The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1917-02-02
MIR. Ralston's Letter.
To the Editor of the Prince Georges

The Government of the State Of Mary
land as that of the United States. is
founded upon the right Of the people to
rnle themselves. We continually de-
clare our allegiance to this principle
without stopping to consider how to
make the peoples rule reality. Ii
the people are to rule they must eker-
else the power necessary to make this
rule effective. They cannot exercise
needless powers without weakening the
force and effect of the needful. 10
perfect their rule the people must be
able to determine the broad policies
they desire pursued and select respon-
sible agencies by which these policies
are to be made effective.
Our State policies are defined and
deter mined, first, by the Constitution
which is adopted by the vote of the
whole people; second by our legislature
Gncluding the Governor who in certain
particulars is legislator), selected pur-
suant to the Constitution, and, third, IN
certain states of the Union, in an I'M
portant degree through Initiative legls-
latIon, prop )sed by some of the people
and ad, pied directly by all OF them,
and in 3 lesser degree, as exists IN
Maryland, by Referendum to the
people after the legislature has acted.
To carry out these policies and meet
the daily txigencies of administration,
we need only elect for the state the
governor and legislature and for the
counties, Boards OF Commissioners.
La fact, in our elections we do not cor
tent ourselves with these simple
necessary things, but we name through
what is assumed to be the voice of the
people at the polls great number OF
subordinate officers whoss functions are
purely incidental or ministerial and
who have little or nothing to do with
toe carrying out of the policies IN
which the people are concerned, and
whose selection should be properly left
to the central agencies the duty OF
which it is particularly to enforce the
will of the people. In this We put
upon the people burden not essential
to popular government and our attempt
to make the people bear it leads to fail
ure. Ii we are to nave good popular
and effective government IN Maryland,
We need to face the situation under
standinglY, and correct our Constitution
and laws to correspond with what
democratic government really means
A further explanation is needed.
In our national government we have
q greater degree of efficiency, direct
ness, continuity of policy and enforce
ment of the peoples will than We have
in our. State Government. We elect
one single executive officer, the Presi.
dent, with a possible substitute, the
Vice President, and members of both
houses of Congress The President &
charged with the duty of carry N out
the policies of the people, and to III 6
end selects his cabinet and the subordl-
nate officers of the government OF real
administrative Importance. They are
responsible to him and subject to re.
moval at his hands We have thus 8
centralized government and at the same
time, subject to other limitations not
essential to the present discussion, 9
government of the people. So far as
the executive is concerned, nationa
administration is simple, direct and re-
latively free from the abuses which
burden our state governments.
When, however, we consider the
| state We find ourselves electing Gov
| ernor and Attorney-General for foul
years. Comptroller tor two years, 8
| Clerk of the Court of Appeals every slz
years, while, bya curious anomaly, the
| Treasurer is elected by the legislature
| and serves two years. If we wuulC
| have a truly popular government with
out imposing undue burdens upon the
people we would have our Attorney
| General appointed. as is the Attorney
| General of the United States, by the
| chief executive power, and Comptroller
Il nd {
| correspond to the Secretary of tn,
Treasury, appointed in the same way
and the Clerk of our Court of Appeal
named either by the Governor or pre-
| ferably by the Judges themselves.
say that the people are asAed to DE-
today what in the nature of things can
not be effectively done by them. The
Attorney General, the Comptroller anC
| the Treasurer may find themselves en-
tirely out of sympathy with the COVER
| nor, approaching public questions from
| a different angle, and ready to hamper
him in the exercise OF his most essen
| tiaI functions. This situation hal
| arisen at times in the past and it may
| well again in the future. varying terms
of Office and manner Of election con
tributing to responsibility. These
officers now form no part of a harmoni
GUS whole. No theory of checks ane
bala noes justifies their choice by cleo
ton as the relative success Of oul
natio nal administration shows.
When We turn to our county govern
ments we find the people called upor
to select Boards Of County Commission
ers, running from three to six in mum
Der, judges of the Orphans Court, Jud
ges, State Senators, two to six mem.
bers of the lower house. County Sur
veyors, Clerk of the Circuit Court, Re
gistel of Wills, States Attorney, Sheriff
III many counties Road Commissioners
| in one a wreckmaster, and possibly
other officers. Every other year. there.
fore, the Cuunty elector is expected tc
vote for fifteen or twenty officers, max.
Jog his choice among thirty or forty
different men, of the qualifications OF
| three-fourths of whom the average
voter knows nothing, often cares less
and accepts his party label To ca
such government popular IS to make 8
nockery of the word.
While the individual voter in county
ought to be able to know something OF
the qualifications by repute at least of q
member Of the legislature who expresses
the policies the people desire carried
into law and something as to the county
| commissioners who are the chief exec.
tive 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
officers and is not so placed that he may
f,lIly judge with regard to them. He
has To take largely on faith the candl.
dates for States Attorney. Still great
er faith and ignorance must be displayed
in selecting the Sheriff, Judges of the
Orphans Court and County Surveyor
AMI Road Commissioners. When we
speak, therefore, of the breakdown of
popular government il an admlulssra-
tive sense, We have in the backs of our
heads the fact, though we may not
realize it, that the people are under
taking to do things it is a physical ana
moral impossibinty they should per-
f rm. They act as Civil Service
Board upon the choice of men whom
they have largely never seen and of
whose qualifications they have no
knowledge and possess no means Of
testing.
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