The Price of a Free Ride
Seattle's press praises legislators who refused corporate-funded train passes, calling the practice a form of bribery.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
We note with approval a response of the Tacoma Ledger regarding members of the present Legislature: 'that two passes issued by the N.P.R.R. and six passes issued by the O.R. & N. Co. to members of the present Legislature were courteously but promptly returned.' We are glad to make prominent this attitude. In refusing to accept these courtesies, a number of the Legislature does no more than should be done by every independent man. Both the tender and acceptance of a free pass involve the principle of bribery. It is further evident that no legislator is in need of a free ride, because his employers, the people, have amply provided for his traveling expenses while on public business. Every deviation from this principle, however slight, marks a step on dangerous ground. 'No man can serve two masters' is as true now as when spoken nearly nineteen hundred years ago.
“It is further evident that no legislator is in need of a free ride, because his employers, the people, have amply provided for his traveling expenses while on public business.”
This 1883 editorial reflects the Gilded Age obsession with the corrupting influence of railroad monopolies on Washington state politics. It serves as an early ancestor to today's debates regarding lobbyist influence, campaign finance reform, and the 'revolving door' between public office and private industry.
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