Norwich bulletin., 1912-09-26
Wilson's s Idea of
 Progressiviish1
ELUCIDATEp AT HARTFORD AND
 NEW HAVEN.
RECALL OF JUDICIARY
Opposed by Governor, But Favors Re- call of Administrative Officers, Also the Initiative and Referendum.

New Haven, Conn.,. Sept. 25.-Gov. Woodrow Wilson admittedly went fur ther today toward defining his ideas on progressive principles than he has since he became the presidential nom- inee of the democratic party. In speech that was received with marked enthusiasm at Hartford, and another at New Haven tonight, the governor explained that he favored the initia- tive and the referendum, as well as the recall of admin strative officers, but that he was unlualifiedly opposed to the recall of the judiciary. Gov. Sim con E. Baldwin Introduced Governor Wilson.
 Direct Election of Senators.
 The democratic presidential nominee Illustrated some of the points in hls speech, which included comment on the direct primary system and the di- rect election of United States sena- tors, by references to present condi- ions on the Pacific coast. He was asked tonight whether i- his refer ences to California he had in mind the presence in Hartford and New Haven today at different hours of Governor Johnson of California. Gov ernor Wilson said he had not thought Of that. If I did not believe that to be progressive was to preserve the es- sentials of our institutions, I for one could not be progressive" said the governor.
 Seats in Senate Bought.
 ter of the majority of the men of the United States senate, the governor said: Tt would be painful to repeat to you some of the processes by which seats have been bought in the United States senate. and you know, as the whole people of the United Estates know, that little group of senators holding the balance of power has again and again been able to defeat programmes of reform upon which the whole country had set its heart.
 "Am Acting Consistently"
 And while it is true that American forces are awake that thev can con- duct American processes without seri- ous departure from the ideals of the constitution, it is nevertheless true that We have had many shameful in stances of practices which we can ab : solutely remove by the direct election of senators by the people themselves And, therefore, I for one will not all low any man who knows his history to say to me that I am acting inconsist- ent1y with either the spirit or the form of American government in advocating the direct election of United States senators.
 Initiative, Referendum and Recall. Let's get another step deeper. 1 hope you won't think that l am going too far in even mentioning in your presence those extreme doctrines of the initiative and the referendum and | the recall. It is the last word that | makes most men shrink. There ara communities, there are states in the union, in which I am quite ready to admit that it is perhaps premature, that perhaps it will never be neces- sary, to discuss these measures. Bu. l want to call your attention to the fact that these measures have been discussed and have been adopted In those states where the electorate had been convinced that they did not have representative government. Let no man deceive himself by the fallacy 1 that anybody proposes to substitute direct legislation by the people or a direct reference of laws voted in the | legislature to the vote of the people l for representative government. Tn; most eager advocates of these reforms | tending to recover representative gov ernment, that they had no place where those who were elected to legislative chambers were really representative oi | the community which they profess tO serve.
 Recall of Administrative Officers.
 The initiative is a means of recap turing the seat of legislative authorit, on behalf of the people themselves The referendum is a means of seeing to it that unrepresentNive measures are not put upon the statute books but are checked by being submitted to the vote of the people. When you resort to tho recall the principle is that if ar administrative officer-for we will be- gin with an administrative officer-is corrupt or so unwise as to be doing things that are likely to lead to al sorts of mischief in the future. 1t will be possible by a sedate and slow pro- cess prescribed by the law to get riC of that officer before the end of hit term. Because you must admit tha' 1t Is a little inconvenient sometimes to have what someone calls an astro
 nomical system of government, a sys
 tenn of government in which you can change anything until there has beer a certain number of revolutions of tn, | 1lE
 is grounded in the traditions of Amer
 ican affairs, particularly as they deriv
 their origin from New England, cal
 file any valid objection to the recall 0
 administrative officers.
 Opposes Recall of Judges.
 Tt Is another matter when 1t come
 to the judiciary. 1 myself have neve
 been in favor of the recall Of judges.
 Great applause interrupted tn
 speaker at this point. and he contln ued:
 Not that some judges haven't de served to be recalied-that isn't tn point. But because that Is threaten
 ing the symptoms instead of the dis
 ease. The disease lies deeper an
 sometimes 1t is very viruleht and yer , dangerous. Gentlemen, there hay been courts in the United States tha were controlled by private interest: 7 There have been supreme courts in ou states at which men without privileg could not get justice, There hay
 been corrupt judges; there have bee
 controlled judges. There have bee , judges who acted as other mems ser i wants and not as the servants of tn , public, And there can be no mora
 objection te removing such men frer
 pIb1ic service,
 Some Shameful Chapters. aAh, there have been some shamefl
 chapters in that story. Think of 1t
 The reason yeu apPiauded just new i
 that ysu feel, as l feel, that the judi , ciary pFeeess is the last ultimate safe , guard If the things that We want [ hold stable in this country. but sup , pose that that safeguard is corrupted suppose that it dees not guard my in
 tereSts and yours, but guards merel 1 the interests of very small group ( , individuals; and that whenever yeu - interests clash with theirs yours wi I in eyINa utal tboIIuJ. AtnII nanra