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Show fMlEODOEltelllT j j $ A Remedy for Some k Forms of Selfish Legislation H. prlnt.l tr..m an article hr Ttieeilore n,.,... ll le Th- r;;ll""V. ' r .,,.,.,t arr.i i.ut II. nil with '1 l.i, ii.Hli.'.ii ef wtil.-n I h.,,i"f P uno.fVrii m , , , , ,m t.l. I..r I'n.yriylit. 1I0. b 'Ilia nutlui.fc uiiiliil. All IUl.l. It..,,,,,, an j iai 111 A it.iit tiutnl.er ol tl.e -Jk Ui.rl.l Wiirk nuitnltlK nil I y fl ?' "f"'1' "lit' I' ' of Itileirat I ? n4H t., 'i iim ii.hi'.Tii. .1 111 ; w-1 'h.' villi I aiihlei-t 1" which Jl e CIO' the -ollioMhat tilt ! gv title of ' I'otlll. :il Hi'foi lh " The I article, for i..l.ou. rcnn.t.H ntioit 1 inrnijt, h written by n niettilier of! i-oiiari'iia h.., tin- e Ilium nf thel World'a Work any. luia aerve.l for ! iitoti tlinti teti yenra In the hnuhe fif repreaenmilvea. Ittin m ted on many Itn fin Hint roininlil... . tin. I lin been mic 1 CBful In "getting thlntta ' for hla rnliatltiienry. The Mttli le la deai rlbed . aa 'Chiming the region why the 'pork barrel-, epi i lal tnrlft fiivota, and prl vale pennlon btlln become law." the reason being, to quote the aonla of the author, that "the dictum of the ciiimtltuency to the congr unman It tlet all you an for I'M' There nre no retrlctlotia placed upnti hla method meth-od of getting It t'til II the American people themailvea become more national and lcna local, until remit It ut'ttcli'H crape to regard their roiigreaamen na aollcttora at the national trcnaury. rotigreaa will continue con-tinue to ennet Inliiultoua grottpa tif local lo-cal favora Into natlonnl leglalatlon." Thfa aerlnua charge agnlnat the American people for which there la iinipieatlnnnbly nltogether too much Juatlflcatlon the author priK'ecila to auliHtantlnte by ri-latlng aome ! hla own exrerlencea allh coiiKtltuenlN which, however aurirlplng they may peem to the genernt rentier, will eeent aliiioat conimontilaca to nil who know how the nveriifte conatltuenry tliH'a In nctual prnctlie treat Itn rnngreahnian The wrlti-r netn forth the fai t that. In the llrnt place, ninety tier cent, of the lettera which a congreNPtnau re-celvea re-celvea lire reqiieHta for apodal favora to be obtained In aome way or other, directly or Indirectly, from the Pulled Statea tronfiiry. For liiMtance, while the Pnyne-Alilrlch tariff law waa under un-der iIIpciikhIoii, I Ii In particular ron-grenamnn ron-grenamnn received In May. IHO'i. the following letter from the aecretary of a powerful commercial aaaoclatlon In hla dlatrlrt: "I have been Inatrtirted bv the Ixmrd of dlrectora of thta nasoclntlon to ad viae you that at aperlal meeting May :o, g reaolutlon, ropy of which la In-cloned, In-cloned, waa unanlmoualy adopted, urg Ing our repn aentatlvea In rotigreaa to uae every endeavor to have the proa ent tariff In (mentioning three of the prodiieta of the Induetrlea referred tot Increaaed one cent per pound and the pro ent tariff on I mentioning the nth er two prodiieta 1 Increnned half a cent per pound. I wlnh to further t.ilvlne you that wa hnvo heard from Senator and he Informa ua that he will take care of Ihla matter In the aenate." When the bill waa finally punned, the rongrennman aucrceded In adding half a rent a pound to the duty on two uf theae prodiieta and In prevent. Ing any reduction on the othera A year later, when the popular clamor agalnat the bill had become acute, the aame anaoclntlon that hod nnked hlin to vote for Increaaea wrote to the eongreaaman denouncing the bill aa "the moat Inlmiltoua meaaure ever enacted en-acted by rongreaa" and requnatlng Mm 10 explain by letter why he had voted with "the Iteaellonarlea" to paaa the bill. When It waa pointed nut to the aaaoclatlon that It had urged the rongreaantun to obtain nn Increane of duly on the prodiieta In which It waa Intereated, It droptied Ita demand for an explanation. An Influential newa-puper newa-puper published In hla dlatrlel editorially edi-torially commended hltn while the hill waa under debate for hla "Intelligent efforta" to Inrreane the duty fin mnnii fartured nrtlclea In which the dlatrlrt waa liilcrealed. and a year later the aame newapaper In the aame editorial column denounced hlin aa fine of "the li'glalath'e banditti renponnlble for the Payne-Aldrlch meaaure " Illver and harbor leglalatlon la another an-other fleld In whlrh lornl aolllnkneaa bunlea Itaelf, to the exrlnnlon of national na-tional needa. In thla tjiae reiiteata are not made bv letter hut by delega-tlona delega-tlona which rome to Wanhltigton be-nli be-nli glng ihi-lr Hetinlora und repn nentn-Uvea. nentn-Uvea. "There In," aaya the frank writer of thla article, "figuratively apeaklng, between .'.0.(i(lft ftin and f f0.-000.000 f0.-000.000 on the table to be divided. The committee dlvldea It an that every one la aatlalled, nt leant to a reanonahle extent." Kvery one, that la. hut the people at larire. the (eople who have no apeclal mtorcHt to nerve, and who feel ( keenly Indignant that the rlvera and harbor tif the Pnlted Ktntea nre develoied In a fashion ao Inferior to that of Kurnpe. Nor are ull the ri ipiestn for legla lnllon merely. One I'litintltnent de aired to have thta particular cfingreuH-man cfingreuH-man put hla name on the free mailing Hat for nil public doeumeiita. That thla would be Imponntblc, becnune H would mean delivering to tho applicant appli-cant aeveral tona of docuinonta every month, doea not In the allghteat detract from the Intereat of Iho fuet elicited by an Inveailcatlon that the applicant waa the manufacturer of an article made 'rote ute paper, and the public doo- tltiientn would affot.1 a i,' 1, fu nourf-e nf raw luntertiil In there a r -,h f..t .11, -l, ...,! nf thing? The nii-wir Ii nd. moreoker. It In a rent..! , 1 ' ,,.n greea can ltef l;,. iie.'