The Washington times., 1912-02-21

Dut We Stand even more Tor the rights
OF man. We will protect the rights of
the wealthy man, but we maintain that
he holds his wealth subject to the gem
eral right of the community to regulate
its business use as the public welfare
requires.
We also maintain that the nation and
the several States have the right to reg
ulate the terms and conditions Of labor,
which Is the chief element of wealth,
directly in the interest of the common
good. II Is our prime duty to shape
the industrial and social forces SO that
they may tell for the material and
moral upbuilding of the farmer and the
wage worker, just as they should do. in
the case of the business man. You,
trainers of this Constitution, be careful
40 to frame II that under II the people
shall leave themselves free to do what
ever Is necessary I'm order to help the
farmers of the state to get for them
selves and their wives and children not
only the benefits of better farming, but
also those of better business methods
ard better conditions of life on the
farm.
Protecting Rights of Labor.
Moreover. shape your constitutional
action so trat the people will be able
through their legislative bodies, or, fail
ing that, by direct popular vote, TO pro-
vide workmen's compensation acts, to
regulate the hours of labor for children
and for women, to provide for their
safety while at work, and to prevent
overwork or work under unhygienlc or
unsafe conditions. See to 1t that no re-
strictiors are placed upon legislative
powers that will prevent the enactment
of laws under which your people can
promote the general welfare, the COM
mon good. Thus only will the general
welfare clause of our Constitution be-
come vital force for progress, instead
remaining a nhfgga a
applies to the police powers of the Gov
eminent. Make II perfectly clear that
on every point of this kind it Is your
intention that the people shall decide
for themselves how far the laws to
achieve their purposes shall go, and
that their decision shall be binding upon
every citizen in the State, official or nom
official, unless, of course, the Supreme
Court OF the nation in any given case
decides otherwise.
So much for the ends Of government:
and have, OF course, merely sketched
in outline what the ends should be- Now
for the machinery by which these ends
are to be achieved; and here again re-
member / only sketch in outline and do
not for moment pretend to work out
in detail the methods of achieving YOUR
purposes. Let me at the outset urge
upon you to remember that. while ma
chinery is important, II is easy to over
estimate its Importance, and, moreover,
that each community has the absolute
machinery shall be, subject only to the
Fundamental law of the nation as ex-
pressed in the Constitution OF the
United States. Massachusetts, has the
right to have eppointive judges who
serve during good behavior. subject to
removal, not by impeachment. but by
simple majority vote of the two houses
of the Legislature whenever the repre-
sentatives of the people feel that the
needs of the people require such re-
moYal. New York has the right to have
a long-teTm elective judiciary. Ohio has
the right to have a short-term elective
judiciary without the recall California.
Oregon, and Arizona have each and
every one of them the right to have a
short-term elective judiciary with the
recall. Personally, of the four systems
l. prefer the Massachusetts one, II .ad-
dition be made to it as l hereinafter in
dictate; but that is merely my prefer
ence, neither | nor anyone else within
or without public life has the right ia
impose his preference upon any COM
munity when the question is as to how
that community chooses to arrange for
, its executive, legislative, or judicial
functions. But as you have Invited me
views as to the kind of governmental
machinery which at this time and under
existing social and Industrial conditions
It seems to me that, as people, we
need.
Favors Short Ballot.
In the first place, I believe in the
short ballot. You cannot get good serN'
ice from the public servant II you can
not see him, and there is no more eff
fective way of hiding him than by mix
| ing him up with a multitude of Others
so that they are none of them important
enough to catch the eye of the average
workaday citizen. The crook in public
life Is not ordinarily the man whom the
oil a
highly important and responsible posi-
! ton. The type of boss who has made
| the name Of politician odious rare
! " himself runs for high elective
office; and If he does and is elected
the. people have only them I,5edis
and the professional lobbyist thrlVe
most rankly under q system which
| provides a multitude of elective ON,
| GERS of such divided responsibility
and of such obscurity that the PUBLIC
knows, and can know. but little as
| to their duties and the way they per
form them. The people have nothing
whatever to fear from giving any
retain their own power to hold him
| accountable for his use OF the power
they have delegated to him. You vii
| get best service where you elect only
| a few men. and where each man ha:
his definite duties and responsibilities
| and is obliged to work in the open
so thai the people know who he Ii
and wlat he is doing, and have the
| informa ton that will enable them Il
hold him to account for his steward
| ship.
For Direct Primaries.
| I believe in providing for direc
nominations by the people. including
therein direct preferential primaries
for the election of delegates to thu
national nominating conventions. No
as a matter of theory, but as a mat
ter OF plain and proved experience
we find that the convention system
while it often records the popula
will, Is also often used by adroi
politicians as a method of thwartinl
the popular will. In other words, tn
existing machinery for nominations d
cumbrous, and is not designed to Sc
cure the real expression of the popua
desire. Nov as good citizens we ar
all of us willing to acquiesCe cheer
fully in a nomination secured by tn
expression of a majority of the PEG
pie, but we do not like to acquiesce IL
a nomination secured by adroit politi
cal mana cement in defeating the wisl
of the majority of the people.
I believe in the election of Unite
States Senators by direct vote. Jus
as actual experience convinced on
people that Presidents should b
| elected Gas thew now are In Dra cti re