material from the ,google ,print        
project47      ,,ethics ,,in ,,service  
,,by ,william ,howard ,taft   ,addresses
 ,delivered in the ,page ,lecture       
,series1 #aiad1 before the ,senior      
,class of the ,sheffield ,scientific    
,school1 ,yale ,university              
,illustration3 ,yale ,university ,press 
,crest  ,,new ,,haven3 ,,yale           
,,university ,,press ,,london3          
,,humphrey ,,milford ,,oxford           
,,university ,,press ,,mdccccxv         
,copyright1 #aiae ,by ,yale ,university 
,press  ,first printed ,october1 #aiae1 
#ajjj copies     ,,preface   ,the legal 
profession discharges a most important  
function in a civilized community1 and  
it seems to me that a discussion of the 
ethics and ideals of that profession    
would come within the purpose of the    
,page foundation1 which is described by 
the donor as intended to promote the    
ethical side of business life1 including
 the morals and ethics of public        
service4 ,i shall first ask your        

attention to the history of the         
profession1 which shows that a paid     
advocacy is the only practical system1  
and to the rules of conduct to which    
lawyers must be held in order that such 
a system shall promote justice4 ,i      
cannot claim to have any peculiar       
knowledge upon this subject other than  
that derived from a somewhat brief      
practice of five years at the ,bar1 from
 an experience of eleven years on the   
,bench of trial and appellate courts1   
from a somewhat varied experience in the
 responsibility of government1 not only 
in this country1 but in those           
far-distant isles of the ,pacific in    
which the ,united ,states has been      
grafting the principles of free         
government upon a civilization inherited
 from ,spain4     ,,contents            
,,page  ,i4   ,history of the           
,profession of ,law4    #a  ,,ii4       
,legal ,ethics                          
#ai  ,,iii4 ,the ,executive ,power      
#cg  ,,iv4  ,the ,signs of the ,times   

#fe  ,v4   ,more ,signs of the ,times   
#hc     ,,chapter ,i  ,,history ,,of    
,,the ,,profession ,,of ,,law   ,it is  
not too much to say that the profession 
of the law is more or less on trial4 ,it
 is certain that there is a crisis in   
the life of our courts1 and that a great
 political issue is being forced upon   
the people1 for they must decide whether
 the courts are to continue to exercise 
the power they now have1 and what       
character of service they shall be      
required to render4 ,judges are lawyers4
 ,they ought to be trained practitioners
 and learned in the profession of the   
law before they ascend the ,bench1 and  
generally they are4 ,therefore1 our     
courts1 as they are now conducted1 and  
our profession1 which is the handmaid of
 justice1 are necessarily so bound      
together in our judicial system that an 
attack upon the courts is an attack upon
 our profession1 and an attack upon our 
profession is equally an attack upon the
 courts4  ,we have all noted on the     

stage and in the current literature the 
flippant and sarcastic references to the
 failures of the administration of      
justice1 and we are familiar with the   
sometimes insidious and too often open  
impeachments of the courts1 which appear
 in the press and upon the hustings4    
,they are charged with failure to do    
justice1 with bad faith1 with lack of   
intelligent sympathy for socially       
progressive movements1 with a rigid and 
reactionary obstruction to the movement 
toward greater equality of condition1   
and with a hidebound and unnecessarily  
sensitive attitude of mind in respect to
 the rights of property4 ,one count that
 looms large in the wide range of the   
indictment against our judicial system  
is the immoral part that lawyers are    
said necessarily to play in the         
perversion of justice by making the     
worse appear the better reason4 ,such a 
public agitation and such an issue in   
politics lead to a consideration of the 
fundamental reasons for the existence of

 our profession in the past1 and a      
further inquiry as to the need for it in
 the future1 as preliminary to a        
discussion of the rules of conduct that 
should govern its practice4  ,there are 
those who intimate that we can learn    
nothing from the past4 ,they don't say  
so in so many words1 but they proceed on
 the theory that man1 under the         
elevating influences with which they    
propose to surround him1 is suddenly to 
become a different creature1 prompted by
 different motives4 ,but those of us who
 have been fortunate in having an       
education permeated with an atmosphere  
of common sense1 and an idea of how to  
deal with human nature as it is1 realize
 that the world is not to be reformed   
tomorrow or in a month or a year or in a
 century1 but that progress is to be    
made slowly and that the problems before
 us are not so widely different from    
those which were presented to our       
ancestors as far back as the ,christian 
era4 ,nor can we fail to derive some    

benefit from a consideration of such    
troubles1 tribulations and triumphs of  
our profession in the past as suggest   
rules of conduct for lawyers in the     
future4 ,i do not mean that we are not  
to aspire for better things4 ,nor do ,i 
wish to deny us the happiness of hope   
for reasonable and real progress toward 
higher ideals4 ,i simply insist that we 
ought not to ignore the lessons of      
experience when we deal with conditions 
as they are and as everybody who is     
familiar with them knows them to be4    
,the three civilizations in which we may
 most profitably study the growth and   
development of the legal profession are 
the ,jewish1 the ,roman and the         
,english4 ,among the ,jews1 the ,mosaic 
law1 which went into the smallest       
details of personal life1 was the guide 
to their rule of action4 ,as it had     
religious sanction1 the high priests    
became the actual ministers of justice  
and the preservation of religion and law
 was united in them4 ,acting as their   

assistants1 and as assessors in the     
tribunals of which the high priests were
 the head1 were the ,scribes4 ,they were
 learned in the law2 had a religious and
 priestly character themselves2         
interpreted the ,mosaic law with a view 
to its application to the various facts 
and issues which arose2 and were in     
addition the teachers of law4 ,it was to
 them that the rabbinical injunction was
 made to make the knowledge of the law  
neither a crown wherewith to make a     
show1 nor a spade wherewith to dig4 ,and
 again it was said1 ,he who uses the    
crown of the law for external aims fades
 away4  ,in describing the principles of
 non-remuneration to the ,scribes1 the  
learned ,german ,professor ,schurer     
says3 ,in ,christ's censures of the     
,scribes and ,pharisees1 their          
covetousness is a special object of     
reproof4 ,hence1 even if their          
instruction was given gratuitously1 they
 certainly knew how to compensate       
themselves in some other way4 ,and it is

