Jasper County Democrat, Volume 15, Number 5, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 April 1912 — CAMPAIGN CLAP-TRAP [ARTICLE]

CAMPAIGN CLAP-TRAP

.. . . * ROOSEVELT'S TALK ABOUT “THE WHOLE PEOPLE’'’ ABSURD. I ■ I : ' . ■ . Ex-President Is Continuing on the Stump the Meaningless Outpourings That Marked'His Occupany of the White House. When Mr. Roosevelt says, “I would 'far more willingly trust the whole people to judge suetc a case than some special tribunal.” whom does he mean? .A v ,y \ Does he really mean “the whole peo pie?” Or does he mean a majority of > "the w hole people?” Or does he mea.p 1 a majority of the qualified voters, who are a very small minority of “the , whole people?" For example, ‘’the whole people" of ; New York, according to the census of | IFIO. consisted of 9.113.279 persons. I The total vot<FU:£st in the election of 1910 was 1,437,010! Out of “the whole people” only one out of every six voted at the polls. The other fivej sixths had nothing whatever to say .about their government. . .. Reducing the' equation to a matter . of r.r.jofitle-. 7.l*.voters out of a 1 population of fu113.279( in the election or ’-" were “tb s whole in [other words. this “majority of the | plain people” that Mr. Roosevelt re ' gards as practically infallible was comi posed of legs tha:; om twelfth of the j total population. Under the Roosevelt ; dispensation tbii ond-t welfth would Mh-ve power to ' aside any decision or -tii- Court of A; * .Is which involved j the constitution or tbe state’s police i powers, and the el- . en-twelfths would be bound by the decree. Coming fr«.,rh any person but a for j mer president of the United States, I such a proposition would be too fool- ! to merit sober consideration from 1 anybody.

Mr. Roosevelt does not believe in government by “the whole people.” If he did he would favor woman's suffrage He Would favor the abolition of all naturalization restrictions. He would favor the franchise for minors of both sexes. He would favor votes for criminals and for every person who had any stake whatever in government. i’o put his theory of “the majority of the plain people” to a practical test, •would be ro:.-ea; the’ thirteenth, fourteenth add fifteenth amendments to the constitution of the United States and permit “the plain people” of every southern state to deal with the negro according to their own .ideas of wisdom and justice? Most certainly he would not. The great strength of popular government in this country lies in *he fact that the American people have been wise enough hot to trust themselves with ab-oiiiH powers. The’-' have limited suffrage and deliberately restricted then:-elves, even to' tie extc:.' of providing that certain things must never be done, not f t e vote were up tnimous. That is why th. Re bite has suetessfnlly weutberod ev ry storm is wh- CC United of ..America has the most - able ’ ■ ; IS int. hg. v.Grid.—N l . York V'rvrld •