Worthlessness of the Average Petition.
The New York Christian Advocate truthfully says that “nothing is worth less as an index of public opinion than the average petition.” To this it adds the citation of a joke once played upon a minister, by securing his signature to a petition asking for himself a license to keep a saloon. He signed it, as hundreds of people sign petitions, without reading it. In an interior California city, a man who was quite well known circulated a petition recommending himself for a certain Federal office. In course of time everybody was surprised to learn that he had secured a different office. The petitioners were anxious to have the incumbent of the first office superseded, but were much disappointed at the removal of the one who occupied the position which the petitioner had secured. He had simply used the signatures for another purpose than that designed by the signers. But the most deceptive and mischievous of all petitions is what is called the “representative petition;” that is, counting as signers all the members of any church or society of any kind, on the vote of a few who may be present for the occasion. By this kind of petition individuals may be “represented” many times. Strange as it may seem, this exceedingly dishonest method has been adopted for the purpose of furthering the interests of religious legislation in Congress and in state Legislatures. The managers of the Bureau of Reforms (or religious lobby) have urged this scheme in order to press the proposed religious amendment to the Constitution. And yet it is not strange; for a religion that stoops to ask for state aid may be expected to adopt any means to further its cause.