 because of this evasion of this rule   
that we find those passages in the      
eleventh chapter of ,luke1 the #dfth and
 #eb;d verses1 which read3       ,verse 
#df4 ,and he said1 ,woe unto you also1  
ye lawyers6 for ye lade      men with   
burdens grievous to be borne1 and ye    
yourselves touch not      the burdens   
with one of your fingers4       ,verse  
#eb4 ,woe unto you1 lawyers6 for ye have
 taken away the key of      knowledge3  
ye entered not in yourselves1 and them  
that were      entering in ye hindered4 
,the line between the judicial and      
advisory functions of the ,hebrew       
,scribes was not closely or clearly     
drawn4 ,they were evidently supposed to 
occupy a disinterested position toward  
those who consulted them and to be in a 
sense the associates of the judges4     
,since the motive which prompted their  
study of particular cases was supposed  
to be only that of vindicators of       
general justice1 the rules which        
nominally guided their action1 as       

announced by the lawgivers1 required    
that their services should always be    
gratuitous4 ,but quite naturally their  
consultation with private litigants     
prompted such litigants to influence    
their view of the law1 and command their
 skill in debate4 ,and so to evade the  
rule which prevented remuneration they  
established the custom of giving        
presents in advance4 ,these presents    
given in advance to secure the kindly   
favor of the ,scribes are interesting as
 the precursors of that institution dear
 to every ,english barrister1 and not   
unknown--nor even objectionable--to     
,american lawyers1 to wit1 the          
,retainer4 ,in fact it was the          
impossibility of finding men who could  
remain judicial in their attitude when  
the thought of remuneration moved them  
to advocate the cause of one of the     
litigants1 that put the ,scribes of     
those days in an indefensible position  
and led to the attacks upon them that we
 find in the ,new ,testament4  ,and so  

it was in ,rome4 ,there the progenitor  
of the lawyer was first the priest1 the 
,pontifex1 mingling judicial and        
advisory functions1 and then the        
patronus or the orator1 a man of wealth 
and high standing in the community1 who 
had gathered about him freed men and    
,plebeians as his supporters4 ,the      
latter were known as his clientes1 from 
which term our word is derived4 ,when   
one of his clients became involved in a 
lawsuit1 the patronus appeared to advise
 the judge--a magistrate acting only as 
vindicator of general justice and often 
not learned in the principles of        
law--and was not supposed to receive any
 compensation4 ,less than the patronus1 
but exercising similar functions1 was   
the advocatus--who1 though perhaps not  
so learned in the law1 nor so formidable
 as a person1 was able to assist the    
patronus before the tribunal on behalf  
of others4 ,there was in addition a body
 of men called jurist consults1 learned 
in the law and able to advise1 who came 

to be recognized as the members of a    
select profession in the time of        
,augustus4  ,in the year #bjj before    
,christ1 the ,cincian law was enacted1  
requiring that service of the patronus  
and the advocate should be gratuitous1  
but it was soon evaded even as the      
,jewish laws had been4 ,again presents  
were made to secure the skilled advocacy
 of men learned in the law and acute in 
debate4 ,these gifts like the ,hebrew   
ones were paid in advance and were      
called honorariums1 another term which  
suggests the modern retainer4 ,neither  
an advocatus nor a patronus could sue   
for such honorarium at law because it   
was a violation of law1 but once paid1  
the honorarium could not be recovered4  
,cicero boasted that he never violated  
the ,cincian law1 but historians of his 
period intimate that by secret loans and
 testamentary gifts his practice proved 
to be very profitable4 ,and it is       
certain1 at least1 that many of his     
contemporaries were made very rich by   

professional remuneration4 ,augustus    
directed the passage of another law     
forbidding compensation to orators and  
advocates1 but it was disregarded and   
subsequent emperors contented themselves
 with fixing limits for the fees to be  
charged4 ,in the golden age of the      
,roman law1 therefore1 the payment of   
the profession became recognized as     
legitimate and the profession itself    
became a definite body with clearly     
understood functions4  ,in ,england1 for
 two hundred years after the ,conquest1 
the priests were the only learned men1  
and they1 too1 like the ,scribes1 acted 
as judges and advisers of litigants4    
,even as late as the time of ,henry     
,,viii1 as we know1 the ,keeper of the  
,king's ,conscience and the head of the 
,court of ,equity1 was an ,ecclesiastic 
in the formidable person of ,cardinal   
,woolsey4 ,about the reign of ,king     
,john1 laymen became lawyers1 and in    
,henry ,,iii's time the ,pope forbade   
priests to fit themselves in civil law  

or to act as advisers in respect to it4 
,we may properly say that the profession
 of the ,bar1 as a recognized ,english  
institution1 had its beginnings in the  
struggle for individual rights by which 
the ,english race forced the great      
charter from ,king ,john4 ,we find that 
in the history of the early ,english    
administration of justice1 bailiffs1    
undersheriffs1 clerical attachs and the 
underlings of the courts had gone into  
the business of acting as attorneys1 of 
cheating their clients1 and of stirring 
up litigation4 ,while statutes were     
directed against their abuses1 ,i cannot
 find that there was any ,english       
statute forbidding lawyers to receive   
compensation for their services1        
although the action of the ,pope in     
forbidding his priests to study and     
practice law in ,england may indicate   
some such abuses4 ,it is certain that   
legal services were not regarded as     
creating a debt due from the client to  
the lawyer who had served him4 ,by      

statute1 now1 attorneys and solicitors  
in ,england are entitled to fixed fees  
for professional services4 ,but in the  
case of barristers1 down to the present 
time1 while they may demand a retainer  
for their services in advance1 they     
still cannot recover by suit if the     
services are rendered without receiving 
it4 ,this may possibly be derived from  
the early ,roman and ,jewish view of the
 professional relation and suggests the 
probability that early in ,english      
history professional services were      
deemed to be gratuitous4  ,the grant of 
,magna ,charta by ,king ,john1 in       
response to the demand of the ,barons at
 ,runnymede1 gave birth to the ,bar in  
its modern character4 ,articles #ag and 
#ah of that instrument provided that    
,common ,pleas should not follow the    
court of the ,king1 but should be held  
in a certain place1 and that trials upon
 certain writs should not be taken      
outside of their proper counties4 ,it   
provided further that the ,king or the  

