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off-hand opinion is not tho basis of such a con
viction as ought to gxcusg a man from the jury.
If a man is himself a witness, or if he knows
theparties intimately enough to be biased either
imnnrfinlH v -la tviniilrnri Hiif llmi.n 1m .... .ii.
injustice being done by twelve men who are
too iernorant to road tho nnnora Vin v. ?,
composed of men who have read newspaper re
ports, but are free to act upon the evidence as
presented.
The selection of the jury should be hedged
about by restrictions which will exclude the pro
fessional juror and make jury service the duty of
all. Whilo there may be special reason for ex
cluding one from service no man should be ex
cused merely because he can spend his time more
profitably in business.
Your judges should be elected by the people
rather than appointed and it would be well for
your constitution to provide that the accused in
any contempt proceedings shall be allowed to
demand a trial by jury when the alleged contempt
is committed outside of the court room. This is
the real point in issue in the controversy over
what is known as "government by injunction."
When tho contempt is committed in the presence
of the court, the judge can be trusted to impose
a fine, his action, of course, being subject to re
view But when the alleged contempt is commit-
Si??ei f anl mUSt be proven' accused
should be given the protection of trial by jury
The doctrine of local self government is an
essential part of free institutions. Beware of
the tendency which manifests itself in so many
ways to remove authority from the community
and deposit it with some remote official. The
appointment of police boards by the governor is
an instance of this. On the theory that a city is
S ,to govern itself, some of the states
SSaU?irlzed ihe governor to appoint police
J lds' Th(? real reason is usually a partisan
found? nnUgl tie, GXCUSe glVen aSSa"S ie
foundation principle of our' government. Jt Is
whioh tw f0 PfePl? can act best uPn subjects
which they best understand and it is equally
axiomatic that they understand best that which
munlty Sat 2n!?T ' the PePle of "Km
munity attend to all matters purely local ar
the best custodians of precinct interests. prenct
limi to 1p tWeS f y,ou to DUt a constitutional
be Lbm? Thf Vf tlT f0r wnIch bons can
debt incurred for the benefltFCe now Tiving
distinction mni11!11" public indebtedness a
neMtaml!wd bG drawn DGtween indebted
?evLue and for thn? 4imm'ovemcnt that yields no
revenue and for that incurred for an improvement
a pavremernt f aannual come. ToS
though of benefit dnoPUbli? , "Movement which
safely' aAJSfSJ 1
Svm -w
boardSs eaParty representation on all election
Erte" aUtghhiSalWT
any consider , aTriLS0rS. I8, . a A11"1' Party of
resented, it is "ft V s,nomd also be rep
Party to select tmJJZLP allW the dominant
party or parties S? fl?n the minority
right to select iu PU'.ty sll0ul(1 have the
party selects the mlnortt'v Where tbe domnant
selection is too ofte? madJ fpre?ntation, the
only nominallmemberf o? th m, th?.se wno are
the party SSJS' M
but, owing SeS SLiMrn 'e?pectivG Partic3
tlons, they will be ant to ho their .0Wn orSanlZa
The cost nf oii?fi he, moro trustworthy.
Bibio;beSIX"nBhou,d'.;8 far as ps-
upon the SSfftaCo? thrSe.7 If "S than
didates have to hrnr tV parties, if the can
be excluded from 0fflit ?ponse' the poor will
the tBiot speak of
present to the nfnJJ . , campaign expenses
cost oi the puWc f thimbUrhimself at 0
Paign falls upon the nm-Mof Ti f, tho cam'
that cornnm.tiS2 "10.-I?-oa thV is danger
ested in legislation wm ua,s sPay Inter-
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The MCommoner.
tions should be absolutely prohibited from con
tributing to campaign funds and whilo the public
should be advised before the election of all 'in
dividual contributions above a small minimum; it
would be easier to enforce such a law If candi
dates and parties were as far as possible relieved
from the necessity of making large expenditures.
The cost of printing the ballot has already been
assumed by the public and it is worth consider
ing whether the bringing of ' the voter to the
polls should not also be provided for by the public
or the expenditure of money by the party for that
purpose prohibited. It is possible that the end
might be reached by the publication of the names
of those voters who, without reasonablo excuse,
absent themselves from tho polls on election day!
The direct primary is an improvement over
the convention method of nominating, and I sug-
Sfi y!;ta.in copies of toe primary laws
thus far adopted in other states and inquire of
the heads of the respective party organizations
11 h ' Praltical working of the laws. 'Con
ventions should be allowed for the framing of
platforms and for the performing of any work
which can not be done by primary vote, but
-wTrefuliy ?e contro1 of toe party can be
kept in the hands of the Tank and file the bet
ter. Authority comes from the people and the
ft? w y ani ct)mPletely the people control
i! I ?ger there is of toe thwarting of the
wishes of the voters.
r
The initiative and referendum are in har
mony with our theory of government and should
be applied as far as circumstances will permit.
The representative is a necessary evil: he is
employed because the people can not, ton account
tneir numbers, act directly upon public ques
tions. There is more virtue in thd people than
?i?as. ePressi0D- through those whom they elect:
tne faults of our government are not in the de
generacy of the voters but in the representative
who uses a public trust for private gains. Your
constitution should provide a way by which the
people-of each city and county, and the people
Of the state, may initiate legislation, if their
representatives refuse to give expression to their
wishes, and sit in judgment upon the acts of
.their representatives whenever a considerable
number of voters desire to test public sentiment
by a. popular vote. The principle involved in the
Initiative and referendum is a sound one and
experience has shown that it is a popular prin-
I would also recommend the recall the name
is used to describe the system whereby the peo
c a community may revoke the commission
?i ia? 0fitel.al who has Grayed his trust. The
right of the people to honest and faithful repre
sentatives is superior to the right of an official
to noid an office or draw a salary. '
You will not have much difficulty in agreeing
..upon constitutional provisions where there are
no special interests to dispute the claims of the
ffiff10-, Y?" Wil! Probably fln your great
est difficulty in drawing the provisions relating
to corporations and I am sure you will pardon
me if I deal with this subject with some elabora
tion For the present purpose, corporations will
toe divided into three classes, private corporations
proper, corporations holding municipal fran
chises, and transportation corporations, such as
railways interurban electric lines, express com
panies, sleeping car companies, telegraph lines
and long distance telephone lines.
