ioo State Legislation 



demagogue who votes for a law to double the rate 

 of wages, rather than to the honest man who op- 

 poses it. When people are struggling for the neces- 

 saries of existence, and vaguely feel, no matter how 

 wrongly, that they are also struggling against an 

 unjustly ordered system of life, it is hard to con- 

 vince them of the truth that an ounce of perform- 

 ance on their own part is worth a ton of legislative 

 promises to change in some mysterious manner that 

 life-system. 



In the country districts justice to a member is 

 somewhat more apt to be done. When, as is so 

 often the case, it is not done, the cause is usually to 

 be sought for in the numerous petty jealousies and 

 local rivalries which are certain to exist in any small 

 community whose interests are narrow and most 

 of whose members are acquainted with each other; 

 and besides this, our country vote is essentially a 

 Bourbon or Tory vote, being very slow to receive 

 new ideas, very tenacious of old ones, and hence 

 inclined to look with suspicion upon any one who 

 tries to shape his course according to some standard 

 differing from that which is already in existence. 



The actual work of procuring the passage of a bill 

 through the Legislature is in itself far from slight. 

 The hostility of the actively bad has to be discounted 

 in advance, and the indifference of the passive ma- 

 jority, who are neither very good nor very bad, has 

 to be overcome. This can usually be accomplished 

 only by stirring up their constituencies ; and so, be- 

 sides the constant watchfulness over the course of 



