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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 11, 1904)
r 'i'""' NOVHMBBE It 1IM The Commoner. 11 Popular Election of U. S. Senators In 17S7 scarcely a state elected its governor And higher officials by popu lar vote. Now there is no state in the forty-five "which elects its governor by the legislature. Why should -each of these states continue to elect its two senators by a method it has con demned as to the election of its gov ernor? The interest of consolidated 'wealth In the election of senators is far greater than it is in the choice of governors, and the corrective of popu lar choice is therefore more needed. A little consideration will show that under the present system it 1b possible for a skillful combination (and money combinations are always skilful) to se cure the United States senator in each of the close states if' it can obtain control of one-sixteenth of the voters or even less. Let us see. Take a close state which casts 400,000 votes. A majority of the legislature is elected from counties having 200,000 votes, or less when (as is often the case) there is a gerrymander. A majority lr the caucus, which controls the party's choice, is therefore chosen from coun ties having 100,000 votes. But nearly half of these were of the opposite poli tical party, leaving the majority of the caucus chosen by 50,000 voters. These members were nominated in the con ventions in their' respective counties by a majority only of their party, l. e., by delegates representing say 25,000 voters or less which is one-sixteenth THE VALUE OF CHARCOAL. Fw ropl JKaevr Hew TJafl it la la Preserving: Healtk at Beauty. Nearly everybody Knows that char coal is the safest and most efficient disinfectant and purifier in nature, but few realize itB value when taken, into the human system for. the same clean sing purpose. Charcoal is a remedy tha. the more you take of it tho better, it is not a drug at all, but simply absorbs the gases and impurities always present in the stomach ani in ;es tires and car ries them out of the system. Charcoal sweetens the breath after smoking, drinking or after eating onions and other odorous vegetables. Charcoal effectually clears and im proves the complexion, it whitens the teeth ana further acts as a natural and eminently safe cathartic. It absorbs tho injurious gases which collect in the stomacn ana bowels; it disinfects tho mouth and throat from poison of catarrh. All druggists sell charcoal in one form or another, but pmbobly the best charcoal and the most of the money is in Stuart's Charcoal Lozenges; they are composed of the finei powdered "Willow charcoal, and other harmless antiseptics in tablet form or rather in the fo.'na of large, pleasanc tasting loz enges, the charcoal being mixed with honey. The daily use of these lozenges will soon tell in a much improved condi tion of. the general, health, better com plexion, sweeter breath and purer blood, and the beauty of it is, that no possible harm can result from their -continued use, hut on the contrary, great benefit A Buffalo physician in speaking of the benefits of charcoal, says: "I ad vise Stuart's Charcoal Lozenges to all patients suffering from gas in stom ach and bowels, and to clear the com plexion and purifr tho breath, mouth and throat; i also believe the liver ia greatly benefited by the daily use of them; they post buu twenty-five cents a box lit drug stoies, and al though in somes ense a patent prepara tion, yet I believe r get more and cotter charcoal in, Stuart's Charcoal Lozenges than In any, of the ordinary chaVcoml-':tblets; " of the 400,000 voters of the state Tho money combinations to whom tho choice of senators is all Important have money and skilful maniuuia.ors. They pick their counties. With iieo passes to tho conventions over rail roads and by other methods it is easy to secure tho roqulsito delegates in the county party conventions who repre sent these 25,000 voters and thus nawo tho nominees who shall, when elected, cdnstltuto a majority of tho caucus which shall name the senator. Tho counties belonging to tho minority party aro neglected by the manipula tors, as also are the counties boiong lng to the majority party which are difficult to handle. Tho monjy com bination wastes no money. Tnat this is not a fanciful sKetch will be recalled by tho many instances In, divers states in which the caucus nominee ol the money power has received ono or two majority injthe caucus. It is true this great disparity could happen only in close states, but it demonstrates that in any state tho election of senators can be controlled by a small but skil ful minority under the present system. There is another objection to the election of the United States senator by the legislature in that the voters of the dominant party residing in counties in which that party is In a minority aro utterly without influence" or voice in the selection of senator, whereas in the election of senator by popular vote very voter, irrespective of the county of his residence would have an opportunity to express his wishes, in such an election the United States senator must be the expressed choice at the ballot box of more voters than shall cast their ballots for any other man, and his nomination must be made by the majority in the nominat ing convention of the successful party representing, say one-fourth of the voters, subject to approval by a ma jority of the whole people at tho bal lot box. By this method of election a United States senator must be the choice of the state ho represents as fully as the governor is. In th-3 present mode of legislative election, the voice of his own party Is stifled and unrep resented in all those counties in which, being in the minority, it shall fail to elect the member of the legislature. Then again the voters of the counties electing members