Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1911-05-14
BRING COVE ERNMENT
BACK To PEOPLE
URGES WILSON
GOVERNOR THINKS SHORT
BALLOT WOULD HELP
Elect Fewer Officers and Hold
Them Responsible One Means
of Eliminating Control By
MalefactorS of Wealth,

tBy Morning Journal Special Leased wireI
Los Angeles. Cal, May 13.-Govern-
or Woodrow Wilson OF New Jersey
was the orator Of the evening at the
meeting of the City club In the Audi
torium here tonight He said in part:
1T must be evident to everyone that
party lines are being very much OBJ
seured that more and more men are
holding themselves free TO follow this
leader or that according as their own
perception as the public interest die
tates. And so great many new terms
have come into our politics. II ls
amusing 20 note their variety and the
way In which men are seeking labels
for themselves and for their oppo-
nents. The classification most In FASH
ion IL that OF progressives and reac-
tlonaries'i and dare say those terms
viii serve as well as any others to ex-
press the real contrasts which now be-
gin to show themselves In our politI-
cal action.
1T Is interesting to me as Il demo-
crat to note that while we have heard
great deal of talk about insurgent
republicans we have heard Very little
about lnsurgent democrats. Jnsur-
gents are those who throw off author
ity. II must be that the insuI gent
republicans are throwing Off the au-
thority Of the major portion of their
party, while democrats are free to he
progressive without being insurgents.
II would seem that TO be progressive
IL not to defy the general authority Of
their party colleagues. | should like
to believe that this meant that the
democratic party as whole is natur-
ally progressive, and that II Is easier.
through the instrumentallty of that
party, to accomplish the new purposes
of the day than through the instru-
mentality OF the republican party.
1T Is important to note that the
word progressive means something
much more than mere impulse. or In
cllnation. II means. IL understand II
correctly, concentration upon actual
problems and upon the means of solv-
Ing them.
1T is the sober business of the pro-
gresslve 70 understand and to act. II
Is his business to know a great deal
more than that something Is wrong.
He must know just what 1t Is that is
wrong, and when he sees II he must
daily recognize his duty to act and 10
act along definite lines of reform. We
have passed the time of excitement.
of general complaint, of lndiscriminat-
lng condemnation. and have come to
a day when men are inclined to take
politics more seriously than they have
taken II In earlier generations.
''rhe first and most important thing
Is an apprehension of the actual facts.
A perception of the facts is as import
ant as comprehension Of the reme-
dies; and the facts cannot be stated
too plainly for our purpose.
For example, great deal of dis
cussion Is now concentrated upon pro-
posed methods of reform which a great
many people interpret as meaning that
we are impatient of our long estab-
lished institutions that we wish TO sub
stitute for representative government
that great system which has had so
long and so admirable a history, and
which has seemed the chief instru-
ment OF liberty throughout many CEN
turtles, some more direct, less organic
,f a.ttna fhg MARI nf thH
people, and many champions now
arise to defend the great Institutions
which they conceive to be In danger.
do not find anywhere desire TO dis
pense with or TO impair representative
government. What do find Is very
general impression that our govern
ments have ceased to be representa-
tive; that the wear the FORM but DO
not exemplfy the reality II we are
to act intelligently, we must first or
all look into this question and see II
this impression Is well founded.
II think that everyone familiar with
the actual methods of our politics must
admit that under the political methods
We have been In the habit of using III
recent decades the people do not Sc
lect and do not control their repre-
sentatives. The selection of those
representatives has been In the hands
Of small groups of men who were not
chosen by anybody but themselves to
make the selection. The peculihrlty
Of our method OF nomination has been
that II has been left TO small groups
of self-constituted managers VINO nave
determined-g in private con-
ferencc--who the candidates for office
should be, and who, because they had
practically complete control oil the
matter, could use men who would pe
willing to serve any special purpose
that they might have In mind. In re-
cent years these small groups oi men
have themselves been In large meas
urc controlled by those who supplied
them with money for campaign pur-
poses They have formed very close
alliances with certain great business
interests--in some places with one set
of interests. In other places with an
other set--but always with men VINO
wished. as n return for their eontribu-
tions, to be assured that nothing would
be done by legislatures and city coun-
ellis, or executive officers, that was
detrimental TO their private Interests,
or obstructive of their private pur-
poses.
"The consequence has been that In
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