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About The commoner. (Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-1923 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 31, 1913)
yfiv j !J4 VI t-v -T ft y It f "0 V I:. 'A y Y V it t 10 The Commoner, VOLUME 13, NUMBER 4 WEIfiCH OF IIKNllY I- AHHiritS'l' (Continued from Pago 7.) Thoy aro flltorod too Zinc through tho Aleve of Hocrot caucuses and other inacnino processes; tliore aro too many conventions preceded by too many private conferences between us and tho pcrfjoiiH through whom we legislate and conduct our govern-monts. " 'Wo, tho people, have not free access onough to our own agonts or dlroct enough control over thorn. "Wo moan by 0110 change or another to make our governments genuinely popular and representative again. Wo are cutting away anomalies, not institutions. ' (Boston Common, May 18, 101 1.) "Such aro the failures and scan dals which have cieated d'Htrimt In parties and legislatures and caused people to tocurc direct control of political machinery, their officials and legislative bodies through direct primarlos, elections, and legislation. States and governments worn made for man; and at the same time I now true It is that Ills creatures and servants have first deceived, next vil lifiod, and at last oppressed their Master and Maker. (Mr. Justice Wilson, In Chlsholm v. Georgia. 2 Dal., 155.)" ' by favoritism, or by THE RECALL lite. Ashurst. Mr. President, in discussing tho recall, I must not be understood as making an assault upon tho Biiprome court of the United States. I venerate that great court. Its judgments and decrees provo that it realizes tho tremendous changes In political and economic conditions and that tho present is a dynamic, not a static, condition of society. We hoar freciuont criticisms of tho judiciary, but theso criticisms aro directed to ward tho inferior fodoral judges Judges are very like the rest of human bolngs; thoy are as easily ofTitjruu uy passion as are other men some of thorn ar0 as vain, as ambtl WOUB, and as subject to flattery as any other class of men. Their learn ing, virtuo, integrity, and morality aro no higher than that of the pro fess on from which thoy aro exclu sively chosen tho logal profession, rhere aro good judges and bad Judges, and tho people may always bo rolled upon to exercise the power or recall wisoly and judiciously. Tho people would novor vote to recall a judge merely because of his render ing an unpopular decision, nor for reversing or alarming any decision unless such decision or judgment uT m,c"rert y corruption or bribery With remarkable precision 2 ?iUb"? 8Gesft trough tho guises and disguises of tho judge whoso de cisions aro discolored by improper influence, bribery. Tho recall would in no manner les sen the independence of a judge and the intemperate criticism or abuse of a Judge by litigants, suitors, and attorneys temporarily disappointed over the loss of a case pending be fore tho court would evoke no sym pathy nor encouragement from the voters, while unfounded, unfair, un just, or untrue charges or criticisms would strengthen the judge. None of the federal judges is uiuciuu uy cue people; none is re movable by the neonle. llencn those judges who are incompetent or un worthy have yielded to temptation; tho weak and needy have fallen, for the mere fact that a man has been appointed as a federal judge seldom transforms his nature. Tlic federal judiciary in America has grown to be the most powerful Institution In our government. More than any other agencv it is in n nn. sitlon to promote or retard the ad vancement and true progress of the people. I here exists today a widespread belief that some of our superior federal courts are havens of refuge for lawbreaklng corporations and favor-seeking "interests." Many factors have contributed to this belief, chief of which is the method of selecting a federal judge supplemented with the fact that he s to a great degree subjected to cer tain insidious social influences and environments, and is thrown almost exclusively into the company of opulent men whose views ho, per haps unconsciously, adonts nnri na upon. i.,rTh. Pr?lG are losf"S ith in the Inferior federal judges, and the chief exce lence of the recall is that it would restore the people's confidence in those judges. Mr President, I ask permission at this point to incorporate Into the Record as a part of mv rinni o nvtm.iti. e . . .. " ""o ciii ua,uiJ(. iroill Magazi titled as follows: Sinn nrmK La 0lIetote's Week magazine S ti,S A?vemblr 23' 1912' en u is well niin Je? ArlZ0na SpIl,It'" which is President Ta "Besides giving women an equal voice in government with ion QS?i This constitution was decisively ap proved by the voters at the polls. "Then the question of admitting Arizona to statehood came before congress. A contest arose. Foes of the judicial recall wanted to force all mention of this "heresy" out of the Arizona constitution. Friends of the recall, re-enforced by others who were not convinced of its wisdom but nevertheless unwilling to deny the people of this commonwealth the right to determine for themselves the kind of government they wanted, fought against striking out the re call pnnision. A compromise was reached whereby Arizona was to be required to vote once more upon this matter of applying the recall to judges. But on August 15, 1911, President Taft vetoed this proposal. He vigorously denounced the recall of judges, and declared, 'I must dis approve a constitution containing it.' "So, as the price of statehood, Arizona