Hopkinsville Kentuckian. [volume] (Hopkinsville, Ky.) 1889-1918, 1912-03-28
Opposes Presidents Attitude on
Popular Government.
PEOPLES VOICE MUST PREVAIL

VI 49,
The salient passages in Colonel
Roosevelt's forceful campaign speech.
delivered in Carnegie hall. New York.
Wednesday evening. are given below:
The great fundamental issue now be-
fore the Republican party and before
our people can be stated briefly. 1t is,
Are the American people Ct to govern
themselves. to rule themselves, to con-
troll themselves? / believe they are.
My opponents do not / believe in the
right of the people to rule. | believe
that the majority of the plain people
of the United States will. day I'm and
day out. make fewer mistakes in gov
erning themselves than any smaller
class or body of men. no matter what
their training. will make in trying to
govern them. believe again that the
American people are as n whole capa-
BILE of self control and Of learning by
their mistakes. Our opponents pay lip
loyalty to this doctrine. but they show
their real beliefs by the way in which
they champion every device to make
the nominal rule Of the people sham.
l have scant patience with this. talk
of the tyranny of the majority. When
ever there is tyranny of the majority /
shall protest against 1t with all my
heart and SOUL But we are today suf-
fering from the tyranny of the minor
tiles. 1t is a small minority that is
grabbing our coal deposits. our water
powers and our harbor fronts. A small
minority is fattening on the sale of
adulterated foods and drugs. 1t is a
small minority that lies behind monop-
olies and trusts. 1t is a small minority
that stands behind the present law Of
master and servant. the sweatshops
and the whole calendar Of social and
industrial injustice. 1t is a small mi
nority that is today using our conven-
ton system to defeat the will of a ma
jority Of the people in the choice of
delegates to the Chicago convention
Not For Recall Everywhere.
My opponents charge that two things
In my program are wrong because they
intrude into the sanctuary Of the Judi
ciary. The first is the recall of Judges
and the second the review by the peo-
pie of judicial decisions on certain con-
stitutional questions. 1 have said again
and again that do not advocate the
recall Of judges in all states and in all
communities The integrity of our
judges, from Marshall to White and
Holmes-and to Cullen and many others
In our own state-is q fine page of
American history. Butt say it sober
ly-democracy has right to approach
the sanctuary of the courts when a
special interest has corruptly found
sanctuary there. and this is exactly
what has happened in some of the
states where the recall of the Judges is
a living issue. Is it not equally plain
that the question whether a given So
cial policy is for the public good is not
of judicial nature. but should be set
tied by the legislature. or in the final
instance by the people themselvesP
The president of the United States,
Mr.. Taft, devoted most of a recent
speech to criticism of this proposition.
He says that it sis utterly without
merit or utility, and instead of being
in the interest of all the peo-
pie and of the stability Of popular gov
eminent, is sowing the seeds of confu-
sion and tyranny" (By this he, of
course. means the tyranny Of the ma
Jority-that is. the tyranny of the
American people as a whole.) He also |
says that my proposal (Which, as he
rightly sees. is merely proposal to |
give the people real instead of only a |
nominal chance to construe and amend |
a state constitution with reasonable |
rapidity) would make such amendment |
and Interpretation depend on the fe- |
verish, uncertain and unstable deter !
mination of successive votes on differ |
ent laws by temporary and changing |
maJorities," and that 1T lays the ak at |
the foot of the tree of well ordered /
freedom and subjects the guarantees Of |
life, liberty and property without rem
edy to the 1tful impulse of a tempo |
rary majority Of an electorate"
This criticism is really less a criti-
cism OF my proposal than a criticism
of all popular government 1t is
wholly unfounded, unless it Is founded
on the belief that the people are funda-
mentally untrustworthy. This Is the
question that l propose to submit 70
the people. How can the prevailing
morality or a prepOnderant opinion be
better and more exactly ascertained
than by a vote Of the people? The
people must know better than the
court what their own morality and
their own opinion Is. | ask that you.
here. You and others like you. you the
people. be given the chance to state
your own views OF justice and public
morality and not sit meekly by and
have your views announced for you by
well meaning adherents OF outworn
philosophers. who exalt the Dedsntry OF
formulas above the vital needs of I'M