Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1909-01-02

We viii let them elect electors, who,
acting for them, shall select a fit
man for president. SO we have in
herited our cumberous system OF
presidential elections from the fear
full timidity of our forefathers.
Elective Power.
Tho constitution sal | we will have
the people elect the. lower house, but
the senators shall be selected in the
state legislatures So we have the
spectacle of rich old imbeciles buy
ing their way into the senate to spend
their senility in weakly selling out
the peoples rights to the corpora
tions that have made them, and In
oregon the sacred office that was to
be held back from the peoples touch,
put up and sold to the highest bid
der until Il looked three years ago
as If we would not have single rep
resentative in Washington unconvlct-
ed of crime. And the politicians
through all these years have selected
men who neither morally. socially nor
politically represented the best
thoughts or morals of our people.
Il is interesting that the only two
big blunders made by the founders of
our nation we're the two that were
to limit the peole's right of self-gov-
ernment. The first one has been
corrected by common consent through
custom, namely, by the practical In
struction OF the presidential electors
as to whom they are expected to vote
and they would not dare ignore that
instruction, and ever come home
again.
Oregon TO Lead.
And now Oregon proposes to lead
the states in taking the election OF
senators out OF the filthy political
rings that have too long controlled,
and let the sovereign people say who
shall represent them in the highest
branch OF government. The people
of Oregon have put their hand to this
task, and will never let go. They
have voted upon about thirty bills
through the initiative and referen-
dunn. and they have neither erred or
blundered yet. They have thrice
made choice of their own man for
senator. and they will not allow the
polluted hands of any political ma
chlnist to touch their Ark of the Cow
enant, the integrity OF popular gov
ernment. In an open fight In a free
field they turned down Fulton be-
cause they preferred Cake. In the
election they defeated Cake because
they preferred Chamber lain. And.
party or no party, politician or no
politician, the people propose to have
the peoples choice. and to deal with
the men who dare to sell them out
or betray their trusts.
Whenever an American citizen vol
UNFAIRLY goes before his fellow oiti-
zens and asks for their suffrage on
a conditional promise that II elected
he will do certain things, that prom
ise is as sacred and important to the
integrity of government as compul-
sorry oath administered in court.
To betray the trust imposed in one
who Is thus elected is perjury OF the
blacklist type, IL is securing votes
(more sacred than money! under
false pretenses; Il is treason to the
very heart OF our form of govern
ment, | shall pity the poor weakling
who sells himself to go back on his
constituents He is a mere shadow
too frail to bear the strain OF carry
ing through a sacred trust, inca
pable of being true under temptation.
But those who resort to political com
binations and circulate petitions and
sign them calculated to make the
peoples representatives betray them,