was compelled to strike this provision out of her constitution. "This tho voters did in the election of December 12, 1911, but with the openly expressed determination to put the judicial recall back into her fundamental law as soon as possible. "And in the recent election, on November 5, they did so. "The voters of Arizona have again asserted a fine spirit of independence which will in the end transform all her institutions into instruments for maintaining full and complete self government. "It is well for Arizona to havo the recall of judges in her constitution if her peoplo want it. It is even better for Arizona to manifest so dogged a determination to rule her self." I am in no humor this afternoon to throw bouquets, but I will pause long enough to say and I seo the puDiisner ot that magane honors me with a hearing that democrats and republicans will not spend their unproiitaoiy in reading that Minnr Railroad switchman ....!'"" Locomotive engineer ..:.', 7 Civil engineers .', i Stockmen i Clergyman !.;!.' Physicians ......'' Mine operator " " Bankers .;' , Retired capitalist .-..V "" i Merchants ;.' - " ' Traffic expert Farmers . r; . . ! Newspaper man Yf Plumber . Butcher 'a Accountant " Total 1R. All of the members of the conven tion wero taxpayers. Thirty per cent of the convention were college men, and every member possessed a wealth of information and practical experience gathered in that romantic land so near to na ture's heart. Three were native born Arizonans; five were foreign born. Tho foreign born were: Mexico Canada '.!!!!.'!' Germany 4 .... Honolulu Y. England .' , ', ' . Total 1 1 1 1 1 5 tlnu.' cfnf r 4 . .. "-, mb qnip h ivnzona distinguished Itself in the recent election by re storlng to its constitution the pro vision or the recall of judges P iiius is ended an interesting chapter in the present movement To? ward more complete self-goveinnient in state and nation. anient "It was in Octohnr. 10m ... A,. constitutional convention 0 the tor 2 ?7i f Ap!zona wrotG mto the con stitution, with which it planned fo sot out upon its career of statehood the provision for the recall of nil elective officers, including11 j! . 1 These 50 Beautiful POSTCARD Without Cost to Com moner Readers W.N 1 - .. . Beautiful cSoroSposton SKcd WrtSSTot ransrod to send 5m thou a drtlthlcih Wo avo a?f Paid, to anyone who accent, ti?ml cost and pro Rlvon bolnu- rpi.UA '" "CIH3 tho reinn.rirni,i. J- xhh " wa&. K !rR&.Mra ass Uur Offer ipli.TLT . w , this oltor Is open boM, Jnlato for both papora Tls ui a0dKdl"onal cost and cards for onlv $1 m,Ul papers each for nn V.,11 ?1,26 but as lontr aa liftiiHi.iJu,11.T1 Tho AinnHnnn Yr.ur Pno full year nnri tl, rn "A f 3 uu POSC- RfirwvQv lSkHHfKM HBuvBBv JWf&Ltr-YJmX mJKtPliink flK3iHf or m jK-y---JBjM Kim hBIi?QhL77V JiM(riJV 4 I Add irardftn this offer. Offnr nnr When orderinff, -eSS rderS to THE COMMONER. Lincoln, Neb! I known, Of COUrsn. Hint Taft Obifintprl tn th ,. 1l r .1. .. v" wj ic" wm leuuiro ot tne Arizona constitu tionplaced his opinion above and against opinions of the people of ?z5na deIiberated upon and de C fd Yllat, the organic law of tho state of Arizona should be. The con vention which framed the Arizona constitution, which has been such 2 ? m ,cen,tep but has "sated the way toward a larger liberty for the people even of the older and more populous states, is well worth considering The result of the convention's law affords reliable monn nf 5, L:, qiialifications of its members, but towaunSr g ata wiu be foui!d i" A former Boston man, a graduate cfnf CuQiff. now president of the sen biveofatfh Vie leSislative as! mS. in e State' was tne chair man in the convention of the com m ttee on revision, style, and com pilation. With Mr. n,, " com committee were four other gentle SJV0 0f ree'of Si ior of arts, and there wero mnnv other learned men in that bodv t? was said that tllere won;g; nrthnLiOI1Venton' and that was true f.r Sach man had a strong, vigorous mind and did not need nnv E ship. The sovereignty of his mm?0" ship his educationlnd SpeHence" which come soon in the groat ; BmJfh' west, were sufficient leadership ft him Moreover, a large majority nf the delegates were instructed R1 voters as to the kind of constitut on the people wished. nt..wni.t1ltut1.011 so instructed regarded Him.!gates bound in conscifnee and S Tlves as carry out the aole mantoto S'th0 People. Of the 52 deleeafS iH the There wero: Lawyers .... 14 And the various states of the union wero represented as follows: Alabama Kentucky New York Illinois p Georgia ; . " " ' " " Indiana ' ' 7 Texas ...... 1 Massachusetts . ! ! ' ' "" 2 rcimuut - o Ohio Michigan V miBHuun i -:t Virginia Pennsylvania North Carolina . . Tennessee Oregon ' " '.'."'" ' J Utah Colorado 1 California f Katisas V.Y.Y.Y.7 1 . Total XUIU1 52 EnhfiVADf0regn born a11 wero of S5HP. --r of JSS' xTh Ai-izona was 19. While tho convention was in tlKi,01 tho rrd' a Ser" uve oody, the members did not use SSTSS5.M d,uw4S con! ieai thought, but they used language to express thought. Moreover fn entence'w8, did not Glance eaL charac? the ,Stui)Id cautIon that nor did rw iPaSSive intellectualism; fn a tank o7 11,mmers every sentence wo do here utterance, as motons aak u J" the Recorrf ! f at X may delude in C ! h ? aa APPendices A, B, and ?' bfein? respectively, copy of a Iet- of AritZonaPUal,nliiC 7M citVens people ot A, l addressed to the of the Unitiiut na ,Upon the suect copy of i w e andferendum, also rV iblf t0 ooth houses nf fi, ij jature of the state of Arizona unnn Mr. Ashurst. Mr PpflDi,ini MM .'J tjfr