Ashland tidings. [volume] (Ashland, Or.) 1876-1919, 1912-08-22

the needs but with the customs and
ways of thought of that community,
and no community has the right to
dictate to any other in this matter.
But wherever representative govern
ment has in actual fact become non
representative there the people
should secure to themselves the in
itiative, the referendum and the re-
call, doing it in such fashion as to
make it evident that they do not in
tend to use these instrumentalities
wantonly or. frequently, but to hold
them ready to use in order to cor
rect the misdeeds or failures of the
public servants when it has become
evident that these misdeeds and fail
ures cannot be corrected in ordinary
and normal fashion. The admins
trative officer should be given full
power, for otherwise he cannot do
well the peoples work; and the peo
pie should be given full power over
him.
Indiscriminate Use Disastrous.
do not mean that we shall aban-
don representative government; on
>
devise methods by which our gov
ernment shall become really repre-
sentative. To use such measures as
the initiative, referendum and recall
indiscriminately and promiscuously
on all kinds of occasions would un-
doubtedly cause disaster; but events
have shown that at present our insti-
tutions are not representative
any rate in many states, and some
times in the nation-and that we
cannot wisely afford to let this con-
dition of things remain longer un-
corrected. We have permitted the
growing up of breed of politicians
who sometimes for improper politi-
cal purposes, sometimes as a means
of serving the great special interests
of privilege which stand behind
them, twist so-called representative
institutions into a means of thwart-
| ing instead of expressing the delib-
crate and well-thought-out Judgment
of the people as whole. This can
not be permitted. We choose our
representatives for two purposes. In
the first place, we choose them with
the desire that, as experts, they shall
study certain matters with which we,
the people as a whole, cannot be in
timately acquainted, and that as re-
CARDS these matters they shall form
ulate policy for our betterment.
Even as regards such policy, and the
actions taken Hereunder, we our
selves should have the right ulti-
mately to vote our disapproval of it,
If we feel such disapproval But in
the next place our representatives
are chosen to carry out certain poll
cies as to which we have definitely
made up our minds, and here we eX-
pect them to represent us by doing
) what we have decided ought to be
done. All desire to do by securing
. more direct control of the govern.
; mental agents and agencies of the
people is to give the people the
chance to make their representatives
! really represent them whenever the
government becomes misrepresenta
. tive instead of representative.
) Experience Forces Conclusion.
l have not come to this way o.
! thinking by close study, or as a mere
matter of theory; | have been forced
. to it by long experience with the
actual conditions of our political life
A few years ago, for instance. there
, was very little demand in this coun
try for presidential primaries. There
would have been no demand now |
the politicians had really endeavoreC
to carry out the will of the people
. as regards nominations for president