Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1912-04-05
LET PEOPLE RULE
SAYS ROOSEVELT.
OPPOSES PRESIDENTS ATTITUDE
ON POPULAR GOVERNMENT.
Peoples Voice Must Prevail
cheered for Speech In Opening Active
Campaign for Observation-Disclosures
Taft as Opposed to the Majority.
Stands squareIy on His Columbus,
Ohio, Address.

The salient passages In Colonel
Roosevelt's forceful campaign speech.
ielivered in Carnegie Hall. New York.
Wednesday evening. Is given below:
The great fundamental issue now
before the republican party and be-
fore our people can be stated briefly.
1t is. are the American people fit to
govern themselves. to rule them
selves. to control themselves?
believe they are. My opponents
do not. l believe In the right OF the
people to rule. believe that the ma
tority of the plain people in the Unit
ed States will. do. day in and day
out, make few>r mistakes in govern
ing themselves than any similar class
or body of men. no matter what their
training, will make in trying to govern
them. believe again that the Amer
lean people a. . whole, are capable Of
self control and of learning by their
mistakes. Our opponents pay lip 10y
atty 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 a sham.
have scant patience with this talk
of the tyranny of the majority. When
ever there is tyranny of the majority
I shall protest against it with all my
heart and soul. But we are today
suffering from the tyranny Of the MI
norities. 1t II q small minority that
is grabbing our coal deposits. our
water powers and our harbor fronts.
A small minority 10 fattening on the
sale Of adulterated foods and drugs.
It is q small minority that lies behind
monopolies and trusts. 1t is a small
minority that stands behind the pres
ent law Of master and servant, the
sweatshops and the whole calendar of
social and industrial injustice. 1t Is
. small minority that Is today using
our convention system to defeat the
will Of a majority of the people In the
choice Of delegates to the Chicago
convention.
Ny opponents charge that two
things in my program are wrong be-
cause they intrude into the sanctuary
Of the judiciary.
The first IL the recall Of judges and
the second the review by the people
Of judicial decisions on certain excep-
tional questions. / have said again
and again that I 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 9TH
ers in our state-is fine page Of
American history. Butt say 1t so
berly-democracy has q right to ap-
proach the sanctuary of the courts
when q special interest has corruptly
found sanctuary. and this is exactly
what has happened in some of the
states where the recall of the judges
Is a living issue. 10 1t not equally
plain that the question whether a CIV
en- social policy IL for the public good
Is not of q judicial nature. but should
be settled by the legislature or In the
final instance. by the people them
selves?
The president Of the United States,
Mr.. Taft, devoted most of a recent
speech to criticise some OF this prop
osition. He says that 1T is utterly
without merit or utility and, instead
Of being In the interest Of all the peo-
pie and Of the stability Of popular
government. 10 sowing the seeds Of
confusion and tyranny" BY this he
Of course meant the tyranny Of the
majority-that 10 the tyranny Of the
American people as a whole.
He also says that my proposal.
(which as he rightly sees 1t. is merely
a proposal to give the people real
instead Of only . nominal chance to
construs and amend state legislation
with reasonable Hapidity) would make
such amendment and Interpretation
depend on the feverish, uncertain
and unstable determinations Of sue
oessive votes on different laws by
temporary and changing majorities." :"
and that 1T lays the axe at the foot
Of the tree Of well ordered freedom
and subjects the guarantees Of lite,
liberty and prosperity without remedy.
to the htful impulse Of a temporary
majority Of An electorate"
This criticism II really less a crit
icism of my proposal than criticism
Of all popular government. 1t Is who'll
~ unfounded. unless 1t 10 founded on
the belief that the people are funda-
mentally untrustworthy. This 10 the
question that I propose to submit to
the people. How can the prevailing
morality or . preponderant opinion
be better and more exactly ascer-
tained than BY vote Of the people'
The people must know better than
the court what their own morality and
their own opinion IL. l 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 pedantry
Of formulas above the vital needs OF
human life.
Mr.. Taft'e position Is the position
that has been held from the beginning
OF our government. although not n
Ways 90 openly held. by large num-
beY OF reputable and honorable men