Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1911-05-06

initiative and the referendum not with
representative government which we
possess IN theory and which we have
long persuaded ourselves that We pos
sessed In fact, but IN contrast with the
actual state % affairs, IN contrast with
legislative processes which are carried
on IN secret responding 10 the i'm
pulse ~ subsidized machines and car
ried through by men whose unhap-
piuess II Is 10 realize that they are
not their own masters, bat puppets IN
game.
III we felt that We had genuine
representative government In our state
legislatures no one would propose the
initiative or referendum In Aemrlca.
They arc being proposed now as n
means OF bringing our representatives.
back 10 the consciousness that what
they are bound in duty and ia mere
policy 20 DO II to represent the soyer-
eign people whom they profess 10
serve and not the private interests
which creep into their cOunsels by
way of machine orders and committee
conferences The most ardent and
successful advocates OF the initiative
and referendum regard them as a
fober.ug means ~ obtaining genuine
representative action on the part Of
legislative bodies They do not mean
10 set anything aside They mean
to restore and influence rather
"The recall is a means Of admins
trat,ve control II properly regulated
end devised II Is a means Of restoring
20 administrative officials what the
initiative and referendum restore to
legislators-namely a sense OF direct
responsibility 10 the people who
choose them,
The recall of judges is another
matter. Judges are not lawmakers.
They are not administrators. Their
duty is not to determine what the law
shall be, but 10 determine what the
law is. Their Independence, their
sense Of dignity and ~ freedom, is Of
the first consequence TO the stability
NJ the state To apply to them the
principle Of the recall is to set up
the idea that determinations OF what
the law IS must respond to popular
Impulse and to popular Judgment.
1T is sufficient that the people
should have the power 10 change the
law when they will. II il not neces-
sary that they should directly innu-
encc by threat Of recall those who
merely interpret the law already
estaolishem. The importance and de-
STABILITY Of the recall as a means Of
administrative control ought not to
be obscured by drawing II into this
other and very different field
THE second power we fear Is the
vast control Of our life through the
vast privileges Of corporations which
use the wealth Of masses of men to
sustain their enterprise. II is in con-
nection with this danger that It is
necessary to do some OF our clearest
and frankest thinking II is fun
damental mistake to speak Of the
privileges Of these great corporations
as II they fell within the class Of pri-
vate right and Of private property.
Those who administer the affairs of
great Joint stock companies are really
administering the properly Of COM
munlties, the property Of the whole
mass and miscellany Of men who have
bought the stock or the bonds that
sustain the enterprise The stocks and
the bonds are constantly changing
hands. There is no fixed partnership.
Moreover, managers Of such corpora
tion are the trustees OF moneys which
they themselves never accumulated,
but which have been drawn together
out of private savings here, there and
everywhere.
What is necessary in order 10 rec
tify the whole mass Of business Of this
kind is that those who control it
should entirely change their point Of
view. They are trustees not masters.
Of private property. not only because
their power is derived from a multi
tudc Of men, but also because in It's
investments II affects a multitude OF
men. II determines the development
or decay Of communities. II Is the
means of lifting or depressing the life
Of the whole country. They must re-
gard themselves as representatives Of
n public power. There can be no rea-
sonablc jealousy of public regulation
IN such matters, because the oppor-
. lulllltS OF an men are hllttltU. J UClT
property IS everywhere touched, their
savings are everywhere absorbed, their
/ employment is everywhere deter
mined, by these great agencies, What
I we need, therefore, is to come TO
common view which will not bring
antaeonlsms, hut accommodates. The
programs Of enlightenment and read
justment not revolutionary, but re-
storatiVe. The processes OF change
are largely processes of thought, hut
unhappily they cannot be affected
without becoming political processes
also. and that is the deep responsible
/ llty Of public men What we need.
/ therefore in our politics is an instant
alignment Of all men free and willing
to think and to act without fear upon
/ their thought.
This is just as much a constructive
art In politics. therefore, as was the
great age in which our federal gov
ernment was set up, and the man who
does not awake to the opportunity,
the man who does not sacrifice private
ana exceptional interests In order to
serve the common and public interest,
Is declining to take part In the busi-
ness OF heroic age. I am sorry for
the man who Is so blind that he does