The weekly Republican. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1911-1922, 1911-08-10


that by adding together a thousand in
dividuals, none of whom has ever gone
beyond the multiplication table. some
strange and weird transmutation re-
suits by which the combined mass is
enabled to work out the most difficult
problem in Euclid with the utmost
accuracy Thus. following out this
highly intelligent theory, whenever
one is anxious to have a message car
ried with the greatest haste from one
part of the city to another, obviously
the thing TO do is to employ not the
heetest messenger boy In the service,
but arrange with ten or a dozen aver
age boys to unionize the job.
The distinguished senator from Ore
gon (Mr. Bourne) is perhaps the great.
est living exponent of this doctrine.
His recipe roughly stated, / under
stand to be this: Take the voices of
10 foolish men. 90 ordinary me2 &
rascals, 16 good citizens, and wise
men Of any such can be induced TO
john; mix them all up together, with
the result, vox populi, vox Del. II
was in some such flash of inspired
wisdom that the learned senator. in
the course of a speech delivered in
this chamber a few weeks ago, pre-
senting to us his now well-known and
justly celebrated composite citizen"
said:
The people can be trusted. The com
posite citizen knows more and acts from
higher motives than any single individual
however great. experienced, or well de.
veloped. While selfiShness is usually
dominant in the individual il is mini
mixed in the composite citizen.
With growing confidence in this
child of his creative genius, he next
declares-evidently as the result of
mature reflection, because the decla-
ration constitutes one of the capital
lied headings with which in his edi-
tOrial capacity he has thoughtfully
adorned his speech-that the
COMPOSITE CITIZEN is UNSET
FISH"
The senator Immediately proceeds
under this caption to tell us how the
gratifying transformation from dis
tributive selfishness to collective al.
truism is brought about by a process
as interesting as it is ingenious.
quote again:
The composite citizen is made up of
millions of individuals. each dominated
in most cases by selfish interest. But
equations of the individual units making
up the composite citizen there is a cor
responding difference in the interests
dominating said units
Mr. President. let me pause long
enough here to say that this is not a
quotation from Herbert, Spencer,
though quite as lucid and convincing
as anything that learned philosopher
ever wrote. But listen further:
And while composite action is taking
place, friction is developed. attrition re-
suits selfishness is worn away. and gem
eral welfare is substituted before action
is accomplished.
| am unable to accept the frivolous
suggestion advanced by some that this
beautiful conception has been evolved
from an overworked and historical in
ner consciousness that friction and
attrition can scarcely be expected to
exercise an intelligent choice; and
that what little general welfare there
is in the combination TO begin with is
quite as likely 10 be worn away as
selfishness. Solomon has told us that
a fool may be brayed in a mortar with
pestle and his fOolishness will not
depart from him. but it evidently
never occurred to that wisest of men
that the result might have been far
different if he had submitted a large
number of fools to the process at that
critical period while composite action
was taking place.
All the operations of government
lawmaking. law constructing. law exc
cuting-will be merged in the one SUI
preme, all-embracing function of bal
loting. We may confidently look for
ward to that halcyon era when there
will be primary elections to nominate
candidates for office. preprimary cleo
tons to designate persons to become
candidates for nomination, and ante
prepriamaries to frame an eligible
list from which to select prepTimary
candidates to run the gauntlet of the
primary itself. to the end that only
the good and virtuous may compete
for the final SURFACES of the people.
Having selected our candidates by
this sitting and resifting and rere-
sitting series of primary elections. we
will have election elections to de-
termine who of these irreproachable
persons shall become our officials. and
then recall elections to get rid OF them
il We think on reflection that some un-
| da-;.1b,e n2te:ia, has slipped through
a hole IN the sieve. There will re
elections to select lawmakers and
elections to make laws for them: e.ec-
tons to select judges to construe laws
and elections to determine whether
we like the way they construe them !;
elections for men. to execute the laws
and elections to execute the executors
If they do not execute to suit US. Mr..
President, we can not have too much
of good thing. The composite citi-
zen," bearing upon his shield the in
spring device
Count that day lost whose low descend
Views At thy hands no uplift voting
- done
will unanimously and hilariously go
into perpetual action. With nothing
| to do but feed and clothe family of
six or eight or ten hearty, growing
children, the composite citizen" will
| have no difficulty in snatching a few
months of time here and there during
| the year to devote to these duties OF
progressive citizenship, and his spare
moments can be utilized in reading,
studying. digesting. and perhaps un-
derstanding a few volumes of pro-
posed initiative and referendum legis-
lation
GOVERNOR WILSON THEN AND
NOW
| A government o. the people In ter