,chief ,justice should send two         
justiciaries into each county1 four     
times in the year1 to hold certain      
assizes within the county1 with four    
knights of the county1 chosen by it1 on 
the day1 and at the place appointed4    
,the #deth article promised that the    
,king would not make ,justiciaries1     
,constables1 or ,bailiffs excepting of  
such as knew the laws of the land and   
were well disposed to observe them4 ,the
 result of this provision by which      
,common pleas courts came to be held at 
,westminster1 while regular assizes were
 held in the counties1 was the          
establishment of the four ,inns of      
,court1 so-called1 ,lincoln's ,inn1 the 
,inner and the ,middle ,temple1 and     
,gray's ,inn1 together with a number of 
others known as ,chancery ,inns1 which  
have of late years disappeared4 ,henry  
,,iii took these ,inns under his        
especial protection and prohibited the  
study of law anywhere in ,london save in
 the ,inns of ,court4 ,they were the    

homes of the ,bar1 for within their     
walls lawyers had their offices1 and    
there students of the law received their
 education4 ,in fact1 they may be said  
to constitute the foundation of the     
modern profession of the law in the     
,english-speaking race4  ,the ,inns of  
,court were at first an aristocratic    
institution1 and only men of good blood 
were permitted to practice in them4     
,indeed1 that was the case in the early 
days in ,rome4 ,pliny reports that no   
one could become a jurist consult1 an   
advocatus or a patronus except he be of 
the ,patrician class4 ,but soon after   
the ,empire began1 this rule broke down 
and the ,roman ,bar became open to all4 
,so1 too1 in the ,english ,bar at first 
admission was controlled by the         
,benchers or governing bodies of the    
,inns of ,court and the students were   
chosen only from good families4 ,it was 
probably this that led to their         
unpopularity and to the denunciation    
which they received in ,wat ,tyler's    

day1 in the fourteenth century1 and from
 ,jack ,cade's followers whom           
,shakespeare makes wish to kill all the 
lawyers in the next century4 ,their     
exclusive spirit passed away1 however1  
and while aristocratic class            
distinctions were rigidly maintained in 
,english society1 the ,bar became most  
democratic through the avenue to        
positions of highest influence on the   
,bench and in politics which it freely  
offered to able men from the people4    
,and1 indeed1 there is no part of       
,english history that is so full of     
interest as the stories of her great    
lawyers1 who1 beginning in the humblest 
conditions of life1 fought their way by 
real merit into positions of control in 
the government and thus gave ability and
 strength to the aristocracy of which   
they became a part4  ,in the three      
centuries or more after the             
establishment of the ,inns of ,court1 no
 division appeared in the profession of 
the law1 and it was not until about     

#aeef that the profession became        
separated into attorneys at law and     
solicitors in chancery1 on the one hand1
 and barristers on the other4 ,the      
former dealt directly with clients and  
performed the preliminary work of       
drafting documents and preparing briefs1
 while the latter1 the barristers1      
drafted the pleadings and presented the 
causes in court4 ,a similar division of 
functions prevailed in the ,roman ,bar4 
,i shall have occasion later to comment 
on the advantages and disadvantages of  
this division1 but this summary         
reference is sufficient for my present  
purpose in tracing the history of the   
,bar in ,england4 ,during this period1  
after the establishment of the ,inns of 
,court1 the unpopularity of the ,bar    
manifested itself in the enactment of   
statutes forbidding the election of     
lawyers to ,parliament4 ,this gave rise 
to the noted ,parliament known as the   
,dunces ,parliament1 because everybody  
who knew anything about the law1 and    

therefore about the framing or the      
operation of statutes1 was excluded from
 membership4  ,in his interesting       
history of the ,american ,bar1 ,mr4     
,charles ,warren1 of the ,boston ,bar1  
says3       ,lawyers1 as the instruments
 through which the subtleties and       
iniquities of the ,common ,law were     
enforced1 were highly unpopular      as 
a class in ,england during the period of
 ,cromwell and ,milton4  ,milton wrote3 
,most men are allured to the trade of   
law1 grounding their purposes      not  
on the prudent and heavenly             
contemplation of justice and            
equity1 which was never taught them1 but
 on the promising and      pleasing     
thoughts of litigious terms1 fat        
contentions and flowing      fees4  ,as 
examples of a lawyer's reputation in    
,london in the seventeenth century1 ,mr4
 ,warren cites the titles of the        
following tracts printed at that time3  
,the ,downfall of ,unjust ,lawyers2     
,doomsday ,drawing ,near with ,thunder  

and ,lightning for ,lawyers2 ,a ,rod for
 ,lawyers who are ,hereby declared      
,robbers and ,deceivers of the ,nation2 
,essay where is ,described the ,lawyers1
 ,smugglers and ,officers ,frauds4  ,i  
note these facts as ,i progress to      
indicate and reinforce my original      
statement that the present time is not  
the only time in the history of         
civilization when lawyers have received 
the condemnation of their fellow        
subjects or fellow citizens4 ,yet not   
only has the profession survived such   
movements but its usefulness has been   
recognized in succeeding crises4  ,i    
need hardly mention that most of the    
progress toward individual liberty in   
,english history was made through the   
successful struggle of the lawyers      
against the assertion of the divine     
right of ,kings and through the defence 
of privilege by members of our          
profession4 ,lawyers like ,lord ,coke   
and ,lord ,hale stand out in the        
profession for their maintenance of the 

independence of the judiciary and their 
support of the liberties of subjects4   
,the great charters1 the ,petition of   
,right1 the ,habeas ,corpus ,act1 the   
,bill of ,rights1 and the ,acts of      
,settlement1 establishing the judiciary 
independent of ,royal control1 were     
obtained at the instance of lawyers who 
knew better than any other class the    
absolute necessity for such reforms in  
the maintenance of free institutions4   
,the evolution of the ,bar in this      
country during colonial                 
times--especially in ,new ,england--was 
a curious counterpart of the history of 
the ,english ,bar three centuries       
before4 ,the founders of ,new ,england  
came here to escape a persecution for   
their religious beliefs and law was     
closely connected in their minds with   
the injustices1 the inequalities and the
 rigid hardships of the common law as   
administered by judges appointed and    
removable at the will of the ,tudors and
 ,stuarts4 ,at that time lawyers        