.it. e There l no I'M let. , , ,,( tolllki . No f" 'ii'll-e i i.ii I . ..,..1 which cut .ret ei.t mil ., i , aa that 1, 1 the cm- 'Ii 11 1. 1 . , ,, 1 k.llii wlnhe.l imli.i. ,1-1, Hm In hla prlitite paper l u-in. tpientn like tt-.ln luereli n ,-.01 ti-nt In every dlntrlet Indlvldunli. tl u,aa III- fllllllil Willi Will reipli't ,i;,,,,ef favorn. An regard ii,.v,. p..p,.. all that can be done In to i t. ate a ttaor-oua ttaor-oua public opinion an optinon Mch nhall not only make I' ut trfortahtt for tnjy man lo .!, leand m, h fnmra. but which nhall cor.llalh nii.t.ort tha ctigri nxninii In refilling them ami hold him nccouiitiilile f,.r gtatitlttfj them rotigrena ban now. and han loni I had. the power to rid Itn uirttibern ol nlinont nil the Improper preantire brought to bear upon the Individual by epcclal Inlerentn great and ninall. local and uietriin.ltati on auch aub Jecln ua tariff bgtnlatlen. river and harbor b relation, ntid pen-Ion legla latlon t'ongrenn ban not exerrlai'd thin tmwer; chiefly h, cnunn of what I am bound to regard nn a very nhort nlghted and unvkUe belief that It la hi math Ha dignity to delegate any ol Itn fiinrtlonn lly Ing a rule which would forbid the reception or pannage of anv H iinliin hill nave the pcnalon li'Klnlatlon recomtneiiile.1 by the rom-mlnnlolier rom-mlnnlolier of pennlnnn Ithln of celirae to be rejected fir nun nded an eongrean "iiw fit. but not no amended aa to liif-ludii any apeclal or private legla hit Ion I, congrcna would at once do nway with the ponnlblllty of Itn mem hern being aitblect to local iirenaure lor Improper private petmlun bllln, and at the name time guarantee proper treatment for the veternn who really doea dcarrve to have everything dont for him that the country ran nl'trd. In the rnne of tho tariff and th river end herfceo rilallloii, what III needed In earh rane la ample povi nlon for a commlnnlnn of the hlghral ponnlble grade, rompoaed of ttini who thoroughly know the auhjert, aid whe poanrnn every attribute requped for the performance of the great and dlf-mull dlf-mull taak of frnnilng In outline the leglnlntlon that the country, aa dla tlngulaheil from apeclal Inlerentn. renlly needa. Thene men. from th very nature of the cane, will be wholly free from the local prenaure of aiierlal Interenta ao kei-nly felt by every man who la dependent upon the vole of a particular dlatrlrt every two yeara for Ma rontlnuanro In publlr Ufa Burh a river and harbor commlnnlnn rould report, and probably would report, re-port, a great and comprehennlve national na-tional arhemn for river and harbor Ira prnvomcnta nt to be ronalibTed by the people aa a whole upon Itn mrrlti. and not dependent for enactment Into law upon a ayatem nf log rolling dealgncd to placate aperlal Ititereiia which are powerful In each of many arore rnngrranlnnal dlatrlcta Such a tariff commlnnlnn could get at the facta of labor coat here and abroad by expert Inquiry, and not by the ar re pt a nee of Intereated teatlntnny: auch a rnmmlanlon rould conalder dlapaa nlonately the probable effort upon the entire aorlal and economic body of all rhangea In any given branch of the tariff, and Ita rerommendatlnnj would repreaent the exerclae of careful judgment from a dlalutereated aland point. Bnrh a rnmmlanlon rould work In harmony with tho romnilaalnner of i labor ao na to Inaure that the labor era for whom the tariff la panned get the full beneflt of It; for the mnlor port of the benefit of a protective tariff nhould unqiieatlonnbly go to the wageworkora. Even under lurh rondltlona of tariff making errora might be rommlttrd, but they would be merely thnao errora of dlalntereated Judgment Inrldental to every kind of publlr or, for the mat ter of thai, private effort, and the work would not be hampered from the be ginning by the need of gratifying prl- : vntn nclflKlinona. It la only In thla way that tariff leglalatlon, river and harbor h-gnla-lion, and penalon leglalatlon can ha treated from the ataudpolnt of I'tin rlple and not from tho very low ntutid point of prlvlb gn and preference The ohntaclo hitherto to tho ndoptli.:. 'if nuch a method of treatment han coma from the queer dlnllke felt by no many congrenalonnl leadera to a .rnurn" of action which they (quite unjuatlflahly) feel would In aome way be a limitation of their powera. I think thla feeling In panalng. It la altnply another In Blanco of the kind of feeling which itiakea aome executlvea aunplctoua about delegating their work to any nubnrdlnate, and which tnakoa many votera, who have not pondered the mnttor deeply, denlre to elect great n 1101 turn of people on a ticket of ate h length that tt la out of the queatlon for any exropt profeeelonal polltlcluna to know much about them. THEODORE ROOSEVELT. |