The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1912-02-22

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remember that. while machinery Il
important. 1t is easy to overestimatt
Its Importance; and. moreover, thai
each community has the absolute righ
to determine for itself what that ma
chinery shall be, subject only to the
fundamental law of the nation as ex
1 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 il you cannot see him. and
there is no more effective way OF hid
ing him than by mixing him up with
| multitude of others so that they are
| none of them important enough 10
catch the eye of the average. worka
day citizen. The professional politi'
clan and the professional lobbyist
thrive most rankly under a 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 nttle
as to their duties and the way they
perform them. The people have moth
}
| public servant power SO long as they
retain their own power to hold MIN
accountable for his use of the power
they have delegated to him.
believe in providing for direct nom
nations by the people, including there
in direct preferential primaries FOR Inc
election of delegates to the national
nominating conventions.
believe in the election of United
States senators by direct vote. Just
as actual experience convinced our
people that presidents should be
elected las 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 con-
WINGED us that senators should be
elected by direct vote Of the people
instead of indirectly through the vari-
GUS legislatures.
/ believe in the initiative and the
referendum, which should be used not
to destroy representative government.
but to correct it whenever it 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
it is of course their right to keep that
system unchanged; and 1t is nobody's
business but theirs. But in actual
practice 1t has been found in very
many states that legislative bodies
have not been responsive to the popu-
lar will. Therefore l believe that the
state should provide for the possibility
of direct popular action in order to
make good such legislative failure.
Wisconsin Method Praised.
In a recent speech Governor Mccoy
ern of Wisconsin has described the
plan which has been there adopted.
Under this plan the effort to obtain
the law is first to be made through
the legislature. the bill being pushed
as far as il will go; so that the details
of the proposed measure may be
threshed over in actual legislative de-
bate. This gives opportunity to per
feet it in form and invites public
scrutiny. Then, If the legislature fails
to enact it, it can be enacted by the
people on their own initiative, taken
at least four months before election.
Moreover, where possible, the question
actually to be voted on by the people
should be made as simple as possible.
In short, | believe that the initiative
and referendum should be used not as
substitutes for representative govern
ment, but as methods Of making such
government really representative.
Give the legislature an entirely free
hand; and then provide by the initia
tive and referendum that the people
shall have power to reverse or sup
plement the work Of the legislature
should it ever become necessary.
AS to the recall, | do not believe
that there is any great necessity for
it as regards short-term elective Of
ficers. On abstract grounds ] was
originally inclined to be hostile to It,
| know Of one case where it was &C
tually used with mischievous results.
On the other hand, in three cases in
municipalities on the Pacific coast
which have come to my knowledge it
was used with excellent results.
believe it should be generally pro-
vided. but with such restrictions as
will make 1t available only when there
is a widespread and genuine public
feeling among a majority OF the
voters.
There remains the question OF the
recall Of judges. One OF the ablest
jurists in the United States. a veteran
in service to the people, recently wrote
me as follows on this subject:
There are two causes OF the agi.
tation for the recall as applied to
judges. First. the administration Of
justice has withdrawn from life and
become artificial and technical. The
recall is not 30 much a recall of judges
from office as 1t is recall OF the ad-
ministration OF justice back to life, SO
that it shall become, as 1t ought to
be, the most efficient OF all agencies
for making this earth better place to
live in. Judges have set their rules
above life. Like the Pharisees Of old.
they said, The people be accursed
they know not the law {that is our