Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1911-08-03
Some Present Day FaIlacies Exposed
The Initiative, Referendum and Re-
I call as Connected with Repre-
4 sentative Government.
The Following, From the Speech Of Senator
! Sutherland Of Utah in the United States
Senate July II, Should Be Read
...- by Every Voter. :.

/ not with the machinery, but with
those who are operating It The rem
edy 10 not for the people on masse to
attempt to manipulate the complicated
and delicately adjusted mechanism.
which must inevitably lead to confi-
sion and disaster. but to exercise more
care In the selection Of their specially
chosen operating agents.
Everybody will agree that the av-
erage man ID not as intelligent, %
able, or as honest 90 the ablest, or
the most intelligent, or the most hon
est The individual fallibility Of the
average man will at once be con-
coded, but there are some people who
seem to imagine that there 10 some
mysterious virtue In mere numbers;
that ten men are necessarily more
moral and more honest than one man;
that by adding together thousand In
t6viduals, 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 di1lcult
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
fleetest 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, 20 ordinary men, 3
rascals. 10 good citizens, and wise
men IN any such can be induced to
john; mix them ell up together, with
the result vox populi, vox Del. II
was In some such fash Of inspired
wisdom that the learned senator, In
the course Of O speech delivered ~
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,
veiopsd. While seifishness i usually
dominant In the individual, II ID mini
mi2ed In the composite citizen.
With growing confidence in this
child Of his creative genius, he next
eclares-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
because OF the difference In the personal
equations Of the individual units making
up the composite citizen there Ia a cor
responding difference In the Interests
dominating said units.
Mr. President let me pause long
enough here to cay that this is not Q
quotation from Herbert Spencer,
though quite as lucid and convincing
as anything that learned philosopher
ever wrote. But listen further:
And while composite action il taking
| fl, L. ,aA
| sulta selfishness is worn away. and gen.
| eral welfbre Is substituted before action
10 accomplished.
am unable to accept the frivolous
suggestion advanced by some that this
beautiful conception has been evolved
from an overworked and hysterical In.
ner consciousness; that friction and
attrition can scarcely be expected to
exercise an intelligent choice; and
that what little general welfare there
Ia In the combination to begin with IA
quite as likely to be worn away az
selfishness Solomon has told US that
a fool may be brayed In a mortar with
a pastle and his foolishness will moi
depart from him, but II evidently
never occurred 70 that wisest Of meu
that the result might have been fal
different n be had submitted a large
number OF fools to the process at thai
critical period while composite actor
was taking place
All the operations Of government
iawmaking, law constructing, law ere
cutinE-wiil be merged In the one su
preme, all-embraclng function OF bal
loting. We may confidently look for
ward to that balcyon era when Their,
will be primary elections 70 nominal,
candidates for once. preprimaTy elec
lions 10 designate persons TO becom,
candidates for nomination, and ante
prepriamRries 10 frame an ofigibl,
list IRON which 10 select preprimarj
candidates 70 run the gauntlet Of III
primary itself. 10 the end that onl,
The good and virtIous may competl
for the fnal suRrages OF the people
HAVING selected our candidates B,
this sitting and RESTING and rsrC
sitting series 81 primary elections. y.
WI have election elections 70 a
termlne Who o. these irreproachahl
persons Hha1 become oar ofeiAls. anl
then recall cleclionI q SET "a & lhrr
n ~ l1IrE O. fal1-I'cl I1II ICul %
f,rlratie malrrlri ~ ldur1l lffcrr