Year: 1873

case for the quackory of halfhearted
measures. Wo must cut tho cancer
out. A surgical operation on vital
part of the body, II II bc not entirely
successful, always hastens tho death
Of tho patient.


l am thoroughly persuaded that
there is some fatal defect in our Amer
ican system Of legislation. 1t has
failed ANONYMOUSLY wherever it has
been tried. 1t is not only here in
Pennsylvania that we have rotten
representatives and dishonest legisla.
tion. The same evil is found in the
other States. II exists in it's worst
form and operates on It's grandest scale
in the Legislature Of the Union
What is the causel


The President Of this Convention
(Mr. Incredibly struck the point when,
speaking Of tho misconduct OF mem
bcrs OF tho Legislature, 10 said that
it was because they were not RESPONSE
bic for them. Washington said long
ago that irresponsible power could
never be safely trusted in human
hands. By irresponsible power l
mean power which may be abused
without calling down any punishment
upon the heads of those who commit
it. In this respect all our Constitu-
tions arc anomalous. They are
series Of commands without any sane.
ton to enforce them. This is EN-.
pbatically true with regard to those
who execute the supreme power of
making your laws. You trust the
members of your Legislature implicit
ly. The trainers Of the federal Con.
slitution, who were inflated in all the
States, seem to have thought OF Leg
islative corruption as the Spartans did
of parricide, that it was an impossible
crime. The Supreme Court Of the
United States, in Fletcher Us. Peck
influenced by this delusion because it
was embodied in the Constitution,
declared that they did not believe in
the corruption of State Legislature,
though it was incontestibly proved,
admitted by the parties, and found to
DO true by special verdict in the
very case before them. Now, il any
thing is established by all human ex.
pericncc il is that no rule Of action, no
law, no commandment will ever be
observed by men who can promote
their interests or crafty their passions
by breaking it, unless they are deter.
red by the fear of retributivc justice


If you desire men to do right you


must punish them for doing wrong
This may seem like low view Of
human nature, but we cannot help it ;
VIC are as we are made. Men are not
equal to angels, and even the angels
fell. In all cases every rule of conduct
is coupled with penalty for its vio-


lation: that is in all but ours, and it
is true Of ours in oil except the funda.


mental and most important part Of it.
This is also tho principle which runs
lsthrough .the~diYins law. Almighty


God, who created the heart Of man,
understood the impulses which would
govern it, and he annexed sanction


TO every one Of his commandments


There is no bruium fulmen in the Bible.


Tho first law that ever was made for


tho regulation Of human conduct il, in


this respect, the model upon which


every other has been framed: "On


tho day thou eatest thereof thou shalt


surely de-" And il Satan had not


managed to convince our first parents


that the penalty would not be inflict.


cd, the fruit of tho forbidden tree


would never have been tasted.


Can there be any reasonable doubt


that corruption reigns in the Legisla.


lures OF oil the States and In Congress


for the reason that it can be practiccd


with perfect impunityy Can you OF


do you expect anything else from q


body OF men whom you surround with


temptations Of every kind to lure


them into the crime a. the same time


you tell them thoy shall suffer moth


ing If they commit it! Such sys
tenn cannot and will Dotcome to good


You might as well hope to gather


grapes from tborns or figs from thistles


In deciding upon the nature of th,
punishment which these great crimi
nails ought TO suffer, we must not con
cult our blood but our judgment. Oul
, new laws must have no er post fact,
operation, and the penalties, though
certain, must bo moderate ovcn fol
, future offences. No sentiment o
} vengenco must seek its qualification
; here. II tho honest citizens of The
State who have been so basely betray
cd by these miscreants would obey thu
impulse of their natural indignation
and had infinite power to work theil
will upon them, they would set then
upon the rcmotest battlcment Of God.
oreation--far out upon the borders O
, chaos and old highland then last
them naked around the circumference
of the universe through all eternity
But human punishment can be inflict
ed only for the purpose of defending
society; all beyond that must be lef
, in the hands of divine justice, "Ven
geance is mine, saith tho Lord viii


repay"


, We must look, therefore, to sec BY
what means we can prevent thes,
crimes, and confnc ourselves solely L
defensive measures. While we should
avoid that kind Of mercy to the guilty
which is cruelty to the innocent, w
must not lay hostile finger on th,
most atrocious criminal, except in st
: far as that may be necessary to re
form him or TO deter others. To dt
, even that would not be either wise o.
just, unless we accompany IL by som,


regulation which will relieve then
from the temptations to which the,
; are now exposed. 1t would not b,
fair to surround members of tho Leg
} islaturo with snares set for their virtu,
and then punish them when they los'
It. Let us weaken tho motives Il
, evil at the same time that we strength
| en- those which impel towards right
l So may the prcponderance always b


Al Ia. ~r A..