The San Francisco call., 1910-06-15


above influences tending to demoraliza-
tion Of judgment and courage. Surely,
as time goes on, men must see that
the great almost said the supreme
powers of the press should be freed
from financial necessities which tend
to prejudice and to bias. / present to
you this conception of a definitely and
securely independent press as among
ideals worth cherishing in connection
with the evolutionary march of social
organization toward higher standards
of responsibility.
COMPLEX PROBLEMS
But my main purpose today is not
so much to dwell upon the duties of
our public officials, or the response
bilities of our Journalists, as TO call
your attention to the duties and re-
men and women, owe to your state and
to the nation at large. Our govern
ment has already entered upon stage
in its development when shirt sleeves
diplomacy and shirt sleeves legisla-
ton" will no longer suffice. The prob
lens, both foreign and domestic, which
now confront US are many of them in
tricate and complex in the extreme.
They are problems which for their.
proper solution call for the judgment
Of the trained specialist The first
street will not do. 1t is therefore in
cumbent upon you to do all you can,
both by precept and example, to dis
courage haSty and ill considered action
in matters pertaining to the public well
fare Unfortunately, the tendency of
certain recent innovations in our gov
against the deliberation that is so es-
sential to sound legislation. These in
noVations proceed upon the assump-
tion that no particular training or skill
the opinion of the man in the street is
every bit as valuable as the opinion of
the experienced statesman, and that
where a mans intentions are Vaguely
good neither cya nd ar7f
is necessary for his guidance
Imagine what would happen if we
attempted to conduct a large business
upon such a theory, yet the govern
ment has frequently to deal with is
sues that are far more intricate than
those that ordinarily arise in private
questions that require cool and dis
passionate consideration may be sud-
denly precipitated into the political
arena-perhaps at a time of great pub
lie eXcitement-and an immediate solu-
ton demanded. The resulting legisla-
ton may reflect the public temper of
the moment. but 1T runs little chance
OF rejecting true public opinion-the
deiiberate and reasoned judgment of
the community.
The. latest of these governmental in
novations, The Recall" is directly op-
posed to the principle of representa-
tive government 1t tends to breed a
type of public man who always has his
ear 10 the ground, a man who has no
whose one aim is to keep in Office by
turning himself into political
weathercock, adjusted to catch every
passing gust of popular caprice This
is not the kind of man from whom the
country has anything to hope He has
no n&eq standards of right or wrong
1,th, DIu VIII always be found on the side of
What he believes to be the majority;
II the ratio of numbers should change
over night, his allegiance will change
with with them, and the morning will find
m he ct 10 a.,
which he opposed the day before.
nave already spoken of that provis-
ION OF law which prescribes stated
times for the holding of elections
Under such provision, elections are al
ways preceded by adequate campaigns
OF discussion, and such period for dis
clear away the confusion that may exist
from want of full information. or fem
porary passion or excitement Now,
one OF many objections to the recall
Is that 1t nullifies this advantage. Tn
DER It's workings, elections may be
brought up on short notice, and at
times when the popular mind is least
ca I'm, least informed, least capable of
judgment. 1t is calculated not to re-
serve political action to the mood of
calm counsels and sober judgment, but
10 preclpitate II upon the hour of pas
sion and clamor. Furthermore. if II he
said that the recall is necessary to get
rid of corrupt officials, who by some
mlSchance may have been foisted lInon
the public, it need only be answered
that, in this respect. Society is sum
ciently protected under our. laws of inn
peachment.
MENACE
These are only few of the many
miSchiefs possible even Inevitable nm
der the recall scheme. A moments re-
Election viii show how dangerous a
Weapon II must be in the hands of
dlsgruntled and INSCRIPTIONS minority
Tor II may as easily be invoked against
sood men as against bad men. 1t is
certain and persistent menace to inde-
pendence OF thought and integrity of
action, at the same time holding ter
rors Tor the constituencies and Shffty
time server more intent upon COM
upon holding Office than upon doing
his duty in the face of possible mis-
apprehension and prejudice. Who that
IS acquainted with the spirit and dis
content of the time can doubt that if
the recall had been in force during the
administration of George Washington
even he, the father of his country.
would have been called to account for
MS stand for neutrality in the war be-
tween England and France and slIn1-
marily removed from the presidency?
of Lincoln's administration and of the
confused state of the public mind in
connection with them can doubt that
this, the noblest Of all the figures of
the last generation of Americans, would
have been dismissed from his
post of duty by the distempered reck-
lesSneSS OF d passionate and passing
hour? Those who urge these inno-
vations may say that it is not pro-
posed to apply the recall to national
affairs, only to state and municipal
affairs.
My answer is that crises of public
alteration and passion occur more fre-
quently in the municipality and in the
state than in the nation; and for this
reason the recall principle is all the
more vicious In its application to state
and municipal affairs
POLITICAL SHORT CUTS
/ have spoken especially of the re-
CALL because in my judgment this
proposal stands for an idea in radical
and fundamental conflict with the
scheme of representa- tive government
as 1t has come down to us from the
fathers. But the recall is only one of
a group of proposals offered to the
American people in the name of reform.
and under that impulse which impels
many to seek short cuts to political
perfection. Taken in their entirety.
these proposals suggest changes that
would not only nullify the represent
ative principle, but destroy the govern
ment which has grown up under il.
That government is now almost
century and a quarter old. 1t has
borne us successfully through amazing
changes of material and social condi-
tions. It has enabled US to weather
the storms of one of the greatest civil