The record-union., 1896-06-06


gain advantage at the cost of another.
So widely scattered are the locations
of our State institutions that 1t would
be possible for the delegations of the
counties containing these asylums and
schools to combine and dominate the
State. Indeed, it is by no means i'm
probable that this may be done, and 1t
is susceptible of proof that to some ex-
tent such combinations have been made,
and always in the interest Of attack
upon the treasury.
The wise thing for California to have
done, the economic thing for her would
have been to cluster her State insti-
tutions as closely as possible. The policy
of distribution which she has adopted
has been, and is one entailing perpetual,
enormous and largely useless cost upon
the people.
Thus the expenses of government
maintenance are greatly increased to
suit of this bad policy we find that
needed legislation is impeded, celerity
in the dispatch of business in the Legis-
lature is prevented and economy in the
conduct of government is defeated, be-
cause, we repeat, of the sectional idea
that each and every county having
within it's bounds State institution
must secure for it the largest possible
measure of favor and appropriations
possible.
These, however, are by no means all
the evils due to this false and danger
Gus sectional idea. There are others
of a political nature and equally as
grave and uneconomic, and some
OF these we shall hereafter con-
slider. The people of California need to
awaken to the true significance of these
evils, to rise to higher levels of concep-
ton of State economy, and to crush out
the sectionalism which looks upon the
State as legitimate prey, and it's revenue
as incitement to legalized plundering.
The San Francisco Examiner" Is en-
gagged these days in the congenial task
Of abusing the Supreme Court. because
it anticipates a decision in the matter
Of Assessor Siebe that will be adverse
to its own peculiar ideas of what the
law is. The Examiner is not, how
ever, alone in attempting to set up a
tribunal in the land to which the courts
of the country must be subservient or
take the punishment the sensational
and lurid press attempts to inf1ict
There is, unhappy, altogether too
great readiness on the part of large
number of the press Of the day to do
the work of the courts, to take instant
position against them, to decide cases
IL advance of their hearing, and to d.
rect Judges what to hold, and warn
them of the wrath of the newspaper
mony with the views of the journals.
The thing has run to such a length of
late that in many instances litigants Of
financial capacity have found it advis-
able to retain a newspaper as well as
counsel and attorneys when litigation
comes on. This may be a very shame
full, but it is the true condition Of
affairs, and that it will continue is
a thought that will disturb sincere low
ers of the institutions of the land. If
the press is to usurp the functions of
l1,,yIxx
them, as the present disposition indi-
Gates, the condition Of the people under
such a system will be that of slavery.
The freedom to criticise and review, to
express opinion opposed to the inter-
probation of the courts, and to sharply
denounce are rights that no one will
think Of abrogating Of or limiting. But
beyond this, the systematic assaults
upon the courts in partisan interest;
the attempts to infiame the people
against them; the persevering labor
engaged in to excite in the minds of
the people animosity against the tri-
bunals of their own choosing; the rep
TGSG0IdIlOn l0dl the Judges elecIeQ Dy
the people are unmaking the laws of the
people, and setting up codes Of their
own, in defiance Of the rights of the
people-all these things are adverse to
our liberties, feed the fires of unreason-
able discomfort, and warp the public
mind dangerously. Between the tyr
amy of the sensational press as repre-
sented by such mendacious sheets as
the San Francisco Examiner and any
possible clipping of human liberty by
the courts, the people had far better
choose the latter, though as a matter
Of fact the courts do not only not cut
short the people of the freedom guar
anteed by the Constitution and the
laws, but they stand as the chief
shield and buckler of the liberties of a
free people under a constitutional form
Of Government
The Dramatic Mirror" says that the
hope of the elevation Of the stage lies
in the education of the actor. That has