Los Angeles herald. [microfilm reel] (Los Angeles [Calif.]) 1900-1911, 1909-01-25
RECALL CONSTITUTIONAL

II y
n, in Los Angeles, persons who wish
US to believe it is well to let bad
enough alone, are now making the
attempt to show the recall is unknown
to our American constitution. Says the
Republican morning paper: 'It is a
device contrary to the PRINCIPLES
OF REPRESENTATIVE GOVERN
MENT.''
Let US see about that. 1t is as well
not to take such sweeping statements
on trust. Now, bear in mind, the asser-
ton has been fatty made that the
recall is contrary to representative
governmental principle So thoroughly
is the principle of government of the
people, by the people and for the peo-
pie established in the constitution of
the United States that in paragraphs
6 and of section 3, article l, provision
Is made for the impeachment (if neces-
sary) of the president of the United
States, and in paragraph there is ex-
plicit provision for the recall" of con-
gressmen by a most drastic method of
expulsion, alongside of which our
recall, as Judge McNutt in his mas
terly speech on the subject pointed out,
is mild indeed.
Each house may determine the rules
Of its proceedings, punish it's members
for disorderly behavior, and with the
concurrence of two-thirds expel a
member This, by comparison with
the recall, is a most summary method
of procedure. 1t gives the offender lit
tie chance for the ''vindication'' which
an official, affected by recall proceed
ings, may always get, provided he have
the material out of which "vindica-
ton" may be constructed. In the case
Of the Los Angeles mayor, there would
appear to be dearth of the fabric out
Of which vindications are manufac-
tured-unless, indeed, a web of whole
cloth were used.
Now as to the president-the most
august official in the country, the chief
executive, accepted and acknowledged
throughout the world as the equal in
rank and station of any crowned
head" be he king, emperor, czar,
kaiser or grand bashaw. Is our august
chief executive beyond the reach of the
SOVEREIGN PEOPLE, from whom,
in the United States, all power is de-
rived?
In paragraphs 6 and of section of
article 1 of the constitution of the
United States we read:
1.-THE senate shall have the sole power
to try all impeachments. When sitting
for that purpose they shall be on oath
or affirmation WHEN THE PRESI-
DENT OF THE UNITED STATES IS
TRIED, the chief justice shall preside,
and no person shall be convicted with
out the concurrence of two-thirds of
the members present. Judgment in
cases of impeachment shall not extend
further than to REMOVAL FROM
OFFICE, and disqualification to hold
and enjoy any Office Of honor, trust or
profit under the United States, but the
party convicted shall, nevertheless, be
liable and subject to INDICTMENT,
TRIAL, JUDGMENT AND PUNISH
MENT, according to law"
We are not aware that the proposal
to use the recall in Los Angeles has
ever been accompanied by any intima-
ton that the sequel shall be liability
to indictment, trial, judgment and pun
ishment," as in the case of much high
er officials than mayors when an i'm
parchment has been successfully estab-
lished. 1t should be noted that AN
IMPEACHMENT IS NOT LIBELOUS
when it is founded upon information
which may be put into the form of
affidavit or sworn testimony. That an
official who is being pursued by recall
proceedings, in the course of which
and for the justification of which proof
is presented, should talk about libel
suits is "of the bosh, boshy." 1t would
be as sensible to talk about bringing a
libel suit against the grand jury on
account of statements in presentment
or an indictment.
The recall PRINCIPLE is certainly
recognized in the constitution of the
United States; but when this principle,
applied in the drastic form of an i'm
parchment, was applied with success,
the official was down and out and sub
ject to criminal proceedings. If the
municipal "Iecall'' is revolutionary, by
what word can our protesting friends
describe or characterize a national i'm
parchment? We suppose, according to
their fantastic methods of historical
study, with them an impeachment is
more than revolutionary, and is synon-
ymous with a reign Of terror. And yet
an Impeachment is constitutional, and
the constitution remorselessly suggests
indictment, trial, judgment and pun
ishment" as the aftermath of impeach-
ment. In the case of Los Angeles no
second crop is proposed. But the con-
stitutional right to recall, which is one
of the fundamental principles of Amer
icanism, shall be asserted.
DOG LICENSES