exercising their profession were the    
instruments of a system that had become 
non-progressive4 ,they had lost the     
principles of justice in technicalities 
and had become mere political tools in  
the hands of tyrants4 ,but in ,england1 
the law soon lost its narrowing1 hard   
and inflexible character through the    
intervention of courts of equity and    
through the genius and broad views of   
great judges of common law like         
,mansfield4 ,it was modified further by 
the civil law and by the needs of a     
developing world commerce1 and after the
 action of the ,long ,parliament and the
 ,revolution it was no longer used as an
 instrument of tyranny4  ,in this       
country1 however1 the ,puritans and the 
,pilgrims approved of neither the common
 law nor the ,english judicial system1  
and as lawyers were only part of that   
system1 they considered the abolition of
 the profession from their society as an
 end devoutly to be wished for and      
promptly sought4 ,among the ,pilgrim    

fathers there was not a single lawyer1  
while among the ,puritans there were    
only four or five who had been educated 
as lawyers and even they had never      
practiced4 ,the consequence was that    
during the seventeenth century and far  
into the eighteenth1 lawyers had little 
place in the social or political        
institutions of the colonies4 ,in ,new  
,england there was a theocracy4 ,the    
judges--none of them lawyers--were all  
either ministers or directly under the  
influence of the clergy4 ,a colonial    
common law grew up among them1 based on 
a theological reasoning and was really  
administered without lawyers4 ,in the   
,massachusetts body of liberties1 it was
 provided that a man unfit to plead     
might employ a person not objectionable 
to the ,court to plead for him1 on      
condition that he give him no fee or    
reward4 ,in #affc a usual or common     
attorney was prohibited from sitting in 
the general court4  ,as society         
progressed1 however1 as commerce and    

trade increased1 as wealth grew1 as     
business transactions became more       
extended and as learning spread from the
 clergy to other persons1 opportunity   
and inducement were furnished for the   
study of the law1 and professional      
training became more general4 ,the      
crying need for a learned and honorable 
profession of the law was made manifest 
by the growth of a class of advocates   
and advisers whose influence was most   
pernicious4 ,litigants needed guidance  
in the presentation of their cases and  
no learned profession being available1  
the underbailiffs1 undersheriffs1 clerks
 and other underlings of the            
administration of justice began to      
practice1 without real knowledge4       
,greedy and lacking in principle1 they  
developed trickery and stirred up       
litigation for their own profit1 just as
 their predecessors had done three      
hundred years before in ,england4       
,colonial statutes were then passed1    
forbidding such underlings of the court 

to practice law at all4 ,but lawyers    
were not popular in colonial days even  
after the ,bar became able and          
respectable4 ,in fact a bitter spirit   
was manifested against lawyers even as  
late as ,shays's ,rebellion after the   
,revolutionary ,war4  ,between the years
 #agej and #agge1 more than a hundred   
and fifty young men from the colonies   
were admitted to one of the four ,inns  
of ,court and became educated lawyers   
with the purpose of entering the        
profession in their native colonies4    
,how far the presence of such a class of
 educated lawyers through the colonies  
contributed to the resentment against   
the stupidity and injustice of the      
,english colonial policy which brought  
about the ,revolution1 cannot be        
estimated exactly2 but certain it is    
that the preparation of the lawyers who 
were then in their prime appears to have
 been ,providential interference in     
behalf of the people of the ,united     
,states4 ,never in history has the      

profession of the law received so great 
a harvest of profound students of the   
constitutional principles of government 
as did our country at this time4 ,our   
lawyers signed the ,declaration of      
,independence1 served in the            
,continental ,congress1 acted as        
delegates to the ,constitutional        
,convention1 and met in the various     
conventions called by the states to     
consider the ratification of that great 
instrument4 ,they not only knew that    
common law1 but they had studied closely
 the political history of ,greece and   
,rome1 and were familiar with the       
principles of government as set forth by
 ,montesquieu and ,adam ,smith4  ,it was
 the ,american ,bar that gave to the    
people of the ,united ,states such      
lawyers as ,alexander ,hamilton1 ,john  
,jay1 ,james ,madison1 ,george ,mason1  
,thomas ,jefferson1 ,patrick ,henry1    
,john ,adams1 ,james ,otis1 ,samuel     
,chase1 ,samuel ,adams1 ,roger ,sherman1
 ,oliver ,ellsworth1 ,james ,wilson1    

,edmund ,randolph and many others not   
less learned and brilliant1 to establish
 their liberties1 frame the limitations 
of their government and care for the    
protection of individual rights4 ,the   
same ,bar furnished a little later that 
lawyer and judge1 ,john ,marshall1 whose
 interpretation of the ,constitution was
 as important in its beneficent effect  
as its original framing4 ,that ,bar not 
only helped largely in constructing the 
ship of state but it was also most      
instrumental in launching it on a       
triumphant and useful course through a  
century and a quarter4 ,the profound    
gratitude of succeeding generations     
owing to such a ,bar ought never to be  
dimmed by partisan or misguided         
diatribes upon lawyers and judges4      
,,chapter ,,ii  ,,legal ,,ethics   ,i   
have heard the utility of legal ethics  
denied4 ,it is said that the rules in   
legal ethics are the same as the moral  
rules that govern men in every branch of
 society and in every profession--except

 as there may be certain conventions as 
to professional etiquette--and that if a
 man is honest1 there ought to be no    
difficulty in his following the right   
course in the discharge of his          
professional duties4 ,if a man is       
lacking in probity of character1 it is  
said the discussion of legal ethics will
 do him no particular good1 because if  
he is tempted to a crooked path or an   
unjust act by his pecuniary interest1 he
 will yield1 and neither lectures on    
ethics nor the establishment of an      
ethical code will make him good2 whereas
 the upright man will either not be so  
tempted1 or should he be1 he will       
clearly perceive the necessity for      
resisting the temptation4  ,in the      
course of my consideration of this      
subject1 ,i looked into a text-book on  
moral philosophy and the general system 
of ethics with the hope that ,i might   
find something there that would suggest1
 by analogy1 a proper treatment of the  
subject in hand4 ,i consulted ,paulsen's

