Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1912-06-07

welt should be elected. And they
would be justified in expecting that
+ If Mr.. Roosevelt is elected and his
plan to perpetuate himself In office Is
carried out that they would be pro
yided with substantial positions and
good salaries for life With their life
4 positions at stake, the entire bunch OF
federal officeholders would be found
at each succeeding election working
Z for the reelection Of their patron and
I the continuance of their own posi-
tons Knowing they had friends above
them they need not hesitate to put in
to effect the most practical politics of
modern days without fear of prosecu-
ton One can imagine Mr.. Dawson
and his crowd holding the federal and
state Offices, conducting a Kanawha
county primary before every election
and dispensing with the committee
on credentials at every nominating
convention. They would be in a posi-.
ton to decide all nominations and per
petuate themselves in Office while as
sisting the bosses of other states TO
perpetuate Mr. Roosevelt in the White
House.
part of the plan to turn over the
entire political control of the state
to the Dawson machine is the Dawson
plan to remove the right of the people
to select their own state or local Of
iicers by giving the Governor the pow
er to remove any of them at pleasure
with no check of any Kind upon his
action in this respect. Should this
power be given to the Governor he
might easily remove from office any
person elected by the people who
might not be in full sympathy with
himself and the political machine rep
resented by him. This would give him
absolute control over all The offices in |
the state as though he had the right /
to appoint all officers originally with |
out going through the from of an cleo
ton. A bill to this effect was pre- |
sented to the last legislature with the |
approval of the same people who now |
favor it and at the recent Huntington |
convention the platform contained a |
declaration in favor of this plan This |
particular plank in the platform was
not adopted, but its presence in the |
original draft shows the intention of \
the Dawson party in West Virginia TO .
control anything and even to take /
from the people their right to choose
their own officers.
1t is not believed that the United
States is ready to turn all matters .
of government over to Theodore
Roosevelt or that the State of West !
Virginia is ready to turn all its affairs !
over to w. NJ. O. Dawson. Porfrio
Diaz succeeded in carrying out pol
icy of this kind for many years in
Mexico. He was nominally elected by
the people to succeed himself term af-
ter term but as a matter of fact in
stead of being elected by the people
he was perpetuated in office through
the political machine which he built
up through the use of federal patron
age and the Mexican army. He con- /
tinued as President for many years,
but was finally overthrow by revo- /
luton. Theodore Roosevelt may fol- K
low in his footsteps for a while and /
by the use of federal patronage and .
even the army may have himself cleo /
ted for several succeeding terms and 1
perpetuate Mr.. Dawson and the rest
of the leaders of the Roosevelt party
in office in West Virginia; but it would
hardly seem that West Virginia or the
United States is ready tc give up con
stitutional form of government and
adopt a Roosevelt dictatorship with
Dawson as his chief lieutenant for
West Virginia and a bunch of his 9th
er friends holding life positions at
good salaries under the federal gov
eminent.