The Hawaiian star. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu]) 1893-1912, 1908-01-01
BLACK HARSH CRITIC
OF THE PRESIDENT.
EX-GOVERNOR or NEW YORK ON
CREATION or NEW TYPE. THE
MAN ON THE BARREL"

CONCORD, n. a.. Dee ~ Frank $.
Black. former Governor Of New York.
was the principal speaker at the an
nual meeting of the New Hampshire
Bar Association, held in the Supreme
Court room in this city this afternoon.
Vice President Edwin T.. Jones. Of Man
chester was in the the chair.
Nr. Black was a severe critic Of the
late policies, views and uttterances OF
President Roosevelt and coined new
phrase, The man on the head of the
barrel, which his hearers took to refer
to Mr.. Roosevelt
The speaker declared that the Sher-
man antitrust law was Ineffective as
the weapon of the present Administra-
ton in the suppressing of corporations.
sins because the clause i'm it providing
for the Imprisonment Of offenders was
not enforced
Not a single move has been made
by the all-powerful machinery of gov
eminent to imDrison a single rich Of
fender he said. The latest utterance
of the government upon this subject is
that it would not pay to try"
An initial sally of Mr. Black was
that he was mot yet a convert to the
theory that if the muscle is active the
brain is exempt"
entertaining these views" he said
now so generally regarded as reaction
airy, | have sought this quiet and
thoughtful body of New Hampshire
lawyers to inquire their opinion upon
certain fundamental doctrines of the
law and the relation which those doe
trines hold to the perpetuity of this
government in its present form
Can the Constitution be construed
except by the courts or amended ex-
cept by the States?
Can the functions of either branch
of our Government be assumed by any
other branch without danger to the
government itself?
If neither branch can assume IN,
functions of another, can it safely ad
minister and construe it's own under
the guidance of a god?
If the laws are violated by thos,
chosen and sworn to administer. car
the result fail to be an increasing dis
regard for all law IT, the general publ,
mind?
These and. kindred questions are dis
turbing the intelli. ent minds of today
| They arise, not as academic questions
TO be construed at leisure and dismiss
ed at will. they have broken ont q
the study and are on the street. The,
not only invite, they menace.
The movements of the crowd i
VIII pay to observe Which way is /
headed? What does it carry i'm If
hands What is its temper and mos
pertinent of all, who is the man nov
speaking to the crowd from the bea,
of the barrel?
The history of what that concours
said and did and where it went ma,
be read by coming generations no
without wonder
DO not for one moment let your ey
wander from the man speaking fror
the head of the barrel!
1t is he who in all ages has pIante
thorns to prick the feet of government
1t is he who has started fires that ha,
= burned into cinders the accumulate,
OF generations. It is he who has raise
discomfort to the grade of an occup;
tlon and encouraged hate to take n
place of charity and good will. 1t is |
who has magnified the people's har,
SHIPS till they seemed ten-fold hard
IMAM they were and decried their bles
ings till they seemed like cheap an
unsubstantial things.
Adversely or success, sorrow
nope, comfort or distress are alike
nm, and in every age or cline. wher
. ever his voice has been heard his mn
Versal theme has been the oDpressi,
OF his fellow men and his own inten
devotion to their cause.
TO my mind the American peop
are now in that condition where th
q mad better think than move. Whoey
q arouses the mob or the mob spirit pla
with fire.
we seem now to have subjugated
y at least to have set aside our old-tir
rules OF law and reason and justice. al
10 nave summoned to our seats
" power the baser attributes more east
J. aroused, but harder to subdue.