 ,a ,system of ,ethics4 ,the analogy    
between moral philosophy and legal      
ethics is not very close1 but ,i found a
 passage or two bearing on this very    
issue1 which it seems to me might not be
 inappropriately quoted here4 ,in the   
conclusion of his introduction1 ,paulsen
 says3       ,let me say a word         
concerning the practical value of       
ethics4 ,can      ethics be a practical 
science1 not only in the sense that it  
deals      with practice1 but that it   
influences practice8 ,this was its      
original purpose4 ',it is the function  
of ethics1' says ,aristotle1      'to   
act1 not only to theorize4'  ,paulsen   
refers to the fact that ,schopenhauer   
takes a different view3       ,all      
philosophy1 he says1 is theoretical4    
,upon mature reflection      it ought   
finally to abandon the old demand that  
it become      practical1 guide action1 
and transform character1 for here it is 
not dead concepts that decide1 but the  
innermost essence of the      human     

being1 the demon that guides him4 ,it is
 as impossible to      teach virtue as  
it is to teach genius4 ,it would be as  
foolish to      expect our moral systems
 to produce virtuous characters and     
saints      as to expect the science of 
sthetics to bring forth poets1          
sculptors and musicians4 ,to this view  
,paulsen replies3       ,i do not       
believe that ethics need be so          
faint-hearted4 ,its first      object1  
it is true1 is to understand human      
strivings and modes of      conduct1    
conditions and institutions1 as well as 
their effects upon      individual and  
social life4 ,but if knowledge is       
capable of      influencing             
conduct--which ,schopenhauer himself    
would not deny--it      is hard to      
understand why the knowledge of ethics  
alone should be      fruitless in this  
respect4444 ,moral instruction1 however1
 can have      no practical effect      
unless there be some agreement          
concerning the      nature of the final 

goal--not a mere verbal agreement1 to be
 sure1      but one based upon actual   
feeling4444 ,it will be the business of 
ethics to invite the doubter and the    
inquirer to assist in the      common   
effort to discover fixed principles     
which shall help the      judgment to   
understand the aims and problems of     
life4  ,what is here said concerning the
 usefulness of an investigation of fixed
 ethical principles has application to a
 consideration of what rules of conduct 
should prevail in the legal profession4 
,the high social purpose of the         
profession1 its beneficial function1 and
 the limitations upon its action that   
should be self-enforced in order to make
 the calling an advantage and not a     
detriment to the public weal1 should be 
understood4 ,indeed1 the profession of  
the law1 if it serves its high purpose1 
and vindicates its existence1 requires a
 double allegiance from those who have  
assumed its obligations1 first1 a duty  
toward their clients1 and second1 a duty

 toward the court4 ,and though the two  
sometimes seem to conflict1 they must be
 reconciled in the way which will best  
promote the effective administration of 
justice and the peace of society4 ,the  
path to be followed in achieving this   
golden mean in the intricacies of       
professional relations is not as        
manifest as the rule of honesty and     
morality in ordinary life4 ,the great   
problem of government that is never     
completely solved and that is changing  
with changing conditions is how to      
reconcile the protection of individual  
rights1 helpful to the pursuit of       
happiness and the welfare of society1   
with the necessary curtailment of those 
rights and freedom1 by governmental     
restriction1 to achieve the same object4
 ,so the adjustment of the duties of the
 lawyer toward his client and toward the
 court in the interest of society1 are  
not always easily distinguishable and an
 attempt to make them clear1 therefore1 
is justified4  ,an understanding between

 the client and his representative that 
remuneration is a proper incident to    
their relation insures a greater        
confidence in the activity and devotion 
of his lawyer to his interest on the    
part of the client and stimulates       
industry and sincere effort on the part 
of the lawyer4 ,it is far better that   
the employment on a pecuniary basis     
should be understood by all men1 by the 
courts and by the parties1 than that    
some secret arrangements should exist   
unknown to the court and the opposing   
party4 ,but it is said that to give to  
counsel1 skilled1 learned and familiar  
with the arts of advocacy and the       
preparation of cases1 a pecuniary motive
 to make the worse appear the better    
reason1 necessarily leads him to an     
attempt to influence the court against a
 just result4 ,for since one or the     
other conclusion must be unjust1 one of 
the paid attorneys arguing the cause    
before the court must be arguing for the
 unjust side and in favor of wrong4     

,hence1 it is claimed1 the system of    
paid advocacy must in every case tend to
 an effort on one side or the other to  
pervert justice and mislead the judges  
into inequity and wrong4  ,it may be    
agreed that if there were not certain   
limitations upon the means which counsel
 may take to maintain the justice of    
their clients' cause1 if they were      
justified in suborning witnesses1 and   
coaching them to testify to an unfounded
 state of facts1 if they were permitted 
to misstate the evidence after it has   
been adduced1 if it were regarded as    
proper for them to accept employment in 
the prosecution of a cause which they   
knew to be brought only for a wrong     
purpose and without any just foundation1
 or if in a civil cause they were       
retained to make a defence which they   
were advised was false and wrong1 then  
it might be that advocacy under such    
freedom from limitation would not aid   
the judges in avoiding wrong conclusions
 and unjust judgments4 ,but there are   

limitations upon the duty of counsel to 
their clients4 ,there are also          
limitations upon a lawyer's action which
 he cannot violate without a breach of  
his duty to the court of which he is an 
officer and to the public interest in   
the maintenance of the proper           
administration of justice4 ,we find1    
therefore1 that the goal to be reached  
in reference to the ethical duty of an  
attorney in the discharge of the        
functions assigned to him by the law1 is
 the reconciliation of his duty to his  
client1 with his duty to the court4 ,to 
mark out this line in advance is easier 
than to determine each special duty in a
 concrete way1 yet neither is free from 
difficulty and each requires a calm and 
clear understanding of the function of  
counsel as an instrument in the         
machinery of justice4 ,this is the main 
object of legal ethics4 ,it covers other
 fields and is important in those       
fields1 but no other is of such primary 
importance4  ,courts sit to hear        

