Pocahontas star herald., 1912-05-17

nOldlng once al Inelr WILL 1hele'
fore their employer, the people, has
the inherent right to discharge at
pleasure the employee, the Judge"
When 1t is said that the people
are supreme, what is meant Is the
majority; herein lies the error.
The judges not the servants of the
majority. They are the servants of
both the majority and the minority
and must, therefore, be inde-
pendent of each. A judge
is bound under the law to protect
both the minority and the majority
and, therefore, to give justice prop
erly. must be unconstrained in the
exercise of his duties.
Senator Borah of Idaho, one of
the leading insurgent Republicans,
SAID. 1.-The difference between the
old Democracies or republics which
peri,hed and ours is, that the an
cient republics could devise no
means by which to shield the rights
of the minority. Though the ma
jority must rule, yet government
which has no method of protecting
the rights of the minority, for it
has rights, is despotic government.
do not care whether you call it a
monarchy, an aristocracy, or re
public. If the voice of the people
controls, if this principle comes to
be recognized in the timidity of
Judges, to what power will the iso-
lated, the unfortunate, the humble
and the poor go for relief?"
The advocates of the recall seem
to think that their theory would
act only IN the interest of the poor,
the weak, and the oppressed. That
it would strike down judge who
would favor corporations and be
affected by corporate influence.
Nothing could be further from the
ultimate results. 1t is easy to ser
the motive it would offer to un-
scrupulous combinations and polit-
ical bosses who would get control
of politics in order to control the
Judges. Mr.. Harrison, late Presl-
dent of the United States, said,
"Courts are the defense of the weak.
The rich and the powerful have
other resources but the poor have
not. A nIgh-minded, independent
judiciary that will hew to the line
on questions between wealth and
labor, between the rich and the
poor, is the defense and security of
the defenseless."
Those would profit by the recall
who have the best opportunity of
arousing the people to action on a
sudden impulse. Are they likely to
be the weak, the oppressed? Are
they likely to be the wisest and
best men of the community? Rath-
er they are those who have the
money with which to subsidize the
press and employ slanderers.
We do not approve of every
decision rendered by the Supreme
Court, but we do contend that a
great majority of them rendered by
it has been performed with the
greatest care and deliberation.
The salary which the United
States allows tie judges is not suf-
ficient to employ the best interpret
ers of the law. A Judge, like
anyone else, will take a position
where 1t will be of the greatest fl
nancial benefit, and for this reason
the large corporations have EN-.
ployed the best lawyers for their
own use by giving them a larger
salary than offered them by the
United States.
In the issue of the Inter Ocean
dated April 2sth, Silas H. SCrawn,
in speaking to the Bankers Club,
said, "Every thinking man should
be unalterably opposed to the recall
of Judges or judicial decisions for
the following reasons;
"The proposition strikes at the
very heart of our representative
plan of government by destroying