Weekly journal-miner., 1915-07-08
RADICALISM ON THE
 WANE IN ARIZONA
Pendulum Slowly Swinging Toward Conservatism is sDeclaration of Judge
 Sloan in Patriotic Address

and new to our own experience. Tt
 a majority, the Utopia seemed a hand. All the ills of governmen
 were to be removed, and the people
 were coming into their own. Those
 who even questioned this view were
 wicked reactionaries whose eyes hat not yet been opened to the light, whC were still in the bonds of iniquity ana
 who were merely trying to retard the
 wheels of progress. Some of us are
 just recovering from the bruises we
 received from being trampled into
 the dust by the onrush of this crowd
 of wild-eyed enthusiasts. For myself,
 l am going to make a confession,
 which as you know, is always good
 for the soul As one of those who
 opposed some of the radical features
 of our constitution, 1 am willing to
 admit that 1 was mistaken in some
 respects. For one thing 1 did not
 appreciate then, as l do now, how
 inevitable was this radical movement,
 and perhaps how much there was to
 justify it. Having said this much, l
 am sure that the majority of those
 present who supported it by their
 votes and influence will be as candid
 and, at any rate, will confess to them
 selves that they, too, may have been
 mistaken; that the promised Utopia
 did not arrive. and that the ills we suffered, or imagined we suffered from, have not been cured; that some
 of the remedies applied have even proved to be quack remedies.
 ITO such 1 put this question in all fairness. Is it not true that too much attention has been given to regulat- ing business in this state and too little attention given towards creat- ing business? Isn't 1t true that, with the multiplicity of legislative sessions we have had during the past three years, with the creation of boards and commissions upon every conceivable subject with primary and special and general elections every few months, with constant appeals to sign peti- tionS to initiate laws and constitu tional amendments, to secure refer endums and the like, our state govern ment has become topheavy and our increased expenses burdensome in the extreme? Isn't it true with cop per at 20 cents, range cattle selling at prices never before heard of, prices of sheep and wool out of sight, that money is nevertheless scarcer and harder to get than under the old or der of things? Isn't it true that men are slow to invest in new enter prises and that the state, as a whole, is not progressing in population and wealth, as we have a right to expect should be the case? In short, are you not disappointed, if not discouraged, with the result? If 1 am right in as suming that conditions are much as I have suggested, then the question isI fairly presented, what should be done to better these conditions? What is the remedy? Now, it is possible that some of you, while agreeing that con ditions are not as they should be, yet disagree with my diagnosis of the and may think that the trou- ble is we have not gone far enough; that If we only had few more laws, a few more officers, a few more boards and commissions; if assess mentS were only a little higher and the state could raise little more money; if business were only regu- lated little more or run altogether by the state; if, in short, we could only add a little more to the burden of government, all would be we'll But you are in minority I think I am not overstating it when I say that a reaction has set in, and the drift is strongly in the direction of conserv- atism. Already radicalism is becom- ing unpopular and if continued long enough the professional politician will therefore, soon be preaching reac- tionary doctrines.
 Speaking from. a conservative venture to hope that this reaction be not carried too far and that the mistake be not made of trying to undo all the things that have been done in this state that may seem to us ought not to have been done in the first instance, and to sug- gest that even if it be possible to tear down the whole radical structure and to go back to the old methods of business, and the old methods of gov ernment, that this would not be de- sirable. Take the matter of direct legislation. I think it is a safe state ment that no student of the subject in this country is entirely satisfied with the legislative methods adopted and enforced by our legislatures. This feeling is so widespread that many people are advocating funda- mental changes in the organization of our legislative bodies. Some polit- ical theorists believe that the old sys- tenn of dual legislative bodies is a failure, at least is imperfect, and that it is more scientific that we should have but one house and that one small in number, presumably of bet ter quality than is now the rule The arguments advanced in support of such a legislature are persuasive if not convincive. There are other sug-