Arizona republican., 1911-05-14
Woodrow Wilson d Los
 Angeles on Insurgency WHAT THE REVOLT MEANS
Speaker Pleased to Note That in Democratic Party Authority of Majority Not Overthrown by Per sonal Differences.

Los Angeles. Cal. Ma 13.-GOvern- or Woodrow Wilson of New Jersey was the orator of the evening at the meet ing of the City club in the Auditorium here tonight He said in part:
 It must be evident tO every one that party lines are being very much Ob- scured; that more and more men are holding themselves free to follow this leader or that according as their own perception of the public interest die tates. And so a great many new terms have come into our politics. It is amusing to note their variety and the way in which men are seeking labels for themselves and for their opponents. The classification most in fashion is that of .-prOgressives" and reaction aries: and dare say those terms will serve as well as any others to eN- press the real contrasts which now be- gin to show themselves on our political action.
 It is interesting to me as a democrat tO note that while we have heard d great deal of talk about insurgent re- pub!icans we have heard very little about inSurgent democrats. Insurgents are those who throw off authority. It must be that the insurgent republicans are throwing off the authority of the major portion of their party, while democrats are free to be prOgressives without being insurgents. It would seem that to be progressive Iz not to defy the general authority of their par ty colleagues. I should like to believe that this meant that the democratic .t. 4. sive. and that it is easier. through the instrumentality of that party, to ac- complish the new purposes of the day than through the instrumentality of the republican party.
 It is important to note that the word progressive means something much more than mere impulse or inclination. It means. if l understand 1T correctly. a concentration upon actual problems and upon the means of solving them.
 It is the sober business of the pro- sressive to understand and to act. It is his business to know a great deal more than that something is wrong. He must know just what it is that is wrong and when he sees it he must daily recognize ,ds duty to act and to act along definite lines of reform. We have passed the time of excitement. of general complaint. of undiscriminating condemnation. and have come to a day when men are inclined 10 take politics more seriously than they have taken it in earlier generations.
 The first and most important thing is an apprehension of the actual facts. A perception of the facts is as impor- tant as a comprenensiOn of the rem edies and the facts cannot be stated too plainly for our purpose.
 For example. a great deal of dis cussiOn is now concentrated upon pro posed methods of reform which 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 SD admirable a history. and which has seemed the chief instru- ment of liberty throughout many cen turies. some more direct. less organic system of action on the part of the people: and many champions now arise t0 defend the great institutions which they conceive to be in danger. I do llpI liilu dDNWUtIt d utSift tO ulShtliSt with or to impair representative gov ernment What I do find is a very gen eral impression that our governments have ceased to be representative: that they wear the form. but do not ex- emplify the reality. If we are to act mtelligently. we must first of all look into this question and see if this inn precision is we'll founded.
 l 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 in recent decades the people do not select and do not control their representatives. The selection of those representatives has been in the hands of small groups of men who were not chosen by anybody but themselves to made the selection. The peculiar -- lCOntinued on Page l2)