Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-06-07

product is deserving Of much praise: but
where the material used is living, sentient
beings, with every diverging motive in their
resentment, cupidity, am
hiuon-to produce a homogeneous material
from such combination deserves great
Have you found" he was asked "tha,
many OF the political critics were not ac-
qualnted with the fundamentals Of poll
tcs?'
That is usually the case" replied Mr.
Lane The practical politicians should
look with complacencv on the man VINO
crlticizes-with the complacency OF a giant
who smiles at the attack Of a pigmy."
REFORMS AND REFORMS
You have seen many reforms" he was
reminded.
Yes" murmured the Sage, and there
was tinge Of sadness in the "yes." II
was followed by sigh which told stronger
than words that reforms for the most
part had not struck him very favorably.
DO you know" he said, that some OF
our reforms have cost the city and state
millions of dollars--thousand OF times
more In fact than was lost by irregulari-
tles?"
His lips came together tightly at the
memory In many city departments" he
went on, many Offices were paid by fees
But the reformers cut out the fees and
Il
were actuated by desire for revenge rather
! than desire for efficiency They wanted
TO kill what they called the system and
In attempting to do so made tho taxpayers
pay many times more than they should
The matter could have been remedied by
having legislation which would have cut
down the size of the fee.
THE salary idea also paved the way for
many fancy Jobs, which. incidentally, cam
not be laid at the door of the Organization.
For instance, when ! was Recorder of
Deeds l had a man who acted as janitor,
messenger and the like; since then this
Job has developed into three or four fancy
titles with one man for each title"
The veteran leader could not suppress a
smile.
BALLOT-BOX STUFFING
And as TO this new-fangled way OF vot-
Ing" he continued. "it has kept many men
from the polls who could not follow the
various instructions and devious methods,
and yet ! must admit, unfortunately, that /
had something to do with It, too. But after
the plan got working well some one came
along with the idea that we take the num-
bers off the ballots, And then what hap
pencd? Nothing less than ballot-box stuff
fng. When the ballots were numbered It
| was an easy matter to check up on the
voters of every division when an irregu-
| larty occurred. Who would take a chance
| then of stutiing the boxes when the act
| could be traced directly to them? But with
| the unnumbered ballots It was different
| They were stuffed in the boxes in large num-
| bers and the identity Of the guilty party
| was matter of much speculation"
Asked what his happiest memory was
| since being in politics, Mr.. Lane said he
! looked with much satisfaction to the fact
that he was one of the 900 delegates to the
national convention that voted for Grant.
Despite the fact that he has stepped down
| from the chairmanship, the Nestor of Phila.
| delphia politics viii Keep his ear to the
| ground. His advice will no doubt be needed
| often. II was Mr.. Lane who led the way
out OF the turmoil preceding the last may
| orally fight. 1t was he who Counseled, pacl-
fed, and eliminated. Then 1t was agreed
that Thomas B. Smith should carry the
| standard
And the wisdom of the sage may soon be
! needed again.