Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1909-03-04

MS mead is suspended this sword VIII be
sufficient to make every official effective
and faithful.
Now I believe that every member of
this House has the utmost confidence in
the integrity, the honesty and the faith
fulness of our Governor and we all believe
that he will do his duty. / believe ne
wants the power, he wants the RESPONSE
bility, he wants the authority to carry
out mis- duty under the constitution of
Maine. He does not shirk that duty. Will
you give him the means to perform it?
We have supreme court in which We
all have confidence, a supreme court that
stands high among all our sister states
for it's learning, it's integrity and it's love
of law and order. Do not for moment
lay up anything against the supreme
court for the notification of this law.
say to you what every lawyer knows.
that the power of mol pros, the power of
the county attorney to control his crimi-
nal docket, is in the hands of the county
attorney. The judge cannot take it from
his hands The judicial power of the
State cannot interfere with the executive.
Every judge on the supreme bench today
is doing all in his power to enforce the
laws of this State. The fault lies at the
door of the county attorney, and II you
don't given to the Governor the power to
deal with the county attorney the fault
is with the Legislature of Maine. not
with the supreme court or the Governor.
One word more. When a few days ago
there appeared before the judiciary COM
mittee certain friends of temperance, l
might say certain aSitators, those whom
are sometimes called fanatics. those
whom we call radicals, your committee
gave them patient hearing. There APP
peared before that committee the father
of the Sturgis law He said and his fol-
lowers said there could be no substitute
for the Sturgis law. They claimed that
this law I am advocating this morning
was no substitute for the Stureis law;
and when the Republicans who were
standing as a mnit for this matter heard
that, it tried the patience and it tried the
hope of men who are after something
honest and effective. And then | thought
of that immortal whose memory few
days ago we spent much time in honoring,
the great Lincoln, in the war time when
there clamored about him those who call
eu upon MIN " uO lHlIlSS WHICH "SiS ~
possible There were the radicals, there
were the fanatics, there were the agita-
tors, telling him to do this and to do that
and even the eloquent Wendell Phillips
cursings him, and he stood quietly and pa
tiently through it all waiting for the time
when as a statesman he could do the
work that was necessary for him to do.
And then thought that the way of Car
RE Nation with her Ratchet was not the
best way to enforce the law against the
saloon. But Carrie Nation is useful, she
has a place in the world, she is an aSi-
tator, and the breaking of the glass In
the saloon calls our attention to the sa-
loon Every agitator. every fanatic, eV-
eryone who is struggling for something
of this kind, has his place and is useful.
They call our attention to great wrongs.
We may not want to follow them, we
cannot always follow them, but having
our attention called to the wrongs it is
our part to do those things which the
laws and the constitution say we should
do. 1t would be the greatest calamity
that could befall this State to say that
we cannot enforce our laws; it is the
greatest calamity that can befall this
State that there is no remedy if a county
attorney should say, Il will not enforce
the law, what are you going to do about
it?" NV friend from Camden says. con-
vene the Legislature. Convene the Leg
sature, In the case of every delinquent
county attorney is. the Legislature going
to be convened? Remove him from OIL
fice-that is the honest way to enforce
the prohibitory law.
Mr.. MONTGOMERY: l desire to ask
the gentleman a question.
The SPEAKER: Will the gentleman
from Houlton permit himself to be inter-
rupted?
Mr.. HERSEY: Certainly.
Mr.. MONTGOMERY: DO you know of
any county attorneys that should be re-
moved now?
Mr.. HERSEY: / do.
Mr.. MONTGOMERY: Name them.
Mr.. HERSEY: l am not here. gentle
men, to file charges with the Governor
mntil we get this law; but l want to say
to you that the people believe in having
the laws enforced through the regularly
constituted officials and if they don't do
their duty they want one put there who
will do it and not nave two men doing
the same work. A man who stands today
as q representative of law and order.
whom the people love, whom the people
endorse one of the most popular men in
all this nation. is Governor Hughes of
New York. because he stands in his
place, the regular officer doing faithfully
his duty; but he would be helpless and
hopeless were it not for the fact that he
could remove from office Asa Bird Card
ner, district attorney of New York, if he