The Greenville journal. [volume] (Greenville, Ohio) 1850-1918, 1912-05-16

pie, because government is controlled
by the voting population. Those are
the adult males, and they do not con-
stitute a quarter of the people. There.
fore it is by a representative part Of
all the people, and it is by a majority
of that representative part. That is
to state it exactly, what our govern
ment is.
A Raw FaIsehood.
Now that statement Mr.. Roose-
velt took and put into his Car.
Roosevelt took and put into his Car
negie speech, having the context be-
fore him to show what l meant, and
h1 said, What does this mean?" He
said, at means government by the
few, government by an oligarchy, gov
ernment by an aristocracy. That
shows that he distrusts the people,
and that makes the issue between us"
Now, my friends, Mr.. Roosevelt is in
the habit of using terms from sport
in order to give maxims for life, and
one of them is that every man is en-
titled to a square deal.
l want to refer to the recall of de-
cisions Mr.. Roosevelt says that this
is going to accomplish a great reform,
a social reform, and we are going to
have an appeal from an Interpretation
of the constitution by eight or ten
learned state judges to popular cleo
| ton to decide whether the particular
| law that they have held valid or in
valid is valid or invalid. If another
law comes uE of the same kind af-
fecting somebody else, then we will
| try it again with the people, and the
result may very we'll be that one law
that violates the constitution shall be
| held valid-that is, the constitution
shall be suspended for the purpose
of making that law work, and the
other law shall be held to be invalid
| and annulled That would not be uni
form. That would be the height OF
absurdity with reference to the uni
formity of law and fundamental law.
Guarantees AnnuIled.
But there is one thing l want to
call your attention to. Mr. Roosevelt
now limits that to state courts, but
if it is to apply to state courts there
is nothing under heaven in the way
of logic or reason that should prevent
it's application to federal courts and
to the supreme court of the United
States, and then what would happen?
Every constitutional guaranty that
protects you and me and my colored
friends, every constitutional guaranty
that you rely on in the thirteenth
and fourteenth and fifteenth amend
ments would be subject to an elec-
ton to decide whether the court was
right in a particular law and in
particular case. What does that
amount to, gentlemen? 1t amounts
to writing the restrictions of your
constitution in water. 1t means the
abolition of a constitution as man
datory limitation, and leaves 1t to
the people to suspend the constitu-
tion by a single vote every time they
choose to do so, and when l say the
people l mean a majority of the vot-
|
tion was adopted to protect the rights
Of all the people, men, women and
children; and | say, therefore, that
it is a departure from the safety of
|, constitutional government to talk
about the recall of judicial decisions,
In all ny political experience, and |
have heard Socialists and others talk,
| never have heard anything that so
shocks a trained lawyer as that prop
osition.
Who Used Patronage?
And now, another thing that Mr..
Roosevelt charges against me is that
I am making a shameless use of fed
eral patronage. Well, you know what
| recommended about it, but so long
as those offices remain political, as
long as congress recognizes them as
such, they will continue to be politi-
cal. There are about 70 per cent of
men in office who we're appointed by
Mr.. Roosevelt, and they naturally
feel, many of them as between him
and me, that he is to be preferred
| doubt their judgment, but l defer to
it, and he knows that they are help.
ing him, and he also knows that there
is not a single office-holder who has
been removed because he has opposed
me politically and been in favor OF
Theodore Roosevelt.
Administrations Achievements.
By economy in administration of the
government we changed what found
when | took up Theodore Roosevelt's
administration, a deficit of $50, 100000
we changed that in a single year
to a surplus of $40,000,000. Now
don't know whether you call that pro
gressive or not. 1t seems to be pro
gress to move on from a deficit to 6
surplus, but this modern progressive
is to be something different. AS Mr.
: Roosevelt explained at Louisville, he
intimated pretty broadly that aht
trouble with me as progressive was
{ that was-let me see-puZzle witteC
and lacking in imagination. Well,
+ have no doubt / am both, but l an
| not 80 puzzle witted but that / car
tell the difference between $4,000, ,00C
deficit and $4O,OOO,OOO surplus.
O Then we passed the Philippine tariff
1 in the Payne bill. We did justice Il
the Philippines. 1t has nearly trebleC
1 our business with the Philippines
b We adopted the japanese treaty
which avoided a cloud on the horizon
that was perhaps the most threaten
5 ing in our international relations
Y and we did it without protest from