Bisbee daily review., 1915-09-10
RADICAL REFORMS FAIL
IN THEIR PURPOSE

(Continued from Page ~
Gcult to construe or understand
Again, the duty imposed upon the peo-
pie in legislating by initiative and
/ referendum is so much more burden
some than that imposed by the repre-
sentative system in selecting agents
I to do this work that the majority of
/ the voters too frequently refuse to
perform their ELECTRICAL duties
THE institution of recall deals with
, the executive and judicial branches Of
I the government. With both its ope-
ration is injurious to the public ser
I vice, though in the case of judges it
/ is much more dangerous.
IF an executive officer is dishon.
est he can in effect be recalled by
) impeachment or by criminal Trial and
conviction, and sentenced to the pen
itentary. Under the new system OF
recall an honest official, before he
has time to work out and vindicate
his policies. may be ousted by an am
: bilious rival through misrepresenta-
tion in the press and the hasty judg.
ment Of the minority of the electorate
who go to the polls Under such a
system Lincoln would have been re-
called.
"The evil Of the recall of judges and
judicial decisions is, however much
greater The tenure of a judge or the
fright of the individual litigants is to
depend on the chance and uncertainty
Of one popular election. In the nature
of the case, the people cannot be ad-
vised of the legal arguments pro and
con even if they could understand
them Again the power of a reckless
press would be enhanced and justice
and equity would play little part in
the result
The evil tendency Of such so-called
reform is in the destruction of the
sanctity of our constitution. Under
the initiative and referendum, no
greater consideration by the people
is required in the passage Of "a con
stitutional amendment than in that
Of any temporary and unimportant
measure.
THE system Of representative gov
eminent is an institution hammered
out i'm the struggle for liberty by our
/ Anglo-Saxon ancestors for eight hun
dred years The system of written
} constitutions and an independent ju-
81 dietary has indicated itself i'm the
. strenuous life of the Republic for 125
] years and there is nothing in the act
ual results of the initiative, referen-
dun and recall that commends them
r as a substitute.
What is true with respect to the
state is true with respect to the party
Paries are essential to popular govern
.. ment In no other way practically
can the win of an the electorate be
interpreted and embodied in amIma
tive action, legislative and executive
The convention system gave rise
3 TO abuses. Bosses and machines were
/ able to control the convention, Du
l. Ieven under the worst boss and the
o worst machine the convention was q
= body with a sense Of some RESPONSE
DO bility growing out of its desire TO nom
. mate a ticket which would win i'm the
> election; and therefore while it may
D nave nominated many machine can
didates whose selection did not make
y | for the public interest it frequently
p nominated men of strength and pop
p ularity and high character i'm ordei
J. that the ticket might be a vote-gettinl
one
Under the system Of the genera
| primary there is no such responsible
ity Especially is this true i'm IN,
% selection of the subordinate officers
Circumstances Of no real or prope
significance in the selection Of quail
70 led candidates affect the choice il
such cases
"Nor is it true that the genera
primary is any less subject to thu
{, control of a machine and the boss an,
a political organization on than a con
J. vention. Primaries are usually al
a, tended by a minority of the party u
O other words, the result is much al
D | fectedby the numebr who can b.
3 aroused to come out to vote, and tina
D. depends upon organization. Thi
O places i'm the hands of the politician
, who have an organization the mean
5 Of control.
n THE representative system in leg
slatures and in conventions system
win work well if the people who ough
3 TO vote viii turn out and 60 win wor
O for the reasons have stated grea
deal better than the initiative am
referendum and the general primary
r But we should realize under any sy.