New-York tribune., 1912-03-21
Says Doctrine Is Dreadful to Him.

II the Presidents language correctly de-
SCTibCs suCh acton by N" people, thtH
nc himself and al other Presidents have
been elected ny the nttul impulse OF
Sututiun Of each state and tn" Coustl-
tuition Of the nation nave been adopted
and all amendments thereto have been
adopted, by the htful impulse OF tempo
rarv majority" II he is right Il was the
ftful impulse of a temporary majority
which founded, and another htful impulse
which perpetuatod, this nation. His po-
sition is perfectly clear 1t is that We
have in this country a special class Of per-
sons wiser than the people, who are above
the people, who cannot be reached 10y the
people, but who govern them and ought 10
govern them, and who protect various
classes OF the people from the whole people.
That is the old. old doctrine which has been
acted upon for thousands Of years abroad.
and which here in America has been acted
upon sometimes openly, sometimes secret
~, for forty years by many men in public
and in private life, and | am sorry to say
by many Judges; doctrine which has IN
fact tended TO create q bulwark for privi-
lege, a bUlwark unjustly protecting special
interests against the rights OF the people
as whole. This doctrine is 10 me a dread
! full doctrine. for its effect is, and can only
he. to make the courts the shield OF privl-
/ lege against popular rights. Naturally,
. every uphOldcr and beneficiary Of crooked
privilege loudly applauds the doctrine. #
| Is behind the shield OF that doctrine that
: OF wealth and power control legislation.
I The men OF wealth who praise this doc
| trine. this theory, would do well TO remem-
! Der that TO its adoption by the courts Is due
! the distrust so many of our wage-work
! ers now feel for the courts. | deny that
| that theory has worked so well that
we should continue it. / most earnestly
urge that the evils and abuses II has pro-
duced cry aloud for remedy, and the only
| remedy is I'm fact 10 restore the power 20
govern directly 10 the people and to make
the public servant directly responsible "a
/ the whole peoplc-and TO no part Of them
to no class Of them.
"He Is Afraid Of Maorites."
He is very much afraid Of the tyr
amy of majorities. For twenty-five year,
here in New York State, I'm our efforts tu
get social and industrial Justice we have
suffered from the tyranny Of small minor
| ity We have been denied. now by one
court, now by another as in the bakeshop
case. where the courts set aside the law
! limiting the hours OF labor In bakcricS-the
due process clause agan--as I'm the worn
mems compensation act, as I'm the tenement
house cigar factory casc-in all these AMI
mary other cases we have been denied by
small mnortics, by a few worthy men of
wrong political philosophy on the bench.
the right 10 protect our people in their
lives their liberty ana their pursuit of hap
piness. As for consistency the rec
ord Of tic courts. IN such = case as the in
come tax, for instance, is so full Of incon-
SlSttnclcS as 10 MAKE thc rear expressed OF
''incOnsstency" on the part Of the people
seem childish.
Wsll-meaning. short-sighted persons have
held up their hanGs in horror at my pro-
posdl t. allow the people themselves To
ronstruc the constitution which they them
selves made. Yet this is precisely wnat the
Association Of the Bar Cf the city of New
York proposed to do in the concurrent reso-
luton which was introduced az their request
into our Legislature on January l6 last pro-
posing to amend the state constitution BY
q section reading as follows: Nothing con-
tanned IN this constitution shall he con-
strucd TO limit the powers Of the Leeisla-
ture 10 enact laws such as tie WorkmeD' 3
conversation act. In other words the New
York Bar Association is proposing 10 ap-
peal 20 the people TO conStTue the COnStitu-
tjon I'm such "A way al will directly reverse
the court. They are proposing to appeal
from tho highest court OF the state To the
people That Is just what proro.e 10 do;
the difference is only one OF method, not
Of purpose: ny method VIII give better re-
suits and will give them more quickly. The
Bar Association by It's acton admits ttat
the court was wrong. AMI sets To work ~
Change the rule which II laid down. As
Lincoln anncpnced OF the D~cd SCOT d.
csIcn in his debates with Douglas: "Son'e-
body has 10 reverse that decision. since
IL Is made. and We mean to reverse n. a~d
we mean 10 do IL peaceablv' Was Lincoln
wrong? Was the spirit Of the nation that
wiped out slavery "the htful impulse of \
| temporary majority
The speaker asserted emphatlcally thar
he was not discussing the recall o;
Judges. although he wished 1t distinctly
understood that he considered the recall
mere piece of machinery 10 take the
nIace of the unavoidable impeachment"
which Mr.. Taft in effect defends. At
this point Mr.. Roosevelt made the state
ment with all mis- power. II stand on the
Columbus speech" Hc added
Nv remedy Is not the result of library
study of constitutional law. but OF actual
aud long-continued experience in the use
of government power TO redress social and
Industrial evils. Again and again earnest
r.orkers for social Justice have said TO me