Page:Upbuilders by Lincoln Steffens.djvu/91



that in his letter to Governor Murphy. “What is the meaning of all this ?” And the letter gave the answer, and it is the answer we all must hear as those legislators heard it, writhing. “The answer is plain! A Republican legislature is controlled by the railroad, trolley, and water corporations.” So this honest Republican Mayor wrote; but he didn’t stop there. “And the interests of the people are being betrayed.”

After the reading, silence hung on that assembly. “I sat where I was,” says Colby, “stunned. It was my duty to reply. I was the leader. The others were waiting for me. And I? I couldn’t say a word. It was all true, every bit of it. Nobody moved for a dreadful space of time. Then Tom Hillory got up, and he defended us, all of us. I felt mean. I was sore, sore at myself, you understand; not at the Governor, not at the Penn; not at anybody else. I was sore at myself. It was true. We were dummies; we betrayed the people who elected- us.”

“Do legislators commonly understand that?” I asked.

“They must. I don’t know. They must and yet, how can they ? It isn’t easy to explain. A fellow is moved by a lot of mixed-up considerations. Take my case. I saw it as Mark Fagan described it. I had more facts than he had, knew