The midland journal., 1917-02-09

Court Of Appeals named either by
the Governor or preferably by the
Judges themselves.
say that the people are asked to
do today what in the nature of
things cannot be effectively done by
them. The Attorney-G General the
Comptroller and the Treasurer may
find themselves entirely out of SYM
pathy with the governor, approach
ing public questions from different
angle, and ready to hamper him in
the exercise of his most essential
functions. This situation has arisen
at times in the past and it may be
we'll again in the future, varying
terms of Office and manner of cleo
tion contributing to irresponsibilty.
These officers now folrm no part of
harmonious whole. No theory of
checks and balances justifies their
choice by election as the relative
success of our national administra-
tion shows.
When we turn to our county gov
upon to elect Boards of County Com
missioners, running from three to
six in number, Judges of the Or
mans Court, Judges, State Senators,
two to six members of the lower
house, County Surveyor, Clerk of
Circuit Court, Register of Wills,
States Attorney, Sheriff, in many
counties Road Commissioners, in one.
a wreckmaster, and possibly other
officers. Every other year, there
fore, the County elector is expected
to vote for fifteen or twenty officers,
making his choice among thirty or
forty different men; of the qualifica-
tions of three-fourths Of whom the
average voter knows nothing, often
cares less, and accepts his party
label. To call such government
popular is to make mockery of the
word.
While the individual voter in a
county ought to be able to know
something of the qualifications by
repute at least of member of the
legislature who expresses the poll
cies the people dsire carried into
law and something as to the county
commissioners who are the chief
executive officers of the county and
should be made such in the fullest
possible sense, he knows nothing as
rule with regard to the candidates
for the other offices and is not so
placed that he may fairly judge with
regard to them. He has to take
largely on faith the candidates foT
States Attorney. Still greater faith
and ignorance must he display in
selecting the Sheriff, Judges of the
Orphans Court and County Survey
or and Road Commissioners. When
we speak, therefore, of the break
down of popular government in an
administrative sense, we have in the
we may not realize it, that the peo-
pie are undertaking to do things it
is a physical and moral impossibility
they should perform. They act as a
Civil Service Board upon the choice
of men whom they have largely
never seen and whose qualifications
they have no knowledge and possess
no means of testing.
In some states the voter is offered
a meager assistance through the cir
culation by the state of campaign
pamphlets in which each candidate
may set forth what he assumes to
be his qualifications, but even thi
we must agree is ineffective.
At this point comes in the machine
to relieve the voter of his troubles
and select his candidate. With the
multiplicity of offices to be filled by
the people the machine serves an in
dispensable purpose, whether its
work is we'll or badly done. The
people must turn to those who make
study of the situation; know some
thing of the personnel of those de-
string election and who will judge
for them. They accept their judg-
in which the people have no especial
interest. The power to exercise this
judgment for the people in an effec-
tive way, has an immdiate cash
value to the machine. 1t has some
thing to give and can levy contribu
tions upon those seeking offices
while its control over the workers
makes its support valuable. Thus.
under the very shadow of the con-
stitution and because of it's pro-
visions, there grows up body which
undertakes to do the work for the
people which the people themselves
have not the knowledge or the op-
portunity to do. The details of the
changes needed and the consequent
ces to flow from them, deserve fur
ther consideration.
Hyattsville, Md,
Eah