Weekly journal-miner., 1915-07-08

III lllN ol SdiiI[dlIoll Ol Oul HAtliO lN S
 islatures still more radical 1 sug
 gest, therefore, that unless more leg
 islative experimentation is desirabl,
 q think we have had enough al pres
 ent) something must be conceded tC
 the advocates of direct legislation.
 am of the opinion therefore, that i
 is better to retain the principle O
 direct legislation and content our
 selves with so amending the initiative
 and referendum so as to remove their
 most serious and objectionable fault
 the facility they afford as now con
 stituted for the foolish, vicious and inconseQuential use that may be
 made of them; in other words. that it
 is better that they be retained SO that
 they may be held in reserve by the ! commonwealth so that the people
 may, when the occasion requires, ex- press their views upon concrete ques- tions, admitting of intelligent study
 of their meaning, purpose and effect
 by the electorate. Insofar as the re-
 call is concerned, I regard 1t as only
 a menace in its application to execut-
 i've offices, and as thus far its effects
 have been wholly negative, its reten-
 ton thus far is of little consequence
 one way or the other. In its applica-
 ton to judicial officers it is in my
 judgment wrong in principle and
 should be abandoned in the interest of good government and of the prop CT administration Of the laws. Mod eration, therefore, it seems to me, in the matter of fundamental changes in our constitution or in the repeal of radical laws is the only sane, sensible and reasonable program. There is, as I believe, one defect in our con stitution that should be remedied and when the time shall come when our constitution is to be remade, or ma terially changed, 1 express the hope that the office of governor of this state shall be made what 1t ought to bean office of responsibility and real dignity. I believe in the prin- ciple of the short ballot, because it means not so much centralization of power but iocalization of responsibil- ity. Division of authority and or re sponsibility between various inde- pendent boards and offices results in want of coordination, conflict of view, working at cross purposes, and, in the end, ill extravagance and in I believe there should be but few elective officers in the state, l. possibly but one and that the gov ernor. and that the latter should be directly and personally responsible for the conduct of the business of the state during his term of office. This is the theory adopted in the case of our national government and we all know how admirably it has worked ! in the case of the president Why 1 should it not work out equally well i in the case of the governor?
 believe, too, our system of mak- ng public expenditures to be archaic and outworn, if it ever was of any value Inasmuch as the law calls for annual expenditures for most of the governmental purposes and indicates . he amounts that may be spent for such purposes, why should an annual bill be requisite before such expenditures may be made and .hus why not do away with that source of endless conflict and trouble 1 between the legislature and the gov ernor and other state officers. Why should not the governor, insofar as ordinary expenses of the state are have larger discretion, md why should he not thus be made in large measure for the financial condition of the state? l hink the constitution unnecessarily ies the hands of the governor in his matter for no good reason or purpose. Most of us, 1 think, are of he opinion that our primary system of choosing candidates for office is defective, and most of you, l think, will agree that it should either be abandoned or an effort made to per ect it so as to serve the purposes it vas intended to serve.
 But all these things 1 have men toned appertain only to the machin .ry of government, to be adjusted, if aulty, or to be let alone if not faulty The essential thing for the people of his state, in order that they may en- oy that prosperity we have right o expect, is, in the first place, to see o it that this machinery, whatever orm it may take, shall be used for he upbuilding of the state and for he common good and not for ex- plotting empirical schemes of social eforms, or for the advancement of my particular cause or interest. Fur her than this, we must limit the ac- ivities of our state government to the loing of those necessary things which the people can only do in their collective capacity and refrain from with the individual con luct and initiative, except to prevent heir abuse; especially, we must light n the burden of taxation, not by de ,ising new methods of taxation, but ,y the simple expedient of spending ess money. We must encourage in lustry and honest business and not