Graham guardian., 1910-12-09

kUOu uooSC, SSi Nihiiy eiASA WIN 80
itiative and referendum in opera
ton in twenty-odd states, one-halt
Of the Union, has some right to
place in a republican form of gov.
ernment. Would the successors to
Mr.. Webster be in contempt OF
court should they now recognize
this fact by so recording? l sup,
pose it is all right to be welded to
precedent, but if our forefathers
had not become divorced, we would
be here, in convention assembled,
clad in garments so brief that mod
esty forbids their enumeration.
Woman would still be mans chattel,
and we would quickly settle the suf-
frage question with an axe handle,
then get maudlin drunk with no
fear of segregation, county option
or statewide prohibition, nor being
button-holed by the secretary of the
anti-saloon league. Witches would
still be burned at the stake and that
| lost and forgotten art might now
be included in the curriculum of
Harvard university. Human slav-
cry would still be benevolent in
stitution and would be back in
Georgia, counting my negroes by
the hundreds, instead of working
here for the dear people of Arizona
for four dollars a day.
Mr.. Chairman. for forty-odd
years the republican party continued
Its lease Of governmental control,
largely through the use Of that
magic name. Lincoln" Every sue
cessful G. o. P. office-holder rode
into Office Juggling with his name,
The great emancipation was quoted
as the best. the highest and the un-
disputed authority on all political
subjects.
This was before the republican
party had constructed, to the pres
ent towering height, it's Babel tower
of trusts, on that great foundation.
protective tariff. Now his name is
known in only one republican
tongue. The doctrines which he
taught are characterized by all other
members Of that once great tribe,
as socialistic. What was Lincoln s
definition of a republican form of
governmental government of,
for and by the people,
THE enabling act Of Oklahoma
says If the president finds the con-
stitution republican in form, he
shall approve it. There were no
other strings tied to it; that ques-
ton and that question alone was he
to decide. If it was republican in
form he should approve it. 1t con-
tanned the initiative and referen-
dunn, yet. President Roosevelt ap-
proved it. Of course all the repub-
licans in Oklahoma said he would
not, just as they are here predicting
that our constitution will not be ap-
proved. He did approve it, and
along with his approval he told how
reluctant he was to do so, how he
would like to smite it with his big
stick, but not one word about its
being pncQpstitptiona1, and Mr.,
Taft was at the time a member of
his cabinent and reputed to be his
most confidential adviser. They
both were so opposed to this consti.
tuition that the president sent Mr..
Taft out to Oklahoma, where he
spoke all over the state against its
adoption. But not one word did he
say, not the slightest intimation OF
suggestion that it might be uncon,
stitutional. However, this was, pos,
sibly, before Mr.. Webster's defni,
ton had been resurrected. Here
are the opinions of the two greatest
republican presidents. Lincoln and
Roosevelt. and they are cast aside
by these good republicans as of nc
weight. In light of the history Of
the Oklahoma constitution, l think
lit fair to assume that Mr.. Taft's
opinion coincided with that Of hi
illqstrious predecessor.
| The gentlemen from Pima ant
Coconino tell ps that the Question