Perth Amboy evening news., 1911-01-17

Ex1k1n A6af3$4
guarding and maintenance govern.
nsent IS intended.
This readJustment has not been 2 o
ing on very fast or very favorabfy in
New Jersey. 1t has been observed
that 1t fimped or Yves prevented or neg
fected In other states as well. Every
where there has been confusion of
counsel and many a sad miscarriage
of plan. There have consequently been
some very radical criticisms of our
methods of political action. There is
widespread dissatisfaction with what.
legislatures do and stil1 more Sc
rfous dissatisfaction with what they,
do mot do. Some persons have said.
that representative government has.
proved too indirect and clumsy an In
strument and has broken down as a
means of popular control. Others,
looking a little deeper, have said that
1T was not representative government.
that had broken down, but the effort
to get It. They have pointed out that
with our present methods OF machine
nomination and our present methods
OF elections, which were nothing more
than a choice between one set Of ma
chine nominees and another, we did
not get representative at
al-at least not government repre-
sentative OF the people, but govern
ment representative of political man.
ayers who serve their own interests
and the interests of those with when
they found It profitable to establish
partnerships.
New Election Law.
Obviously this Is something that goes
to the root OF the whole matter. Back
of all reform lies the method OF get
ting 1t. Back of the question what
you want lies the question, the funda-
mental question of all government,
how are you going to get it7 How are
you going to get public servants who
will obtain It for your How are yeu
going to get genuine representatives
who will serve your real interests and
not their own or the interests of some
special group OF body of your fellow
citizens whose power Is of the few
and not of the many? These are the
queries which have drawn the atten-
ton of the whole country to the SUBJ
Ject of the direct primary, the direct
choice Of representatives by the peo-
pie, without the Intervention OF the
nominating machine. the nominating
organization.
I earnestly commend to your careful
consideration In this connection the
laws in recent years adopted In the
state OF Oregon, whose effect has been
to bring government back to the people
and to protect 1t from the control Of
the representatives OF selfish and spe-
cial interests. They seem to me to
point the direction which we must also
take before we have completed our re-
generation of a government which has
suffered SO seriously and so long as
ours has here In New Jersey from pri-
waite management ana organized selfish
ness. Our primary laws, extended and
perfected, viii pave the way. They
should be extended to every elective of
fee and to the selection OF every party
committee or official as well in order
that the people may once for all take
charge of their own affairs, their w
political organization and association,
and the methods Of primary selection
should be SO perfected that b prinsr
ries will be put upon the same free
footing that the methods Of election
themselves are mean to rest upon.
We have here the undoubtedly sound
chain and sequence of reforms, an ac-
tual direct choice by the people of the
men who are to organize alike their
parties and their government, and those
measures which true representatives OF
the people will certainly favor nnd
adopt-systematic compensation for in
jured worklngmen, the careful regula-
ton In the common interest OF all cor
.perations, both In respect Of their or
ganizatien and Of their methods of
business, and especially of public sery-
ice corporations; the EQUALIZATION OF
taxes and the conservation of the nat
ural of the state and of the
health and safety of its people.
Another matter of the most vital con
sequence goes with all these-name1y,
systematic ballot reform and thorough
and stringent provisions Of law against
corrupt practices IN connection alike
with primaries and with elections. We
have Jagged behind our sister states In
these important matters and should
make haste to avail ourselves OF their
example and their experience. Here,
again, Oregon may be our guide.
A Big Program.
This is a big program, but 1t Is a
perfectly consistent program and a
perfectly feasible program and one
upon whose details 1t ought to be pos
sible to r even within the limits
of a single legislative session. You
may count upon my cooperation at
every step OF the work.
] have not spoken of the broad ques-
ton of economy in the administration
of the state government, an economy
which can probably be effected only
through q thorough reorganization
upon business principles, the familiar
business principles so thoroughly un-
derstood and so in~teIligently prac.iced
by Americans, but so seldom applied
to their governments. We make offices
for party purposes too often instead
of conducting our public business by
the organization best adapted to ell
cheney and economy. ! have not dwelf