The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1912-02-22

docs good IN SO far as IL can be invoked
against combinations which really are
monopolies or which restrict production
or artifcially raise prices. But in so far as
its workings are uncertain or as 1t threat
ems corporations which have not been
guilty OF anti-social conduct it does harm"
he added. There should be fixed gov
ernmental policy which shall clearly
define and punish wrongdoing and give
in advance full information to any man
as to just what he can and just what he
cannot legally and properly do
He thought that the antitrust Law BY
itself cannot accomplish more than q
trihing part Of the nee ded regulation.
For the rest the nation and States must
cooperate. II necessary, regulation must
extend to the point Of controlling wages,
hours Of labor and monopoly prices. ;
He advocated direct nominations. pref
efential primaries. the initiative and the
referendum las corrective. not normal
method OF legis!ation) and popular cleo
ton OF Senators. He said the initiative
and referendum should be used not to
destroy representative government but
to correct il whenever it becomes mis-
representative.
The recall OF Judges he deems matter
Of expediency and each community has
the right to try it. Personally he believes
10 it only as a last resort. but it must be
adopted unless bad Judges can be got
ria OF easier than they are now.
The kind Of recall whose immediate
adoption he urged is the recall Of State
court . decision on a constitutional ques-
ton when the people as a whole think IL
wrong. He said typical case was the
decision by the Court OF Appeals Of New
York that the workmen's compensation
NV was unconstitutional.
Col. Roosevelt had this praise for Sena-
or La Toilette: Following Senator La
Fotllette q number Of practical vote re-
and thinkers in Wisconsin have turn ed
that State into an experimental laboratory
Of wise governmental action in aid Of
social and industrial justice. They have
initiated that kind OF progressive gov
srnment which means not only the preeer-
vation OF true democracy, but the exten-
sion Of the principle OF true democracy
Into industriali SIN as we'll as into politics.
Parts OF the speech follow:
BELIEVES IN PURE DEMOCRACY.
believe in pure democracy. with
Lincoln. I hold that this country. with
It's institutions. belongs to the people
who inhabit II. Whenever they shall
grow weary Of the existing government.
they can exercise their constitutional
right of amending it," We progressives
believe that the people have the right.
the power. and the duty TO protect them
selves and their own welfare that hui
man rights are supreme over all other
rights that wealth should be the servant,
not the master, of the people We be-
lieve that unless representative govern
ment does absolutely represent the people
1t is not representative government at all.
We test the worth of all men and all
measures by asking how they contribute
to the welfare of the men, women, and
children of whom this Nation Is COM
posed.
This country. as Lincoln said. belongs
70 the people. So do the natural resources
which make IL rich. They supply the
basis Of our prosperity now and hereafter.
In preserving them, which is a national
duty. We must not forget that monopoly is
based on the control OF natural resources
and natural advantages, and that II will
help the people little to conserve our nat
.ural wealth unless the benefits which II
can yield are secured to the people. Let
W remember. also. that conservation does
not STOP with the natural resources. but
tha. the principle Of making the best use
ct all we have requires with equal or
greater !nsistence that we shall stop the
waste Of human life in industry and pre-
vent the waste Of human welfare which
concentrated power and wealth in the
hands of men whose eagerness for profit
blinds them to the cost Of what they do.
We have no higher duty than to promote
the efficiency Of the individual. There Is
no surer road to the efficiency of the
nation
CONSTITUTION MUSTN'T BE DIsrofrED
am emphatically a believer in con-
stitutionalism. and because Of this fact
no less emphatically protest agains,
any theory that would make OF the Con-
stitution a means of thwarting Instead
Of securing the absolute right OF the
people to rule themselves and to provide
for their own social and industrial we'll
being. All Constitutions. those of the
States no less than that OF the Nation.
are designed. and must be interpreted
and administered. SO as to ht human
rights. Lincoln so interpreted and ad-
ministered the National Constitution.
PEOPLE MUST BE PREE TO DEcirE.
The object of every American consti-
tuition worth calling such must he what II
10 set forth to be in the preamble to the
national Constitution. ITO establish Jus
tice." that Is, to secure Justice as between
man and man by means OF genuine popu-
lar self-government. II the constitution
10 successfully invoked to nullify the ef-
fort to remedy injustice. II is proof pos
tive either than the constitution needs
immediate amendment or else that II is
being wrongfully and improperly con-
strued therefore very earnestly ask
you clearly to provide in this constitution
means which will enable the people read
lily to amend 1t II at any point II works
injustice. and also means which will per-
nit the people themselves by popular vote
after due deliberation and discussion, bur
finally and without appeal. to settle wha,
the proper construction Of any const!tu-
tional point is.
hold 1t to be the duty of every public
servant. and of every man who in public
or In private life holds a position OF
leadership in thought or action, to en-
deavor honestly and fearlessly to guide
his fello~-countrymen to right decisions
but emphatically dissent from the viea
that II Is either wise or necessary to tr,
to devise methods which under the con.
stitution will automatically prevent tn,
people from deciding for themselves wha,
governmental action they deem just and
proper. II Is impossible TO invent con.
stitutional devices which Will prevent the
popular will from being effective foi
wrong without also preventing II from
being effective for right. The only safe
course to follow in this great American
democracy is to provide for making tht
popular judgment really effective. Wher
this is done. then II is our duty to se,
that the people. having the full power
realize their heavy responsibility for eX
ercisins that power Alright. But II is 6
false constitutonalsm. a false states
manship to en6eayor by the exercise OF