People's Pilot, Volume 4, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 March 1895 — A MYRIAD OF ABUSES. [ARTICLE]

A MYRIAD OF ABUSES.

Review of political facts AND CONDITIONS. The “Turtle-Bach Papers” Takes Up the Living Issues and Discusses Live: Questions of the liar in a Fearless Manner. As the time approaches to put in operation the new income tax law, it is heartrending to notice the concern, manifested by those who are liable to come within the bounds of its provisions, and the efforts being already made to have it declared unconstitutional by the courts. To a student of the times as they ■exist at present, these murmurings' are entirely unnecessary; there will be few, very few whose income is large ■enough to make them amenable to thelaw. How the philanthropist’s heart must bleed when he sees the great number of poor men this country sup-, ports, when the assessor appears; and with what surprising alacrity do they' recover their fortunes once the danger is past. Can a man be honest who evades the' law? If he can, then the natural order of things is reversed, and all who cannot count at least a half million when making an inventory of their possession, must be classified as dishonest. There is one consolation the laborer has when voting for public officials,, that is, the purse makes the man, who gets elected. How cheering! With what commiseration and pity for tho sad lot of his ancestors, does he turn back the pages of our history. To think that they were compelled to elect men to these same offices who had nothing to recommend them but a firstclass reputation, honesty and ability, quails the stoutest heart, and causes him to marvel how the country survived the honor. How the voter’s cheeks must have tingled with shame, when, after electing a congressman, to think he would be debarred fromgiving more than two SIO,OOO dinners out of a salary of half that amount, and be able to retire at the end of his term with a fortune. Those indeed were times that tried men’s souls, how to steal and not get caught at it. They, have since learned.

How sad must the people have felt, when, rfter getting a petition signed with hundreds of names to send to their representatives for the purpose of having a needed legislation enacted, had they paused to consider that the individual would have to attend to it in person. No stenographer; no franking privileges; no free passes nor private car for himself and family and all his relatives down to the thirtythird cousin. Let us bo thankful that the people of to-day do not have to bear this humiliation, nor leave to posterity such n heritage. It seems to be a crowning stroke of progress and of advancement in civilization, that congress must first ascertain, when agitating the money question, what effect it will have on Wall street and the national banks. It is through these mediums that the producer is kept under control. To lose that grip, the a.verage politician of the present would lose his occupation. Why must the government depend upon these sharks for its existence? It seems entirely foreign to the question to answer that national banks and : scheming brokers must be fostered un- . der the protection of the government, .as a medium of exchange. We are acquainted with hundreds of men who will not patronize local banks, even when they know the proprietors are worth many times the amount of business that can possibly fall in their hands; but deposit their hard earned savings in a national bank under the delusive idea that the government stands behind it and will make good all losses. The failure of many -•' these institutions within the past years with liabilities running in the millions, assets practically nothing, leaving the depositor a dividend of 300 per cent in experience, i. dually disabusing the public mind'of some of the fallacies of our present political machinery. The government is supposed to be of the people, for the people and by the people. Should this sentiment become lukewarm, political tricksters devote many days stumping the country —for which the people pay them a princely salary—to impress the maxim with renewed vigor into the minds of a doubting constituency, and awaken

the dear people to a greater conception of how the party in power is working for their especial benefit and a flag of liberty to live under. Granting this to be true, why may not the student of political economy arise and ask the question: “If tr 3 people are the government is not i.s promise to pay good, as iong as there is enough responsible people left to form a government?” If it is good* then why must it ask for the indo semen t of its acts of Wall street and the national banks before enforcingthem? If it is not good, then may we ask, what is a bank note worth, if thebank issuing it becomes insolvent? “True,” replies Shylock, “but thepeople do not study these great questions as we must; nor properly investigate them.” This is a fact. If the people resolved upon having a general cleaning up, such a stench would arise from misappropriated funds and disreputable legislation, disinfectants would double in price -within a week. Occasionally it happens that an unsophisticated farmer v.lO has spent the best years of his life in tilling the soil and attending to his own business, has the audacity to ask why it is that nearly all men in public life are lawyers and capitalists. His neighbor, who has perhaps devoted more time to the study o i those questions aCecting public welfare, and has arrived at that point wherein he does not know as

