The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1911-08-01
SENATOR OWEN IS FOR RECALL
 OF THE JUDGES
Plays Supreme Court For its Gross Usurpation of
 Authority
Judiciary Might For Once Be- have Itself if Subjected to
 Recall, He Thinks

Washington, Aug 1-Senator Owen. of Oklahoma, in a speech before ths Senate yesterday in favor of his bill for the election and recall of Federal judges. took fling at the suprsnrs Court, charging that it had exercised Unconstitutional power in, inserting improper words into it's decisions and violating the rights of Congress.
 Owen said:
 'I shall endeavor to show that the time is come when the liberties 0f the American people require the ex- ercise of this constitutional power, Or if 1t be deemed unconstftutiona1 by Congress, then that Congress should submit an amendment to the Con- stitution to provide for this and oth- CT relief by establishing an easy means of amending the Constitution by a double majority of the electors of ths States and of the Congressional dis tricts.
 Tt will be contended by some that the recall of judges might safely bs left to the National Legislature or to the State Legislatures, but should not be left to the electorate, becauss the electorate would not be so con- servative in the exercise of the pow CT to recall a judge as their reprsseu- .tatives in the Legislature.
 "The answer to this Is that the elec- torate of an American State and o< any of the American States is abund-. antly conservative ,and moves very slowly, more slowly than their pro- gressive representatives would r1ovsL
 WHERE THEY HAvT POWER.
 "A1r. President, in England the con- servatives recently appealed to sfs people against the progressive leaders, because the people were recognized as more conservative than their 1ead- CTS. Where the people have had full power-in Australia and New Zealand and in Switzerland-they have not abused their power They have been just conservative and slow to act Tt is true, of course, that among the people there are some extremists who are very radical and very excft- able, but they are offset by 1fks number who are very phlegmatic ana who cannot be moved at all. Tne judgment of the people represents ff1s judgment of the mass, and not ths judgment of the fractional part that may be extreme either in one dfrec- ftion or another direction.
 "The chief value of the recall viii not be the exercise of this power in actually recalling judges, but the con- trary. If the power of recall exists. the conduct of judges will be 90 ex- emplary, so satisfactory to the people of the United States, that no recall Of any Federal judge would ever bs necessary.
 THOSE TWO DECISIONS.
 'The moment the recall went into effect the courts would promptly dis continue their unauthorized urcon- stftutional and grossly improper con- duct of declaring an act of Congress unconstitutional. The Federal courts would no longer, because Of their views of public policy. amend acts of Congress by inserting words in frn- portant statutes which Congress had refused to insert, as the Supreme Court did in the Standard oil cass and in the Tobacco Trust case Ths courts would no longer deal with un- due severity in contempt cases, and government by injunction would cease. The right of recall and t7e power of recall would make the re- call itself unnecessary.
 MT. President, the short tenure Of office is a form of recall, by virtue of which the people who elect judges or have them elected by the Lezfsla~ ture, or appointed by the Governor. prevent them from becoming a judi cial oligarchy. prevent them from be- coming tyrannical, and prevent them from becoming judicial rulers or fn- dulging any unseemly exercise of power by recalling them with slnors tenure of office."