The Grangeville globe. [volume] (Grangeville, Idaho) 1907-1922, 1912-03-28
Mno oown at the bottom dlstru.s ,,,,>.
uiar government and when thsv ~

0ies Oh restriction and cback 80 Spo
ance SO as to make tbe no,,,os oai'
pooia, DIS limited and ineffective ~
possible. Mr.. Taft fairly defines as
.sSue when he says that orr govorn
n.ent Is and should be poverr,,aa.
Vi al the people by republican nart
VI the people. This is an exoalislt
anu lhouerate description Of an o1;r.
archy 1t 3afnes our gover,,,.l.t ms,
government for few of the naonIo
am not speaking critically nor do
mean 10 be unkind, for | believe tba+
many honorable and wen ,naonfr,,
men OF high character take tbis yia%,
anu nave taken it from tho i'm -
the formation Of the na,ion Es....
.i"ily TINS view is that the constifn.
.loh Is a strait jacket to be uead 49,
'ile control Of al uuru1y pafient-tba
people Now hold that this view 10
NOT only false, but mischleyons ma
our constitutions are Instrument, ~
signed to secure Justice hy eecrri,,-.
eae ueliperdte but effective expression
Oh tue popular will, that the cbectg
anu balances are valuable "a far and
olIy SO FAR as they accomplish that
ueilberation and that it is a warned
ana unworthy and improper construo.
tlon OF our form of government 10 e..
NJ II only means of thwartng the
popular will and of preventing Justice
MT Ia1t says that every classo
should have voice" in the govern
ment. That seems to me a very cor.
lous mlsconception Of the America,
political situation. The real trouhla
win us Is that some classes have had
TOO much voice. One of the most i'm.
portant of all the lessons to be Taught
ana to be learned is that man sbonld
vote not as a representative of a class
out merely as good citizen whose
prime interests are the same as those
OF all other good citizens.
iaft's disbelief in the People"
MI TAFT again and again in quota.
ions | have given and elsewhere in
this speech expresses his disbelief in
the people when they vote at the polls
In one sentence he says that the
proposition gives powerful effect to
the momentary impulse of a majority
OF an electorate and prepares the way
for the positive exercise of the gross
est tyranny Elsewhere he speaks
OF the "feverish uncertainty and "lln-
stable determination OF laws" by tenn
porary and changing majorities, and
again he says that the system | pro
pose, would result in suspension or
application OF constitutional guaran-
tees according to popular whim,"
which would destroy "all possible con
s1stency" in constitutional interpreta-
ton. | should much like to know
the exact distinction that is to be
made between what Mir. Taft calls
the fitful impulse of temporary
majority" when applied to question
such as that | raise and any other
question. Remember that under my
proposal to review a rule of decision
by popular vote, amending or con-
STRUNG to that extent the constitu-
ton could certainly take at least two
years from the time of the election
of the legislature which passed the
act. Now only four months elapse
between the nomination and the cleo
ton of man as president to fill for
four years the most important office
in the land In one of Mr.. Taft's
speeches he speaks of the voice of
the people as coming next to the voice
of God" Apparently, then, the de-
cision Of the people about the presi-
dency, after four more years of DELHI
Grafton, Is to be treated as next to
the voice of God" but If after two
years OF sober thought they decide
that women and children shall be
protected in industry, or men protect
ed from excessive hours of labor I'M
der unhygienic conditions, or wage
workers compensated when they lose
life or limb in the service of others,
then their decision forthwith becomes
"whim' and feverish land unstable"
and an exercise of the 'grossest tyran-
ny" and the laying of the axe at the
foot of the tree OF freedom"
That is the old, old doctrine which
has been acted upon for thousands of
years abroad and which here in Amer
lea has been acted upon sometimes
openly, sometimes secretly, for forty
years by many men in public and in
private life, and am sorry to say by
many judges, a doctrine which has In
fact tended to create a bulwark for
privileges, a bulwark unjustly protect
ing special interests against the rights
of the people as a whole. This doc
trine is to me a dreadful doctrine, for
its effect is, and can only be, to make
the courts the shield OF privilege
against popular rights. Naturally, ey-
ery upholder and beneficiary of crook
ed privilege loudly applauds the doc
trine. 1t is behind the shield OF that
doctrine that crooked clauses creep
into laws that men of wealth control
legislation.
Remember, | am not discussing the
recall of 1udges-although | wish 1t
distinctly understood that the recall
is a mere piece of machinery to take
the place of the unavoidable lmpeach-
ment which MIR. Taft in effect detends
and that IL the days of Maynard ever