Polk County observer. (Monmouth, Polk County, Or.) 1888-1927, 1910-03-01
A VICIOUS MEASURE.

Once more the Observer desires t.
call attention to the proposed amend
ment to the constitution that is to b'
submitted to the voters of oregon fol-
adoption or rejection next November
1t is proposed to upset the whole plar
of government now in existence by
giving the Governor the exclusive pow
er to appoint all other state officers
Not satisfied with this radical pro-
posal. the constitution tinkers would
20 farther and take the election OF
district attorneys and sheriffs out OF
the hands of the people and give the
Governor power to appoint them.
Just think, you good, law-abiding cit
izen, what it would mean to give one
man the sole power to appoint every
sheriff and district attorney in the
state! If the people of Oregon think
they would like to be governed by an
absolute monarch, they have only to
go to the polls at the next election and
make cross between this amendment
and its number on the ballot.
When the rumor first reached the
public that Mr.. U'Ren and his assist
ants were preparing such revolution
ary and un-American measure, the
Voters could scarcely believe their
ears They did not believe that any
man, or set of men, would have the
temerity to propose such a dangerous
and radical scheme with any hope of
its receiving favorable consideration
Many indeed, were inclined to treat
the rumor as joke, believing that
the men reported to be behind 1t would
eventually confess to the people that
they were only testing the credulity
of the Oregon voters Any such char
table view, however, was destined
to be swept aside, for the rumor was
soon followed by confirmation by Mr..
U'Ren, himself, in a statement to the
effect that he and his associates were
very much in earnest in their plans to
place such a measure before the Vot-
ers at the November election. That he
is ready and anxious to carry his plans
to finish is evidenced by the recent
mailing of a pamphlet containing ar
to every voter in the state.
The Observer wishes it might pre-
dict that this amendment would not
receive a single vote in Oregon other
than that of Mr.. U'Ren. 1t would eX-
press such prediction, were 1t not for
the fact that other amendments,
equally radical and only a little less
dangerous, emanating from this same
source, have been written into the
constitution of oregon in the last few
years. Under existing conditions, we
can only give voice to the hope that
this latest measure will meet the fate
it 50 richly deserves.
Fellow Americans, before you vote
for such government think of the
Father of Our Country. Think of Lex
ington and Concord and Bunker Hill
Think of the sufferings and privations
endured by the Revolutionary sires at
Valley Forge. Think of the Declaration
of Independence. Think of Shiloh and
Antietam and Missionary Ridge. Think
of the martyred Lincoln and his i'm
mortal speech at Gettysburg. Think of
that loved father or brother whose
life blood erimsoned the sod that a
government of the people, by the
people. and for the people" might not
perish from the earth. Think of these |
things. and then go to the polls and |
bury this proposed revival of foreign |
despotism so deep that no crank or
theorist win ever again be found at
tempting TO make such an absurdity a |
part of the fundamental law