I ask you to consider the advisability of
creating a Board of Corporations, composed of a
U state officers, or of men elected spe
cifically for that position. This board should
navo the right to pass upon all articles of in
corporation before they are filed, to insure com
pliance with prescribed conditions. The water
ing of stock and the issuing of fictitious capitalfza
tion should be forbidden and the issuing of stock
for anything excepting actual money should be
carefully guarded. No corporation should be al
lowed to own land except as the ownership of
land may be incidental to its legitimate business
and then the amount should be carefully limited
A corporation can not cultivate land and it would
only lead to the inauguration of a tenant system
if corporations were allowed to own farm land
ioocia1' !rn aid othep mineral lands should be
leased rather than sold, insofar as the state
has control, and the leases should be limited in
duration and in the amount that one person or
corporation, can control. l n
Time and experience have brought out two
corporate evils which should be corrected One
is the duplication of directorates. No person
should be permitted to serve as a director S? twS
or more corporations that either compete with
ton? twG1; r dGal wIth each tber. To the ex
tent that twq corporations aro controlled by tho
VOLUME o, NUMBER 49
same persons comtition is elimimfn,i
s one'of the-methods now emniovo, ? ' m
izing an industry. emPioyed for monopol.
If the same men control t,
which deal with each oth thlT corPrations
subjected to temptation to acrlLl COnstai
tion to the other. The minorlfS i?n8i ?"? cor'
rights that must bo rejected tk!lderB hav
rights is- to have directors who havo !!' f tholr
nterests adverse to the interesU or t?ecU?ary
holders. "ueiests of tho stock-
stocf incrrroncoasbe M
a patent right, no corporation ough to C?.'
product of another industry The . ohw I
aw should be to preveni : nionopoiy m
a ifrgH cale"00&tl?n t0gether ' PucHon'S
SrK;sr is eliminatK
crimfn0atrrtwppnn BhU1ld be Pe"ted to dis
criminate between purchasers for the mirnose
of driving a rival out of business it sho W X
verTl eouiStl1 alike' Tbe haSe
JSILi requently sorted to the practice of re
ducing prices in a competitor's field while they
cuntrayned them ln other paTte of uS
These suggestions occur to me, but thev do
Son? hJhn?iHti,,e SU,b3eCt- The aVd of corpor-
SuhlWtv S?? M SlVGn ample Pwer t0 re(lir0
nobnt?iny tS t0 the financial condiUoa of the cor-
?or?o J supf vlse its .relaUons with other
S atTASfad t.susPcnd qr, subject to appeal,
wkjfi!t Bra vjolatidn of articles ot in!
h 5S11?0?186 holdInS corporations should not
frnnn i f ?.' under ri regulation. No
voto e fhm b,e Braai&a excePt y a majority
for L1?6 P?ple of the citYi and then only
for a short period not moro thai? twenty or t won-
Sn,5Gi hearS- The b00ks of the corporation
should be open for inspection, its net income over
a fixed per cent should be turned into the city
treasury and the city should be permitted to
SnSJw e plant upon a year's notice and on
equitable terms. There is no excuse for tho
squandering of the property of the community
as it has been squandered in most of our large
cuies. In some cities franchises worth many
n- !avf, been siven ay corrupt coun
cils, itis the rule in the English parliament
now to limit the dividends which a public service
corporation can pay and compel the surplus to bo
turned Into the public treasury or used to reduce
service charges.
Cities should be empowered to own and oper
ate such municipal plants as the people, by a
majority vote, may decide to be desirable, and the
city charter should be easily amendable through
tne initiative and referendum. The tendencv is
strongly toward the municipal ownership of water
P ,ntif nd 1Ightin& Plants. The same arguments
1,, iav? lead PePle to favor municipal water
and lightning plants will lead them to favor mu
nicipal heating plants, municipal telephone plants
and municipal sxreet car systems.
Your constitution should be clear and ex
plicit in regard to railroads. An elective railway
commission should be vested with power to pro
ni 1 SUbIIxC gainst discrimination, rebates
5S2?Ktl0nat0 Tates There Is no nger of
giving this commission too much authority, for
niCw Can COrrect any of "a errors on ap
Slrtbnut the power granted to the railway com
ul 1 3lonr18houId not exclude action by the ieglsla
VZt Tle corarcIsslon should have power to as
o? vin i Present value, measured by the cost
to nloPr0fdllCti0n; f a11 ilroads now operating
lw iStai?' ?a the dorsemont of the commis
i. ?aQf,il ? ? necessary before any new slock
is issued, to the end that fictitious capitalization
may be prevented, as it is by the Texas law.
J can,Jial ?f a railroad should represent
Zaaly actually vested and the freight and
passenger rates should not be higher than neces
sary to return a reasonable dividend upon tho
present value of the road, All rates and classi
fications should be submitted to the board before
they go into effect In other words, whilo tho
rights of the stockholders of the roads should
be carefully protected the quasi-public character
of the road should always be borne ln mind. It
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