Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1914-03-13
Recalling the Recall in Seattle

Recalling the Recall in Seattle
The recent municipal election in Seattle, Wash.
served to put a rather curious light on the much.
discussed recall. Hiram G. Gill was again, elected
mayor Of the city. He was mayor in 1910, when vice
fourished under his administration in an extraordi.
nary way. So the voters recalled Mayor Gill in
February, 1911. That was shortly after the women
of the State had been given the ballot. Two other
Mayors succeeded Gill, and efforts We're made to
recall each of them. Now, however, Mr.. Gill has
been elected again, following a bitter campaign, in
which he was opposed by representative women of
the city and by other law respecting elements,
among the voters. %@
Says the Chicago News:
Ills present success is in spite of the fact that
his moral or ethical sense apparently has not i'm.
proved. Notwithstanding his protestations TO the
contrary, his election appears to forecast a resump.
ton of "open town methods. Charges based or
evidence that his former administration was gener.
ally extravaganza and inefficient did not prevent his
election. Was there justice in the recall Of Gill
three years ago? Apparently not. Yet the fact that
he was recalled in the midst of his former term OF
office seems to have been used as an effective argu-
ment to place in the hands of community that is
tickle in its views on municipal government"
Under the caption THE Coming Back of Gill;" the
Lincoln State Journal observes:
"A short three years ago Mayor Gill of Seattle was
recalled by an emphatic vote. He had run a wide
open town. From coast to- coast Gill was heralded
as the black man of Seattle, and Seattle smote him
sore. Behold now Gill elected again by a smashing
majority. The hare Of 1911 is become the hound OF
1911. " . The pendulum swings. even Whero
women vote. Mr.. Gill claimed to have reformed.
There is special rejoicing on earth as we'll as else.
where when a belated prodigal repents, and this
$780, -~-.- r. Ne ram -l---- .A- Il ~r@u1I
be q good joke of Mr.. ellis conversion should provo
not to have been for votes only, and his election no
return to the flesh pots but a genuine triumph OF
virtue. AS to that we shall see later
The Allentown Daily City Item thinks that Seat
ties election demonstrates what needed no demon.
stration-that neither the direct primary system OF
nomination nor the recall of public officials can re.
form a city. After citing the fact that he was for.
merly recalled and has just been again elected the
Item adds: HE is evidently the kind Of Mayor
Seattle wants, therefore. he is the kind of Mayor
Seattle should have. He has been chosen with full
knowledge Of what he Is, and what he intends t.
do and stands for, and should be allowed to serve
out his term. Meanwhile the advocates OF the recall
should correct their thinking. They ought to know
that every community has the kind OF government
for which it is fitted, that responsibility for evils
rests upon the voters, and that no permanent I'M
provement will come until the great mass Of voters
demand it. 1t is childs play to elect an incompetent
or corrupt official and then recall him In a rev
weeks. because he has demonstrated in public We"
that he Is the kind Of man every one knew him to
be when he was nominated. The recall is demoraliz-
ing to competent public servants because 1t Is trlai
by popular clamor with the verdict found by vote IN
a mass-meeting. Justice was never done In that way
and it never can be so DONE
Tho Cnrinpfold Union also fndS' il hard tn sec
ANYTHING efficient IN the recall and remarks.
His (Gilps) recall involved considerable expense,
but the more decorous elements Of the community
thought the money and effort expended to Dust him
from Office was well applied. Now the same Hiram
Gill is again chosen mayor by a, reaction that put
him in the lead in the primary and swept him INTO
power by a wide margin over his opponent.
If government by impulse is inclined to be unstaoic
as concerns mayors, it is hardly a good anu sale
principle to adopt for the making of laws and the
disciplining of courts. A little experience with such
whimsical reversals as that denoted by the Seattic
vote, makes the checks and balances provided Dy
the Constitution seem pretty good. 1t is noteworthy
in this regard that in New Jersey, where direct pop
ular action has met with marked encouragement as
an adjunct to commission government, there IS =
disposition to apply the brakes"
Every now and then it becomes the painful duty
Of some eminent New York Democrat to disagree
with the ideas of a Democratic national administra-
ton. ..a
And why should not the Foreign Relations tc1h'
mittee give a hearing to Felix Diaz? His story OF
Why and how he got out of Mexico should be In
t~eresting. t& g,
Pint Nine. Elizabeth van Endert has not reached
the geographical center of the United States yet
!, although she has reached the center of population
light and culture. .