The evening herald., 1920-10-30

I1Noht AiNhNt ceiehtt Wnen ne Mue np
Tor rejection, IN lglS. cannot be es-
capped. He was elected to the su-
pteine bench In 1911. without having
hHd any previous training on the dis
1 trict bench. The records do not show
that he had ever been In court on
amy really big case several OF our
strong republican counties were split
wide open, aud yet Judge Hanna went
into office by u plurality OF 1873. when
| the head OF his ticket wan elected by
! s,Vl'. Aiter he had served seven
years on the supreme bench, he askc d
the people to yindicate his record by
giving him another term. What
: happened? The people refused to in
uo.se ms record on the bench by re-
lecung his plea BY plurality OF L.
Vb2 votes. II must be said ia his he
nuit that he waA then qualified for
service on the supreme bench, IT ha
! was qualified Tor any pubilc service.
/ Al people rejected him ior this work,
Tor which he was partly qualified at
/ least, why should we fear that they
VIII make him governor. when he
3 never has developed any business
aDi,ity or shown any fitness Tor the
difficult work.
Judge Mcchcni's Record
Judge Mechem was appointed to
the territorial bench In 1908, when
the several district Judges. sitting us
"a body. constituted the territorial SUI
preme court. lie was elected district
Judge. In the first state election. in
1911, and reelected In 1915.
Whatever the verdict OF the major
ity OF the voters. they're all right up
on their toes. eagerly watching for
the drop OF the starters flag. People
generally, ana not "a lew oi the work
ers, will he glad when Il Is all over.
II " common to hear the cNclama =
tion; II surely will be glad when the
new spapers print something besides
HOitics."
Mistakes and bad generniship have
been IN evidence on. both sides. The
republicans unwittingly went into the
spotlight with their unfortunate se-
lection Of young Herman Grille. OF
albuquerque, ns their candidate for
lieutenant governor. II was discov.
cred the following day that he did
, not I'LL the constitutional require
incnts, either HS to age or length nf
reaidenCe Ia the state, a., that he waa
compelled to tender his resignation,
leaving the vacancy to be filled by the
executive committee.
The Rewritten Democratic Platform,
The democrats appeared to get
away with their state convention In u
fog of harmony. 1t transpired later
that two serious tactical blunders had
been made by the convention. The
first that appeared WAS ia adopting
tho following plank:
THAT We condemn the practice in
this state OF corporations paying the
salaries and directing the activities
or deputy sherifis. aud We advocate
legislation making ample provision
Tor each county To cinplOy and pay
the galnries of all officers required
for It's proper police protection"
No sooner had this been dlSse mi
mated through the press ttan there
came a mighty roar from democratic
Giant county, 10 the broad. general
effect that the enactment of this
pledge into law would Increase the
burden OF the Grant County Taxpayers
by $4,000 year. II did not seem
possible To remedy the situation
through reyi ION, so somebody ON tie
general staff obeycd the command to
"StnK without trace" SptRLOS
VBRSENIiT, as the Germans tersely
put II. Anyway, the plank complete
ly disappeared.
{ The Facts About the Road Plank
The roads plank, 1t was discovered
after the harmony and heat OF the
j convention made room tor critical
analysis, pledged the abolishiNg Ot the
states central road bureau. which
/ meant. 1t enacted into law. that New
/ Ale1Ico would not receive another
I dollar from the federal government,
TO be used In building federal aid
roads IN the state. Since the federal
I government aud the state highway
comission are engaged In "a roaG pro-
/ gram costing millions OF dollars. the
4 federal government bcuring half the
cost, II was realized that such plank
would secure little support for the
ticket. The government trunsacts all
J It's business az to federal aid roads
/ with the state road bureau, board or
; fcOu,inission. ana Will not deal with
! the Individual counties. The cmer-
/ g,ncy stHtt at Grnetui headquarters
I ~ Used this plank 80 that while II
/ demands abolishing OF the state road
! board, II also favors the creating OF
II state highway commission. which
/ shall operate under n comprehensive
/ budget system, etc.
The plank which was actually a
/ dopted by the convention reads aa
4 follows
THAT we favor the repeal OF the
| laws creating and maintaining
| the state road board. and the in
] adequate aud cumbersome sys-
tenn Of so-callcd road Construc-
tOn and maintenance under
! Mlhcn tne lunuh Appropriated TOT
adch purposes are dissipated and
exhausted In salaries and ev-
| pcnseA with 30 little profit 10 the
/ highways of the state: and we
favor thc substitution thereof or
! statutes restoring TO the several
counties the maintenance Of
roads within their limits under
such statutory regulations which
shall insure good roads at a fair
aud reasonable exnense.'
The plank liz faulty in another vital
point, In that while II demands ebol-
ishlng OF the state road bOard-mean-
Ing the state highway commission
It nvors authorizing the counties TO
go on with the maintenance only
omitting all mention OF construction,
which In fifty times as important now.
/ Tho platform was published In a
number OF papers, but the state cen-
tral committee made no protest against
| Inaccuracies. Now, the plank. as a
dopted by the convention Is repudi-
ated. and the general staffs revision
offered as the original.
When the platform report was read
to tile convention by Lucius Dills, OF
/ EauNn ola nr altf aOrreafttar