Rensselaer Republican, Volume 21, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 January 1889 — THEY WILL DO ANYTHING. [ARTICLE]

THEY WILL DO ANYTHING.

Benator Carpenter, of Shelby and Decatur counties, was robbed of his seat in the Senate, by the Boorhon bulldozers, on the pretense of bribery, but in not a single instance was it shown that he paid any man for his vote or that any man voted for him for money. All that was proven was that he had handed fifty dollars to a county chairman, to be used for his benefit and paid S3O to a democratic barber to enable him, (thebarber) to hire a man to stay in his shop while he was out working for Carpenter. The case made out against Mr. Carpenter was trivial and simply contemptible and would not have received a moment’s consideration in any court of justice, but the democrats in the Senate wanted to strengthen and perpetuate their bold upon that body, and so Mr. Carpenter yas tamed out, regardless of law or justice.

Senate S. P. Thompson has been uncommonly active in the way of preparing and introducing bills, during the present session of the Legislature. Among these are bills for the government of the state benevolent institutions, for controling and regulating the elections and providing fora state system of school text books; and forregulating the liquor traffic. In addition to these he is the author and sponsor of a whole shoal of minor measures, so many indeed, that it may be truly be called a cold day when "Our Simon” fails to get to the front with a bill of some kind. Of course he belongs to the wrong party to hope to get many of his measures favorably acted upon, although some of them appear to be in a good way for a final passage. Among these are his bills to compel railroad companies to give notice to passengers of delayed trains and exempting paupers and ex-soldiers from work on the roads. His bill regulating the benevolent institutions has also been reported upon favorably, by the proper committee, and consequently stands some chance of becoming a law.

■* The political dependants now in the employ of the two houses of the Indiana General Assembly number 127, and the daily cost is •8 follows: Doorkeepers V® s House Clerk's force 70 Force of tile Assistant Clerk of the House » Five committee Clerks of the House .. . 4# Seven pages of the House:. V..,. M Secretary of Senate and Clerks 40 Assistant Secretary of the Senate ami Clerks... » Senate committee clerks... - c - ■ Bight Senate pages .. * Total. •MS At this rate there will be paid out of the State treasury for this army of employes for the season the enormous earn of $35,000! Any competent business man would be willing to provide the service for which that amount of money' is paid for one-fourth of thirty-five thousand dollars, with the assurance that such a contract could be made a source of more clear profit than could be nude oatjof any ordinary business transaction. —Lafayette Conner.

The Majority Does Not Rule in Indiana. Some Facta From, Hon. |H. L DeMotic Showing How Tbe Hourbon Bulldozers of Indiana Trample Upon the Right* of the People. , Hepdblican : The Indiana Legislature is now in the third week qf its labors. It began in a useless defiance of the will of Urn People and a plain violation of the constitution and laws of the state. Just what was intended by the course they parsued is not apparent It is my opinion that the violent exclusion of Lt Gov. Robertson was an effort on their part to bully the people and give a little courage to their followers after their sore defeat at the|recent election. -1 The honest, intelligent, democratic voter is now confronted with the following: ! In 1886 the democratic party was left in the minority on tbe popalar vote for members of the Qeneral Assembly, by more than twelve thousand votes, yet a majority of democrats were returned, and that party was enabled to control the legislation of the state. In 1888, that party was left again in the minority on the legislative vote and yet elected a working majority of the members. The vote would have entitled the republicans to twenty-six Senators aud fifty-three members. Instead of that the Democrats, who polled four thousand less votes than the Republicans, have twenty-seven Senators out of fifty, aud fifty-seven representatives oat of one hundred. The majority docs not rule. The fundamental principle of our government is that the majority shall rule. What is the matter? In looking at the apportionment law of this state he finds the following: The democratic counties of Brown, Hancock, Owen, Tipton and, Franklin polled at the election of 1888, 22,228 votes and they elected to the present Legislature six representatives aud three Senators, while the counties of Elkhart, Randolph, Wabash, Jay, i Kosciusko and Grant polled 44,1 228 votes aad elect three Senators and six Representatives. In other wopds, the law framed by democrats makes the vote of one democrat in Brown county count as much as the votes of two republicans in Elkhart

While the State is almost evenly divided between the republicans and democrats the law is so framed that it will take a republican majority of nearly 30,000 to carry both branches of the legislature. The plain democratic voter condemns this, hence each year the vote on the legislative ticket is less than on the general ticket. Knowing that a majority of the people have twice pronounced against them, and that in all human probability they can never regain the confidence of the people, they ate making a desperate effort to get all they can. They are proposing to cieate new offices and fill them with party favorites, to take from the Governor the power of appointment given him by law', to take from the people of Indianapolis the power to elect their own officers, to take from offices now filled by republicans the most lucrative part of their duties and give them to others, all their new officials to be elected by the legislature. It is a plain undisguised attempt to rob the people of their right to choose theirjflficers, and take from those already elected the duties the people chose them to discharge, and give them to party favorites whom the people refused to elect. Many republicans here, and a few fair minded democrats believe that the democrats in the Legislature dare not do as they are intimating they will do. In the light of two years ago, I do not hesitate to say they trill do anything. They seem to have lost sight of everything but their party. Preparatory to Ihe passage of such legislation they prepared rules for the government of the Senate by which they can completely shut off all debate, thereby preventing the people from knowing what they propose to do, and leaving the republican Senators and members no other alternative than to spread a protest on record. It is essentially a "gag law” disgraceful to any body of fair minded men. In the Senatorial district composed of Shelby and Decatur counties, which gave Matson for Governor, a ma jority of 330, Scott Ray the democratic candidate for Senator was beaten by Carpenter, Republican, 79 votes, Ray contested and on Friday last they voted Carpenter out. The evidence showed that Carpenter had given the Republican committee SSO to be disbursed in bis interest, that he had given to various democrats who were for him $29 more. That

| the money was not intended to be used for bribing voters, and not one cent of it wan*so used. Yet the democratic majority branded Carpenter as a briber and voted him . oat. Your Senator, S. P. Thompson, managed the case for the Republicans, and made an able legal argument one which, as applied to the case was unanswerable, bat the law, it seems, amounts to nothing with a democratic legislator when it is in the way of a party advantage. write you nguin. .Yours, Hark L. De Motts.