controversies between parties over facts
 and law4 ,rules of procedure are for   
the purpose of reducing the issues of   
fact and law in such controversies to a 
form as narrow and concrete as possible4
 ,men who are able to present a clear   
statement of the evidence and who are   
learned in the principles of the law and
 their application to the facts as they 
are developed are in a position to      
assist the judge to a quick and thorough
 understanding of the exact question    
which he is to decide4 ,the real        
enthusiasm of advocacy which is         
necessarily developed by the relation of
 attorney and client would doubtless    
have a tendency to mislead the court if 
exerted in behalf of one side only1 but 
where both sides are represented1 where 
the same earnestness in the proceeding  
of each side is present1 it is the best 
method within human ken to reach a sound
 conclusion both as to the facts and as 
to the law4 ,no one who has had         
experience on the ,bench in reaching    

judicial conclusions and who has        
thereafter been obliged in an executive 
position to reach important1 and it may 
be final1 conclusions upon questions    
involving both fact and law1 can fail to
 recognize and acknowledge the powerful 
influence for justice that honorable and
 learned members of the law exert in the
 causes which they present to a court4  
,the counsel who argues the losing side 
of a case contributes quite as much to  
the assistance of the court as the      
successful advocate4 ,the friction of   
counsel's argument against counsel's    
argument develops every phase of        
possible error in a conclusion and      
thereby enables a just1 intelligent1    
acute and experienced court to see      
clearly what is the right which should  
be embodied in its judgment4  ,the      
practical value of argument by paid     
counsel on both sides is shown in many  
ways4 ,in the first place1 it is well   
understood in weighing legal precedents 
that there is little authority in the   

decision of a court which has been      
reached without the benefit of the      
argument of counsel4 ,in some states1   
courts are required to answer questions 
from the legislature as to the          
constitutionality of proposed laws4 ,the
 best authorities hold that opinions    
given under such circumstances are      
merely advisory1 since they lack        
opposing arguments made by counsel whom 
the spirit of professional advocacy     
arouses to industry in the search for   
precedent4 ,they go so far as to say    
that answers so given should not        
conclude the same court in a litigated  
case arising subsequently4 ,an earnest  
and commendable desire to win leads the 
counsel to search not only libraries but
 his own brain for the strongest reasons
 that he can summon upon which to base a
 judgment in behalf of his client4 ,why 
is it that a great ,bar makes a great   
court8 ,though it may seem a truism1 ,i 
repeat1 it is because the great ,bar    
furnishes to the court all the reasons  

that can possibly be urged in each case 
and enables it to select from among all 
the reasons developed by the ingenuity  
and intense interest of men skilled in  
the law4  ,counsel ought to decline to  
conduct a civil cause or to make a      
defence when convinced that it is       
intended merely to harass the opposite  
party or to work oppression4 ,his       
appearance in court should1 therefore1  
be deemed equivalent to an assertion on 
his honor that in his opinion his       
client's case is a debatable one and one
 proper for judicial determination4 ,he 
should know that under a proper code of 
ethics1 no lawyer is obliged to act     
either as adviser or as advocate for    
every person who may wish to become his 
client2 that he has the right to decline
 employment1 and that each lawyer on his
 own responsibility must decide what    
business he will accept as counsel1 what
 causes he will bring into court for    
plaintiffs1 and what suits he will      
contest in court for defence4 ,the court

 knows that the responsibility for      
bringing questionable suits or for      
urging questionable defences1 is the    
lawyer's responsibility4 ,he can not    
escape it by urging as an excuse that he
 is only following his client's         
instruction4 ,the judge knows that no   
honorable lawyer would coach a witness  
to testify falsely1 and that in dealing 
with the court each lawyer is required  
to act with entire candor and fairness  
in the statements upon which he invokes 
its action4 ,the judge knows that it    
would not be candid or fair for the     
lawyer knowingly to misquote the        
contents of a paper1 the testimony of a 
witness1 the argument of opposing       
counsel1 the language of a decision1 or 
the wording of a text-book4 ,he may     
fairly rely on a lawyer not to cite a   
decision that he knows has been         
overruled1 or a statute that he knows   
has been repealed4 ,he may properly rely
 on the counsel's not asserting a fact  
that has not been proven4  ,yet he knows

 that lawyers owe entire devotion to the
 interest of the client1 and warm zeal  
in the maintenance of his rights and    
that they will exert their utmost       
ability lest anything be taken or be    
withheld from him1 save by the rules of 
law1 legally applied4 ,he knows that    
counsel has the right to proceed in the 
view that his client is entitled to the 
benefit of every remedy and defence     
authorized by the law of the land and   
that the lawyer is expected to assert   
every such remedy or defence4 ,but it is
 steadfastly to be borne in mind that   
the great trust to the lawyer is to be  
formed within and not without the bounds
 of the law4 ,the office of a lawyer    
does not permit1 much less does it      
demand of him1 violation of law or any  
manner of fraud for any client4 ,he must
 obey his own conscience and not that of
 his client4 ,these limitations are     
binding upon the lawyer as a sworn      
officer of the court1 and compliance    
with them is the true reconciliation of 

the primary duty of fidelity to the     
client1 with the constant and ever      
present duty owing to the minister of   
justice in the person of the judge4     
,these statements of the duty of the    
lawyer to the court in the advocacy of  
causes and in the presentation of his   
client's case1 are taken from the ,code 
of ,legal ,ethics1 which was approved by
 the ,american ,bar ,association4 ,i    
think that all lawyers and judges will  
agree that when lawyers live up to them1
 the danger of injustice from the       
enthusiasm1 skill or eloquence of their 
advocacy is quite remote4  ,i don't mean
 to say that lawyers do not differ in   
the force of their statements1 in their 
logical faculty1 in their method of     
arranging arguments1 in their fluency   
and in the cogency with which they      
present the cause of their respective   
clients4 ,of course the man who is      
fortunate enough to engage the abler    
lawyer enjoys the advantage of those    
gifts with which nature has endowed his 

