Evening star., 1923-11-04

Come now, Governor. you know one
these applicants sought q letter
from me because they knew OF our
friendship"
Even worse than the petition is the
resolution adopted by an organiza-
tion. The organisation may be COM
posed OF influential citizens; its men,
bers may be Of the very highest char
acter and standing. Some busybody
among them with an Ak to grind. an
injury to resent or an innocent de-
sire to be doing something. will In
troducs q resolution Of great moment
and the board will pass 1t on the
theory II won't do any harm. Thence
1t goes to the world as the deliberate
action of this large and influential
body Of citizens. There is Q 1ustina-
corporation covering too much terri.
tory: that 1t does not confine itself
to the activity for which 1t was char
tered, but that once organised 1t as
sumes the right to do any sort of
ner 1T chooses. Yet these corpora
tions exceed their authority no more
than the thousand and one organi-
cations In America which come into
existence for some specific purnnse
Of passing resolutions upon subjects
wholly detached from that purpose.
This direct action, or attempt to
force direct action, Is to be deplored.
What business. for instance: has an
in its character TO take hand as such
in the political affairs Of this coun-
try? Every member OF 1t may hold
the same Identical view and as a
citizen each has a right to express
do 50. But the fraternal organiza-
tion to which he belongs has nothing
TO do with the case. An organization
should do the work for which 1t was
organized; 1T should not slop over
and induce the American people to
solidihed view OF it's members on
every extraneous subject that may
momentarily be agitating the public
mind.
This seeking to control conduct by
petition and resolution has a sinister
aspect along the executive side of
government. Regardless of the enor-
nifty Of the crime. the Justice of the
conviction, the necessity for punish
ment, you can always find numerous
persons urging clemency at the hands
of the chief executive. More than
once I was upbraided for the exer-
else Of executive clemency by men
who had signed the petition on which
I acted. Their lame excuse was that
they did not know what they were
signing. Seekers Of appointive Of
fices. no matter how worthless,
wholly unreliable and unfit they may
be, can always present Testimonials
Of their fellow citizens that they pos
sess the necessary virtues and quail
fications. In states where the refer
endum goes into effect upon petition,
persons have been known to receive
pay for their signatures. Out Of this
has grown q business of obtaining
signatures-not altogether an un-
Yes. the strike Is to be deplored:
II is to be hoped a way may be found
to eliminate it; but the evils that
flow from unwise legislation, unfor-
tunate appointments. laxity in i'm
posing the penalties of the law, all of
which may be influenced by petition
and resolution. although not always
visible to the naked eye, have per-
haps wrought more harm to the peo-
pie. There Is no way to prevent the
Ill effects Of this exercise Of direct
action until men take as much care
in signing a petition as they do in
signing note. The worst OF life
and the fist never acts until the brain
approves or does not care.
Copyright. 1923. b. Twenty-art Century