no
proof. Both gratitude and fear tie the average politician to the
powerful forces which can control his political destiny.

The railroad manager, on the other hand, always kindly remembers his
officeholding friends as long as they are loyal and in a position to
serve him. Before the enactment of the Interstate Commerce Act there was
every year a wholesale distribution of railroad passes among public
officeholders and other prominent politicians. The pass was the token of
the continued good will of the railroad dignitaries as the withholding
of the "courtesy" was a certain indication of their displeasure. If the
officeholder had personal or political friends whom he desired to have
recognized, an intimation of this desire was generally sufficient to
have the pass privilege even extended to them. And yet these favors were
not bestowed indiscriminately. Thus the pass credit of a county official
was more limited than that of an officer of the State, and the latter
class were again rated according to their influence and rank.
Furthermore, while annual passes were thus freely distributed among one
class of officials, others could obtain them only by making special
application for them. Members of the legislature would not unfrequently
receive their supply of railroad passes before their certificates of
election were issued, but legislative committee clerks and employes in
the various departments of the State government were required to satisfy
the railroad authorities that they were in a position to aid or to
injure the railroad cause before their names were placed on the list of
persons "entitled to the courtesy".

Of course the judiciary, as a coordinate branch of the government, could
not well be slighted. Indeed, previous to the enactment of the
Interstate Commerce Law, a judge would have regarded it an affront if he
had not been furnished with passes by the various companies operating
railroads in his district. It appears that the law has not entirely
corrected this abuse, for only about two years ago the Chicago _News_
made the discovery that nearly every judge in the city of Chicago
traveled on passes. It is strange to what extent the pass often debased
the judiciary. It was not unfrequent for judges to solicit passes for
family and friends, and instances might be named where they demanded
them in a wholesale way.

The impudent demands were usually honored by the railroad authorities,
who reasoned that they could