representative1 but that element of     
inequality can hardly be eliminated from
 the administration of justice4 ,it has 
more weight in a jury trial than it has 
before a court1 for the lawyers before a
 court are matching their acuteness and 
learning not alone with the counsel for 
the other side1 but with the cold       
scrutiny of a calm1 intellectual and    
judicial mind1 trained to consider      
argument1 and experienced in the        
elimination of the irrelevant1 the      
emotional and the illogical4  ,the jury 
system1 though somewhat crude and not   
always certain1 has advantages that     
outweigh its possibility of injustice in
 the judicial system of a free          
government among a free people4 ,it is  
important that the people shall have    
confidence in the courts1 and it is     
important that they shall feel that they
 may themselves be a part of the        
judicial machinery4 ,the value of       
popular confidence in the verdict of a  
jury selected at random from a community

 is great enough to offset any tendency 
to error that may at times arise from   
the undue influence of a jury advocate  
upholding one side of the controversy   
before them4 ,if the jury is misled by  
the histrionic eloquence of counsel so  
that it clearly violates justice in its 
verdict1 the court may always set aside 
its decision and give a new trial4      
,moreover1 in any properly adjusted     
system1 the judge should be able to     
clear the atmosphere of any false       
emotion that counsel may have created4  
,he can remind the jury in his charge   
that they are judges1 who may not       
indulge their emotions or their         
prejudices4 ,he should follow closely   
the argument of counsel to the jury in  
order that his charge may clear up the  
evidence by inviting the attention of   
the jury to the weakness of proof at    
critical points of the cause1 or by     
pointing out either the bias of         
witnesses or their opportunity or lack  
of it for observation1 thereby          

eliminating those phases of the         
controversy that the earnestness of     
counsel may have seized upon to divert  
the attention of the jury from the real 
issue4  ,i have recently heard an       
arraignment of our present judicial     
system in the trial of causes by a      
prominent1 able and experienced member  
of the ,boston ,bar4 7,i am glad to call
 him a friend4 ,i value him highly as   
such47 ,he ascribes what he calls the   
growing lack of confidence in the       
justice and equity of litigation in the 
courts to the fundamental error in their
 procedure4 ,he feels that the procedure
 now in vogue authorizes and in fact    
requires counsel to withhold facts from 
the court which would help the cause of 
justice if they were brought out by his 
own statement4 ,to remedy this he       
suggests that all counsel should be     
compelled to disclose any facts         
communicated to them by their clients   
which would require a decision of the   
case against the clients4 ,he contends  

further that the rules of procedure1    
which exclude hearsay evidence1 and     
prevent the jury from hearing many facts
 which business men regard as important 
evidence1 make it difficult to reach the
 truth which is essential to justice4   
,i set out this view as a possible basis
 for a discussion of the grounds for    
popular criticism of the courts4 ,to    
require the counsel to disclose the     
confidential communications of his      
client to the very court and jury which 
are to pass on the issue which he is    
making1 would end forever the           
possibility of any useful relation      
between lawyer and client4 ,it is       
essential for the proper presentation of
 the client's cause that he should be   
able to talk freely with his counsel    
without fear of disclosure4 ,this has   
always been recognized and has acted as 
a most salutary restriction on the      
conduct of counsel4 ,no litigants1 or   
intending litigants1 would employ       
counsel if the latter were to assume the

 duty of extracting from their clients  
all their innermost thoughts with a view
 to revealing them to the court4 ,the   
useful function of lawyers is not only  
to conduct litigation but to avoid it1  
where possible1 by advising settlement  
or withholding suit4 ,thus1 any rule    
that interfered with the complete       
disclosure of the client's inmost       
thoughts on the issue he presents would 
seriously obstruct the peace that is    
gained for society by the compromises   
which the counsel is able to advise4    
,the objection to the exclusion of      
hearsay evidence is equally unfounded4  
,its uses are said to be threefold1 to  
convince in affairs of the world1 to    
serve as the basis of action for        
business men1 and to prevent opportunity
 for false witness4 ,yet it is not      
admissible in a court of justice to     
prove or disprove either a cause or a   
defence4 ,the rules of evidence have    
been worked out by centuries of         
experience of courts in jury trials1 and

 are admirably adapted to avoid the     
danger of error as to fact4 ,i fully    
agree that in ,american courts the trial
 judges have not been entrusted with as 
wide discretion in the matter of        
admitting or rejecting evidence as they 
should have1 and judgments have been    
reversed on technical errors in         
admitting testimony which should have   
been affirmed4 ,as time goes on1        
however1 the rule against hearsay       
evidence1 instead of losing its force1  
is demonstrating its usefulness4 ,the   
error and injustice that are committed  
in the public press by inaccurate1      
garbled and sometimes false statements  
of facts are increased in their         
injurious effect by the wider           
publication that newspapers have today1 
and the requirement that when a fact is 
to be proven in court it should be      
proven by those who have a personal     
knowledge of it1 is one of the most     
wholesome and searching tests of truth  
that the whole range of adjective law   

furnishes4 ,the opportunity for         
cross-examination1 for finding out the  
bias of the witness1 the advantage or   
disadvantage of his point of            
observation1 the accuracy or inaccuracy 
in his recollection of the details of   
what he saw1 are all means of reaching  
the real truth that the introduction of 
hearsay evidence would entirely exclude4
  ,it is now more than fifteen years    
since this country was following with   
bated breath the judicial investigation 
of the charges against ,captain ,dreyfus
 for treason in having sold secrets of  
the ,french ,war ,office to ,germany4   
,under the civil law procedure1 there is
 little1 if any1 limitation upon the    
kind of evidence which can be introduced
 to sustain the issue on either side1   
and the rule against hearsay evidence   
does not prevail4 ,the shock given to   
the whole community of the ,united      
,states by the character of evidence    
received to help the court determine the
 ,dreyfus issue1 was itself enough to   

show that the confidence of the public  
in the justice of the rule against      
hearsay evidence had grown rather than  
diminished with years4  ,yet ,i am far  
from saying that we may not have        
improvement in our laws concerning      
testimony in court4 ,the protection of  
those accused of crime contained in some
 of our constitutional restrictions may 
be too great4 ,the charge against the   
administration of justice in the present
 system is that it is nothing but a game
 of wits1 of cunning1 and of            
concealment1 promoted by the rules of   
procedure4 ,i think this                
characterization is most unjust and most
 unwise because it aids the attack on a 
valuable and indispensable institution  
without suggesting any real security for
 such evils and defects as there are4   
,an experience of many years in the     
trial of all sorts of causes as lawyer  
and judge and in framing a judicial     
system convinces me that the present    
method of hearing causes is correct4    

