Show an old aid time congress Con reta chicago chronicle the present congress revives recollections of the congress of nearly a quarter of a century ago the purlie purlieus ua us ot of both tac houses ase 9 are crowded with a corrupt and corrupting lobby the house Is making grabs for itself what its relations with the lobby are may be gathered from the countenance given to thu tho atrocious steal proposed by huntington in the petition that the government against its own interest and solely in the interest of huntington shall expend mill ioas of dollars uaen upon art improvement pro at santa monica to make a terminal which shall be Hunting tons mild nobody alses it is shown also in the standing which has been ae ad quiren by a bill introduced by james S sherman bherman ot of utica N Y providing with references to the interstate om 0 m merce merab act that the government chall ahall hereafter prosecute cute corporations instead of individuals for violation of its terms that when hen a corporation is indicted the writ may be served on one of its officers and that the punishment for violation of the act shall not be imprisonment but a fine of the interstate commerce act has been obeyed by carriers where it was their interest to do so evaded and defied by them also when they felt such course profitable the administration of a measure at no time efficient has been puerile the marvel is that carriers should deem it necessary to place a lobby at washington for the purpose of repealing the provision for or the imprisonment of convicted offenders convictions have been few and far between the supreme court however has recently shown bbown a purpose to sustain the law in some points and it is probably in apprehension of further drastic interpretation by the supreme court that this clause of shermans Sher mans is now under way foisted by the lobby to which a republican congress readily responds legislators at washington are very much inclined to palter with the people the interstate commerce act held the word of promise to the ear and broke it to the hope the sherman antitrust law was of like character made to took look well in print and not to be operative in the courts give the republican party full swing at the national capital and we will have return of that most corrupt era in american legislation some disclosure of which was made in the credit mo biller investigation the belknap inquiry the whisky ring disclosures the back pay grab and all and singular the performances of a party that in 1876 stole the presidency and supposed its reign of power perennial |