State Legislation 101 



the measure through both houses and the continual 

 debating and parliamentary fencing which is neces- 

 sary, it is also indispensable to get the people of dis- 

 tricts not directly affected by the bill alive to its 

 importance, so as to induce their representatives to 

 vote for it. Thus, when the bill to establish a State 

 Park at Niagara was on its passage, it was found 

 that the great majority of the country members were 

 opposed to it, fearing that it might conceal some 

 land- jobbing scheme, and also fearing that their con- 

 stituents, whose vice is not extravagance, would not 

 countenance so great an expenditure of public 

 money. It was of no use arguing with the mem- 

 bers, and instead the country newspapers were 

 flooded with letters, pamphlets were circulated, vis- 

 its and personal appeals were made, until a sufficient 

 number of these members changed front to enable 

 us to get the lacking votes. 



LIFE IN THE LEGISLATURE 



As already said, some of us who usually acted 

 together took a great deal of genuine enjoyment 

 out of our experience at Albany. We liked the ex- 

 citement and perpetual conflict, the necessity for 

 putting forth all' our powers to reach our ends, and 

 the feeling that we were really being of some use 

 in the world; and if we were often both saddened 

 and angered by the viciousness and ignorance of 

 some of our colleagues, yet, in return, the latter 

 many times unwittingly furnished us a good deal 

 of amusement by their preposterous actions and 



