The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1912-03-29
LET THE PEOPLE RULE
SAYS COL. ROOTEvELT
OppOses Presidents Attitude on Popular
Government Stands Squarely On
His Columbus, Ohio, Speech

Wednesday evening, ID given pelO"'
The great fundamental issue now
before the republican party and be-
fore our people can be stated briefly.
1t is, are the American people f1t to
govern themselves, to rule them
selves, to control themselves?
believe they are. My opponents
do not. l believe in the right of the
people to rule. l believe that the ma
iority of the plain people in the Unit
ed States will, do, day in and day
out, MAKE fewer mistakes in govern
ing themselves than any similar class
or body of men, no matter what their
training, will make in trying to govern
them. | believe again that the Amer
lean people as a whole, are capable OF
self control and of learning by their
mistakes. Our opponents pay lip 10y
atty to this doctrine, but they show
their real beliefs by the way in which
they champion every device to make
the nominal rule of the people sham.
l have scant patience with this talk
of the tyranny of the majority. When
ever there is tyranny of the majority
| shall protest against it with all my
heart and soul But we are today
suffering from the tyranny of the mi
norities. 1t is a small minority that
is grabbing our coal deposits, our
water powers and our harbor fronts.
A small minority is fattening on the
sale of adulterated foods and drugs.
It is a small minority that lies behind
monopolies and trusts. 1t is small
minority that stands behind the pres
ent law of master and servant, the
sweatshops and the whole calendar of
social and industrial injustice. 1t is
a small minority that is today using
our convention system to defeat the
will of a majority Of the people in the
choice of delegates to the Chicago
convention.
My opponents charge that two
things in my program are wrong be-
cause they intrude into the sanctuary
of the judiciary.
The first is the recall of judges and
the second the review by the people
of judicial decisions on certain excep-
tional questions. l have said again
and again that l do not advocate the
recall of judges in all states and in all
communities. The integrity of our
Judges, from Marshall to White and
Holmes-and to Cullen and many 9TH
ers in our state-is a fine page of
American history. Butt say 1t so
berly-democracy has right to ap-
Droach the sanctuary of the courts
when a special interest has corruptly
found sanctuary, and this is exactly
what has happened in some of the
states where the recall of the judges
is living issue. Is it not equally
plain that the question whether Civ
en- social policy is for the public good
Is DOT of judicial nature, but should
be settled by the legislature or in the
final instance, by the people them
selves?
The president of the United States,
Mr. Taft, devoted most of a recent
speech to criticise some of this prop
osition. He says that sit is utterly
without merit or utility and, instead
of being in the interest of all the peo-
pie and of the stability of popular
government, is sowing the seeds of
confusion and tyranny" BY this he
of course meant the tyranny of the
majority-that is the tyranny of the
American people as a whole.
He also says that my proposal,
(Which as he rightly sees it, is merely
a proposal to give the people real
instead of only nominal chance to
construe and amend state legislation
with reasonable rapidity) would make
such amendment and Interpretation
depend on the feverish, uncertain
and unstable determinations of sue
cessive votes on different laws by
temporary and changing majorities,"
and that ut lays the axe at the foot
of the tree of well ordered freedom
and subjects the guarantees of life,
liberty and prosperity without remedy,
to the fitful impulse Of temporary
majority OF an electorate"
This criticism is really less a crit
icism of my proposal than criticism
of all popular government. 1t is Who'll
ly unfounded, unless it is founded on
the belief that the people are funda-
mentally untrustworthy. This is the
question that l propose to submit to
the people. How can the prevailing
morality or a preponderant opinion
be better and more exactly ascer-
tanned than by vote Of the people?
The people must know better than
the court what their own morality and
their own opiaion is. ask that you
here, you and others like you, you, the
people, be given the chance to state
your own views of justice and public
morality and not sit meekly by and
have your views announced for you
by we'll meaning adherents of outworn
philosophers, who exalt the pedantry
of formulas above the vital needs Of
human life.
Mr. Taft's position is the position
that has been held from the beginning
OF our government. although not al
ways so openly held. by a large num-
her of reputable and honorable men
VINO down at the bottom dIstrust pop
ular government and when they must
accept it, accept it with reluctance
and hedge around it with every spe-
sies of restriction and check and bal
ancs so as to make the power of the
people as limited and ineffective as
OF fafr RI no