New-York tribune., 1912-04-04
Continued from first page.

this purpose in view. We propose to do
away with whatever IN our government
tthds 10 secure privilege. and to the great
sinister special interests rampant from
Dehlnd which they can beat back the forces
thst strive for social and industrial justice
ana Illustrate the will of the people.
What Proaressives Want.
For this purpose we believe in secur.
i,ng TOR the people the direct election OF
United States Senators exactly as the
people have already secured in actual
practice the direct election Of the Presl-
dent. We believe in securing for the
people the right Of nominating cand-
oates Tor office, tom the President
GOWN, by direct primaries, because the
convention system, good in its day, has
been twisted from it's purpose, so that
the delegates to the conventions, when
chosen under the present methods by
pressure Of money and patronage, often
deliberately misrcpresent instead OF rep
resenting the popular will. We believe
in securing to the people the exercise
OF real and not merely nominal con-
troll over their representatives in office,
this control to include the power to Sc
cure the enactment Of laws which the
people demand, and the rejection OF
laws to which the people are opposed,
" after due effort IL is found impossI-
tle to get from the Legislature real
represer .ation Of the deliberate popular
judgment in these matters.
But these and kindred measures are mere
ly machinery. and each community must
Judge itself as to the machinery when lts
needs make necessary. The object. now
ever. must he the same every ywherc, that Is,
TO give the people real control. and to nave
the people exercise this control in spirit
o. the broadest sympathy and broadest de-
sire to secure social and industrial justice
for every man and woman, so that the
work of all of us may he done ana the
lives Of all Of us lived under conditions
which will tend to increase the dignity, inc
worth and the efficiency Of each individual
Attacks New York Courts.
lf in any state the courts. in addition
to doing Justice in the ordinary cases
between man and man, have strlVcn 10
help and not hamper the people in their
efforts TO secure social and inductrlal
justice in far broader sense for the
people as whole, then in that COM
munity there may be no need Tor
change as regards them. But where, IN
any community as in my own State OF
New York, for instance, the highest
court Of the state, because Of its ad-
herence to outworn, to dead and gone
systems Of philosophy, and its lack OF
understanding Of and sympathy with
the living, the vital needs OF those in
tho community whose needs are great.
est, becomes a buwark Of privilege and
the most effective OF all means for pre-
venting the people from working in eff
cient fashion for true justice, then
hold that the peooIe must themselves
be given the power, after due delibera-
ton and in constitutional fashion, to
have their judgment made efficient and
their Interpretation Of the constitution
made binding upon their servants the
judges no less than upon their servants
the legislators and executives.
Merely to announce ones belief in the
rule OF the people, while openly or cOyertly
trying TO prevent such rule from being el-
fectivc. would be demagogy of peculiarly
mean type. our professions must be
judged by the way they square with our
actions. The doctrine of the rule OF the
people" amounts TO sheer nothingness III
We are forbidden to apply il. when the
failure 10 do 40 means the failure 10 get
and TO do Justice. In New York State, and
I'm some other states, the highest state
courts have for 4 long time On New York
State for thirty years been among the chief
obstacles to securing elementary social
justice Of the kind implied in the enact
mcnt of laws 10 provide wOrkingmen's com
to shorten the hours OF labor
for women. and to secure decent conditions
OF life in tenement houses.