much hbotii it as when he began, answers: “Si that enacted laws may be legally constructed.” This seems plausible, though after turning the answer over to see the under side, our illiterj ate farted scratches his head several j times to get his mind in proper work- . iag order, concluding it queer that £ only those of his class come under the | ban, while the rascals all escape the [ meshes of it. 1 According to history, it has always l; been a disadvantage to be poor, and >! time does not seem to uavj improved the prospects. Added to that, it ”n----pears notv to be dishonorable to be in that delightful condition. When a man’s position is fixed, his ability i gauged, and his fitness for places of trust scheduled by tho amount of money he can command, as events seem to prove is the edict proclaimed in our present way of doing things, surely the | milienium approaches nigh. Take for instance the election of -■>. j United State senator. The first u 3 sideration by chose having the s.J j tion, is the size of the candidate's uu - ! rel, and the exact diameter of tho bung. | This satisfactory, the one making the 1 best exhibit is awarded the prize. To S tbe novice this prerminarv examiha- | tion would suggest corruption. Far | Irom it. This mode of procedure deter- - mines a degree of forethought in our legislators, worthy of a better cause, S and in perfect keeping with the ad- ] vanced age in which we exist. In short, ■ settles beforehand many porplexit iea ] which, under any other plan, complicaj lions would inevitably follow. It relieves the recipient of legislative f honor of great concern. He is not iia- < ble to become an inmate cf the poor- | house just when his services arc needed v to save his bleeding country. 2 His family will be able to entertain | in a manner becoming to thei • station; j while, if one of his daughte c should > marry a duke the latter will ~o certain jj of a living. { He can attend poker parties with impunity, feeling secure that if die other fellow held too many aces, c&- ring him | to go broke, the hall of legislation is . fall lobbyists who desire gratae ion [ to their pet measures and : re willing l : to buy reserved scats. | He is in a position where, the slock S markets can be looked after and wh ere, | if he secs an opportunity of in resting | a few thousands, drawinf out double j or treble the amount, car. do so; thus removing the temptation to speculate among his constituency. He is enabled to st'jr'r the tariff question in all its bea lr js. md assist in shaping legislation, • j an to be acceptable to himself and caUacigues, thus relieving tire r ;nds ' L the laboring class from fur ner y\ jrry on that j score. | While he' is a,' neW speaker, his con- ; ccptien of the Mat;' I j owes his country induces him. + > go nothing that, would obstruct tier .fwarj legislation* so instead cf spe iding three or four days at a time to (deliver* a scathing rabuke to , the people for 'trampling on plutoI cracy’s corns, hn has it prLntod in the ! Oongreßional Ihocord. It’s ea3ier to do ! t-’at, and aside, from the savirg of physical exertion, while it is being scattered broadcast, he can go homo, repair his fences sc i ■ another term, getting back to Wash ington in ample time to draw his srda -v. There is r« lother point in his favor. His exalted position renders it absolutely impossible to notice any of the common pea pie; those who by their franchise ma de it possible to attain the position he i ow holds. This imits the circle of his acquaintance; <installs his corresponds ice. so that a jrivato secretary, and. a stenographer paid from the public treasury, is sEfiViient, saving tho cm ntry many dollars that would havt .• been expeidut annually for extra cl orks, if he comdsscenced to notice>anyoi ne beneath hfcn. It is no wonder that high officials •”e not s« acted from the common ranks. Tin strain cause juent of evading the Ini r, and dodging interviews from a loi g-suffering pteeple, is too v ah to an y but those wbo have made k a busines s. It require? tact to make lx profitabl i.—A. O. Huffman, iar F&icago Expm ss.