Arizona republican., 1909-10-08
,HoENIx. ARIz., OCTOBER s. 1909,
A SUBJECT FOR HIGH SCHOOL.
 GLASSES

GLASSES.
 High school classes in civics, and their teachers, as well, would gain some clear light on a question which often befogs them if they would take up for discussion a speech made by Senator Bailey of Texas. to some of his constituents the other day.
 The question to which we refer is one that is often asked and seldom clearly answered: What is the diff ference between a Republican and Democratic government?
 Senator Bailey was discussing politi- cal questions, in an argument at long range with MT. Bryan, but of course an examination into the difference be- tween a Republican and Democratic form of government does not in any sense call for a political argument by students.
 The question between MT. Bryan and Mir. Bailey, we may explain, related to their respective soundness in the faith of their party. MT. Bryan had insisted that his position on a certain question was sound. and Mir. Bailey's unsound, because MT. Bryan had be- hind him the authority of party plat forms Bailey in his latest speech sought to parry the force of Bryan's
 lo~ forms should not be binding on the conscience of a legislator, because they do not express public opinion. He thus describes how platforms are adopted in national conventions:
 You go to one and witness it's proceedings. It generally assemblies in midsummer; it is hot, it is dusty. and if you ever saw a body of men assemble in the heat and dust you know what a hurry they soon fall in. All of the delegates are mad, most of them are in a hurry and some of them are drunk; and yet they want to pre- scribe how I shall redeem my oath to do my duty faithfully as God has given me to see it. Are they qualified to do it?
 The subcommittee reports to the full committee, the full committee re- ports to the convention, and the con- vention orders the previous question nine times out of ten, and it passes without one delegate in a hundred knowing what it contains . And yet they insult your intelligence by telling you that such work is the work of your agents; when they try to have debate in a national conven- ton nobody hears what is said; of 15,0O0 people there are not a dozen delegates with a voice sufficient to reach one-half of the delegation. and then the men who have the voice do not always possess the information, and it is a simple absurdity to talk about a platform adopted by the po- litical convention expressing the judgment of the people"
 In other words, Senator Bailey's position is; that since national con- ventions do not carefully consider and debate a platform before adoption, the platform should not be taken as rep resenting the sentiments of the party in convention.
 If a great convention, such as he describes-a convention which for all practical purposes is a gathering of the party itself-should debate a platform in detail and adopt it section by section, this would correctly DOT tray the democratic form of govern ment.
 But platforms are not made in this way. The convention appoints a com mittee on platform, and the members of this committee work long and ar duously in framing the platform. They frame the document section by sec tion, and controverted questions are debated at length-often for hours, and sometimes for days. When they have reached a decision they report their platform to the convention. At this point the work of making the platform and voicing the sentiments of the party is already done. The adoption of the platform by the con- vention itself follows in a manner very similar to that described by Senator Bailey. The making of the platform by a committee for that purpose precisely typifies the republi- can form of government.
 Government by a democracy is gov ernment by the people themselves best typified by a town meeting, in which everybody has a vote.- a ma jority vote making the law which governs all