New-York tribune., 1912-02-22

an lItSS hSo'N'"'ir''I
! of the average. workaday citizen. The
/ crook i'm public life Is not ordinarily the
man whom the people themselves elect di-
rectly TO highly important and respon-
sIble position The type OF boss VINO mas
made the name OF politician odious Ia,cH
/ himself runs for high elective Office; and II
, he does and Is elected. the people nave
! only themselves TO blame. The professionai
! politician ana the professional loDDyiSt
| thrive most rankly under system when
provides a multitude Of elective officers,
OF such divided responsibility ana or such
obscurty that the public knows. and can
| know but little as TO their duties ana the
! wav they-perform them. The people have
nothing whatever to fear from giving any
! public servant power so long as NtheS re-
I tain their own power TO hoid MN account
: able for his use of the power they nave
delegated 20 him. You Will get best service
where you elect only few men. ana
where each man has his definite duties ana
RESPONSIBILITIES. and Is Obliged TO WORK IN
! the open, that the people know who ne
| is and what he is doing, and have the in
! formation that will enable them To hold him
! to account for his stewardship.
/ believe in providing for direct nomina-
tions by the people. including therein direct
preferential primaries for the election OF
delegates TO the national nominating con,
yentons Not as a matter of theory, but
as a matter Of plain and proved experience,
we find shat the convention system. While
IL often records the popular VIII. Is also
OF thwarting the popular VIII: In other
words. the existing machinery for nomlna-
! tions Is Cumbrous and Is not designed 10
! secure the real expression OF the popular
desire. Now as good citizens we are all oi
ms willing TO acquiesce cheeriuliy In a nom
ination secured by the expression OF ma
! ioritV II the people. hut we do not like to
acqulesce In nomination secured by adroit
! political management IN defeating the wish
OF the majority OF the people.
/ I believe in the election Of United states
D mat a..tf nal aN-
! perence convinced OUR people that Presi-
| dents should bc elected tas they now are IN
practice. although no; In theory by direct
! vote OF the peopl" instead Of BY indirect
vote through an untrammelled electoral
college, so actual experience has convinced
US that Senators should be elected by direct
| vote of the people instead or indirectly
| through tho various legislatures.
For Initiative and Referendum.
believe in tho Initiative md tho rcfereD-
! dunn which should be used not 10 destroy
! rcprescntatiye government. but to correct
! II whenever IL becomes misrepresentation.
I Here again ! am concerned not with theO-
rics but with actual facts. II In any state
the people are thcmselycs satisfied with
! their present representative system, then IL
| IS OF course. their right TO keep that sys-
I tenn unchanged. aud II is nohodys business
! but theirs. But in actual practice IL has
| been found in very many states that legiF-
iatIvc bodies have not been responsive TO
J the pupular Will Therefore ! believe that
| the state should provide for the possibility
OF direct popular action In order TO make
! good such legislative failure. The power
I 60 invoke such direct action. both by intia-
I tive and by referendum, should DO pro
vidcd in such fashion as 70 prevent its
being wantonly or too frequently used.
do not believe that IL should bo made the
/ easy or ordinary way Of taking action. IN
! tho great maiorit" Of cases II Is FAR better
that action on legislative matters should De
taken by those specially Gelegatcd TO per
! form the task; in other words. that IN"
work should be done by the experts CHOSEN
! TO perform IL. But where the men thus dei
cgated fall to perform their duty, then II
should he In tho power OF the people thetn-
selves To perform the duty. In recent
speech Governor McGoYern OF Wisconsin
has described the plan which has heen
there adopted. Under this plan the enort
10 obtain the law is first to be MADE
through the Legislature. the oil, beihs
details OF the proposed measure may be
thrdshed over in actual legislative debate.
This gives opportunity to PERFECT II IN torm ,b
and invites public scrutiny. Then II the
Legislature falls 20 enact II. II can pe
enacted by the people on their own initla-
tive. taken at least four months before cleo
tion actually to he voted on by the people
should be made as simple as possible. IN
short ! believe that the initiative ana ret-
crendu,n should be used, not as substitutes
for representative government, but as metn-
ods III making such government really rep
resentative. Action by the Initiative or rel-
erendum ought not TO be the normal way
OF legislation. but the power 10 take IL
should he provided I'm the Constitution, so
that IL the representatives fail truly 20
represent the people on some matter OF
sufficient importance to rouse popular m
terest then the people shall have In their
hands the facilti,g TO make good the rail-
lTe. And urge you not 10 try TO put con-
stitutional fetters on tho Legislature, az so
many constitution makers have recently
done Such action on your part would IN
vite the courts to render nugatory every
legislative act TO better social conditions
GiYe the Legislature an entirely free hand,
and tnen provide by the initiative and rel
erendum that the people shall nave power
10 reverse or supplement the wogk of the
Legislature should IL ever become neces-
sary.
Recall of Judges.
AS to the recall, | do not believe that
there is any great necessity FOR II as re-
CARDS short term elective officers. ON alb
stract grounds / was originally inclined TO
be hostile to H. | know OF one case where
II was actually used with mischevous re-
suits ON the other hand, I'm three cases ln
municipalities on the Pacific Coast when |
have come TO my knowledge II was used
with excellent results; ! believe II should
he generally provided, but with such re-
Etrictions az will make II available only
when there Is widespread and genuine
public feeling among a majority of the vot-
ers.
An independent and upright judiciary
which fearlessly stands for the right, even
against popular clamor. but which also
understands and sympathiZes with popular
needs, Is great asset OF popular govern
ment. There Is no public servant and no
private man whom | place above a judge
of the best type. and very few whom
rank beside him. ! believe lin the clmu-
lative value OF the law and in It's value as
an impersonal. disinterested basis of con-
troll | believe in the necessity Tor the
courts Interpretation OF the law as law
without the power TO change the law or
TO substitute some other thing than law
for H. But agree with every great jurlst. |
from Marshall downward, when. say that |
every Judge Is bound TO consider two sepa. |
rate elements i'm his decision of case /
one the terms of the law and the other .he |
conditions Of actual life TO which the law
Is TO be applied Only by taking both OF
these elements into account is IL possible |
10 apply the law as its spirit and intent !
demand that IL be applied Both Jaw and |
life are TO be considered In order that the |
law and the Constitution shall become. In |
John Marshall's word. "a living instru-
ment and not dead letter. Justice be- |
tween man and man. between the state and
its citizens is living thing, whereas le-
gaiistic Justice ~ q dead thing. Moreover !
never forget that the Judge Is Just as much !
the servant of the people as any other OF |
fetal OF course he must act conscien- |
tIonslv So must every other official. He /
must not do anything wrong because there |
Is popular clamor for II any more than
nn6or similar circumstances Governor |