Perth Amboy evening news., 1912-02-21

h ID &84I&61& &NEA NF%E%&AV E&%ff[%HHAF h~
do SO. just ~ In exceptional cases
rsilway rates ara now regulated .
We grtsdgs no man a fortune which
represents his own power and sagacaty
exercised with entire regard TO the
welfare of his fellows. We have only
praise for the business man whose
business suecs comes as an moi.
dent to doing good work for his fei-
lows. But we should 30 shape coidt-
lions that 8 fortune shall be obtained
only In honorable fashion. in such
fashion that its gaining represents
benefit to ths community.
In q word, then, our fundamental
purpose must be 10 secure genuine
equality OF opportunity. No man
should receive q dollar unless that dol
lar has been fairly earned. Every dol.
lar received should represent a dol
lars worth Of servios rendered. No
watering OF stocks should be permit
ted; and 1t can be prevented only by
close governmental supervision OF all
stock issues, SO "a to prevent over
capitalization.
We stand for the rights OF property,
but we stand oven more for the rights
OF man. We Will protect the rights OF
the wealthy man. but We maintain
that he holds his wealth subject to tho
general right of the community to
regulate its business use as the public
welfare requires.
We also maintain that the nation
and the several states have the right
to regulate the terms and conditions
Of labor, which Ia the chief element Of
wealth, directly In the interest OF the
common good. You, trainers Of this
constitution, be careful so to frame 1t
that under 1t the people shall leave
themselves frse to do whatever 10
necessary In order to help the farmers
of tho state to get for themselves and
their wives and children not only the
benefits OF better farming but also
those OF better business methods and
better conditions of life on tho farm.
Moreover, shape your constitutional
actten - that the people will be able
sthransh their Legislative bodies. or,
failing that. BY direct popular vots. to
provide worknsn,s compensation acts,
to regulate the hours OF labor for chill
drsn and for women. to provide for
thar safety while at work. and to pre-
vent. overwork or work under hyEisnic
or unsafe conditions.
To SECURE 3aet Nesntte.
So much for the ends Of govern
uusut; and l have, Of course, merely
xkctched In outline what the ends
should be. New TOR the machinery by
which these ends are to be achieved;
and hero again remember / only
sketch In outline and do not for q mo-
ment pretend to work out In detail the
methods of achieving -FOUR proposes
Lot me at the outset urge upon you tt
remember that, while machinery IL
important, Ii Ia easy to overssumats
its Importance, and, moreover. thai
each community has the absolute righl
to determine for itself what that ma
chinsry shall be. subject only to tbs
kAA46dltGlta iAW IA tAR aAlOa &c w.
pressed in the Constitution OF the Uni
ted States. In the first place, ]
believe in the short ballot. You can
not get good service from the public
servant II you cannot SEQ him, and
there Ia no more effective way OF hid
Ing him than by mixing him up With =
multitude of others 10 that they ara
none of them Important enough e
catch the eye OF the average. worka
day citizen. The professional politi
clan and the professional lobbyist
thrive most rankly under q system
which provides a multitude OF cleo
tive officers, of such divided RESPONSE
bility and of such obscurity that the
public knows, and can know, but Httls
as to their duties aud the way they
perform them. The people have moth
ing whatever 20 tc1c from giving nv
public servant power go long as they
retain their own power to hold him
accountable for his use of the power
they have delegated to him.
believe In providing for direct nom
nations by tho people. including there
In direct preferential primaries for the
election of delegates TO the national
nominating conventions.
l believe In the election OF United
States senators by direct vote. just
as actual experience convincxd ous
people that presidents should be
elected (as they now are In practice,
although not in theory} by direct vote
OF the people instead of by direct vote
through an untrammeled electoral col
lege, so actual experience has eof-
vinced US that senators should be
elected By direct ycts q the people
instead OF indirectly through the vart-
Gus Legislatures.
I belisye In the initiative and the
referendum, which should be used not
TO destroy representative government.
but to correct 1t whenever 1t becomes
misrepresentation. Here again ] am
concerned not with theories but with
actual facts. II IN any state the peo-
pie are themselves satisfied with their
present representative system, then
1t In OF course their right to keep that
system unchanged: and II 10 nobody's
business but theirs. But in actual
practice tt has been found in very
many states that legislative bodies
have not been responsive to the DoDa-
lar will. Therefore / believe that the
state Should provide for the possibility
of direct popular action In order 10
make good such legislAtivefnslure.