to the legislature belonging to the dominant party are also disfranchised if those members do not belong to tho majority faction of the caucus. Another very serious objection to the legislative mode of chooams, sen ators is tho freauent "deadlocKs or protracted contests, which tke up a large part of the time which should be devoted to the legitimate dutj of legislation. The expense to the pub lic is no small item, and the frequent attendant scandals are not . edifying, and all this could be avoided by choos ing the United States senators the same day and by the same method the members of the lower house of congress are chosen. The selection of members of the legislature often with an eye solely to their preferences for senator and in total disregard of their fitness for legislation or views on pub lic questions or their personal charac ters frequently leads to serious incon venience. It Is no proper part of a legislator's functions or duties to be an elector for senator and the two du ties should not be combined. Members of congress are not constituted electors for president Yet they might be with as much appropriateness. The present mode of electing sena tors does not give any approximate se curity of selecting the choice of the state as its representative to the hall of federal embassadors, each of whom should be able to speak for the state and not as tho agent of tho corpora tions doing business therein or a small manipulated fraction of Its voters. The change to election by tho pecpio would greatly lessen tho chaucct lor corruption. Tho members of tho party convention of tho state brought to gether directly from tho people nnJ so soon dispersed again among thtm aro not so subject to tho subtlo arts ot tho corporation lobbyists and wirj pullers which aro brought to bear on the niem bor of the legislature as soon as his nomination is probable (if indeed tbey do not procure his nomination) and continued till after tho election ot sen ator is over when, lileo a squeezed lem on, he is thrown aside. Besides the party convention is Accessible to public opinion, being conscious that its etioice, is not wisely made, Is liable to rejec tion at the polls. No such rcsponsl oility attaches to tho deliberations of a legislative caucus. A mistake there made, or a defiant disregard of public sentiment, Is subject to no ratification by the people and is without remedy for six years. There can bo a furthor check upon delegates to state party conventions in that popular choice for senator can bo indicated by a primary election. A senator in office mny bo tempted to disregard tho will of his state If ho knows he can by use of public patron age,, or other means, secure, as above shown, the control of tho one-sixteenth of the voters who compose a majority in the nominating conventions of those counties which send a majority ot the legislators of the dominant party. But he will pause, when he knows that his ro-nomination must command tho ap proval of a majority of his party con vention and that its action in turn must bo ratified by a majority or at least a plurality (if there are more than two parties) of the votes of the entire state at the ballot box The two senators are intended to represent the state. Thoy can not truly do so unless chosen by the whole state. At present as already pointed out large sections of each slate are absolutely disfranchised and have no weight whatever in the choice ol its senators, because not sending to the legislature members belonging to tho dominant party. The bill to modernize the choice of senators by transferring it from the legislature to the people of each state has passed tho lower house of congress several times and once at least by a unanimous vote and onco with only two dissenting votes, but the measure has heretofore found Its grave in the senate itself, which does not with to go on record on the question. The leg islatures in moro than twent) states have instructed in favor of the meas ure, Oregon, California, Idaho, Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, "West Vir ginia and Illinois and thero may be others. The constitution of Nebraska requires that tho choice of senator shall be submitted to the people at the ballot box the same day members of tho legislature are chosen, but this nec essarily has only a moral force which would certainly bo disregarded if (as is not unusual) tho majority of the state on the -popular vote should be for one party while the majority e'eeled to the legislature should belong to, the op posite party. In many states che Unit ed States senator Is nominated by the state party conventions and the nomi nees of that party for tho legislature are deemed pledged to vote for him, according to the similar custom now obtaining as to electors for president There are also many states whose stututes provide for primary elections for United States senator. This expe dient Js the best possible' undei the circumstances perhaps and should be resorted to till we amend ths consti tution by frankly giving to the people of each state the right to choose the 68-Page Book . - anUrial Free Cur All Uric Acid Diseases1- Kldneya Bladder", Rheumatism. Trmn Trrnl merit J'rowa Urn Cum? Frm XI lailrntrd jk THa ll About lt- 8fml for Them Until Tndny. " To Readers ofthe Comrm ner If you orjinr- ?u c ." know 0 I" ncrInRr from a dlses-i of tho klilticja, tho Muffler or any farm o. rheu malum, you lire urgently invited tonrtitl name find I address to get n free trial treatim-nt ofnwon- acriul nou-nlcobollcdlcrovcrybr t ('celebrated Kidney Disease Bladder Trouble jRheum&tism mm i xb3mf5V iv jus, f3?JKlymM The Underground "L" Tho running of the train In tha subway can be hoard distinctly in soino of the basements of the buildings along HHin street Thero is a basement barber shop at Elm and Franklin streets. 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