. All the year
long man may work in a factory and If he
erticises the boss he is fred. on one e Tues
ing and firing Of the President of the United
States.
What Is in the Pork Barrels
There is a disllusonizing account of pen
sion-g grabbing methods by Burton Hendrell
in the Worlds Work (2), which accounts for
what becomes of a share of our taxes:
In the so years since the Civil War ended
the American people have paid TO it's sur
yivors or their dependents more than 81 5OO,-
100000. For 40 years Congress has prac-
tically abdicated its control over pension leg
islation. The Grand Army of the Republic
has pension committee Of seven members,
which publicly boasts that it has written ali
the pension laws of the last 40 years. What
is the power back Of It? First, OF course
the old soldiers, their votes on election
day, and the votes Of their sympathizers rep
resent the considerations which political Con-
gressmen have received in exchange for this
franking privilege the Federal Treasury
Back of this there developed in this country
In the years succeeding the Civil War, GER
tain professional classes which made living
out of the pension roll-the pension attorney
and the pension doctor. The business of the
first was TO scour the country for pension
candidates and TO discover some niche in the
pension laws that would admit the most un-
physical disability that could be traced 10
field service Both advertised far and wide
in the daily press, IN circulars and pamphlets
and old soldiers magazines. Occasionally
they became notorious that they got into
the criminal courts They frequently made
the claimant swear TO blank afiidayits the
lawyers afterWard hlling IN the details tham-
selves. PRESERVATION OF old soldiers vas q
common practice; thousands Of veterans
went peacefully % their graves not knowing