,the enthusiastic advocacy of counsel   
when they are properly restrained as    
above suggested1 and the rules of       
evidence adapted to winnowing out the   
false from the true1 are admirably      
adapted to bringing about right results4
  ,it is also asked whether members of  
the ,bar live up to these rules         
restraining their enthusiasm and        
limiting their proper conduct in the    
advocacy of their clients' causes4 ,one 
can reply that counsel differ in that   
regard1 but that generally such rules   
are fairly well observed4 ,the          
earnestness of advocacy often blinds    
them to the proprieties and the         
requirements of candor and fairness4    
,they fall into the same errors that    
their clients do1 though with a better  
knowledge of their duties in this       
regard4 ,they share what has been       
characteristic of our entire people in  
the last two decades4 ,the minds of the 
great majority have been focused on     
business success1 on the chase for the  

dollar1 where success seems to have     
justified some departure from the strict
 line of propriety or fairness1 so long 
as it has not brought on criminal       
prosecution or public denunciation4     
,more than this1 the tendency of        
legislatures1 too often controlled by   
lawyers engaged in active practice1 has 
been to distrust judges and to take away
 from them the power to control in the  
court room1 as they do in the ,english  
and ,federal courts4 ,this has had a    
tendency to transfer to counsel greater 
discretion in respect to their conduct  
of cases and greater opportunity to     
depart from ethical rules with impunity 
in the somewhat reckless spirit of the  
times4 ,the hampered power of the court 
to prevent the misconduct of counsel in 
many western states has not been        
conducive to certainty of justice nor   
has it been of a character to strengthen
 public confidence in just results4 ,we 
find the bitterest attacks upon the     
administration of justice in those      

jurisdictions in which the people and   
the legislatures have themselves laid   
the foundation for the very abuses they 
subsequently criticise by taking away   
the power of the judge4     ,,chapter   
,,iii  ,,the ,,executive ,,power   ,i   
have been introduced at a great many    
places by the exuberant chairman of a   
committee who referred to the fact that 
he was about to introduce a gentleman   
who exercised the greatest power in the 
world4 ,while the power of the          
,president may be very great as compared
 with the power of rulers of other      
countries1 ,i can testify that when you 
are exercising it1 you don't think of   
its extent so much as you do of its     
limitations4 ,i think a study of the    
relative power of the ,king of ,england1
 the ,president of ,france1 the ,emperor
 of ,germany1 the ,king of ,italy1 the  
,emperor of ,austria and the ,emperor of
 ,russia might involve a very           
interesting investigation4 ,i am not    
sufficiently familiar with the power of 

those executive heads to speak on the   
subject1 though ,i do know something of 
the power of the ,king of ,england4 ,in 
,england and all of her colonies they   
have a so-called responsible government4
 ,the ,english ,king is said to reign   
and not to rule1 while the actual ruler 
is the ,premier1 who combines executive 
and legislative power by virtue of his  
position as head of the controlling     
party in ,parliament4 ,when the         
legislative majority fails him1 he goes 
out of office4 ,it is a government      
responsible both for legislation and for
 executive work4  ,with us1 as you know1
 the ,president is a permanent officer  
for four years4 ,it is quite possible   
that he may be elected as ,president at 
the same time that a ,congress hostile  
to him is put into power4 ,such was the 
case when ,mr4 ,hayes was elected1 and  
indeed when ,mr4 ,cleveland was first   
elected there was a majority against him
 in the ,senate4 ,it happens more       
frequently1 however1 that at the end of 

two years a majority of the opposing    
party is elected to a ,congress at the  
mid-term election4 ,our method has been 
criticised as rigid and unresponsive to 
change in popular opinion1 but ,i       
venture to think that it has some       
advantages over the ,english one4 ,it   
may be good for a country to have an    
occasional rest from legislation1 to let
 it digest what reformers have already  
gotten on its statute book1 and the     
period when the ,president differs from 
,congress offers such an opportunity for
 test and rest4 ,we have rests in music1
 which are necessary to a proper        
composition1 and ,i do not see why we   
should not have rests in politics4  ,i  
think1 however1 that we might           
advantageously give greater power to the
 ,president in the matter of            
legislation4 ,one of the difficulties   
about a ,congress--,i say it with       
deference to that body--is that it does 
not know enough about the executive     
facts which ought to control legislation

 in the course of an efficient          
government4 ,the introduction of cabinet
 officers on the floor of the ,house and
 the floor of the ,senate to urge       
legislation on the one hand1 and to     
point out the defects of proposed       
legislation1 on the other hand1 would   
furnish the necessary element4 ,this    
would1 of course1 make it requisite that
 cabinet officers should be able to look
 after themselves on their feet4 ,they  
would have to know their ,department and
 be ready to answer such questions as   
are put to cabinet officers on the floor
 of ,parliament4  ,president ,wilson has
 inaugurated the policy of delivering   
his message to ,congress personally4 ,i 
think that is a good innovation4 ,a     
,democrat could have made it1 not a     
,republican4 ,washington had to go to   
,congress1 so had ,adams1 but when      
,jefferson came in he said1 ,no1 that is
 monarchical1 and ,i will just write a  
letter to ,congress1 and so he did4     
,washington went once to the ,senate and

 attempted to have the ,senate concur   
with him in a treaty with the ,indians4 
,he took with him ,general ,knox1 who   
had frequently dealt with ,indians4     
,john ,quincy ,adams1 in his diary1     
describes what happened as he learned it
 from a member of the ,senate at that   
time4 ,he says that in the conference1  
,washington found that every member of  
the ,senate thought he knew more about  
the ,indian treaty than ,general ,knox4 
,whereupon1 he1 the father of our       
country1 who has been represented as a  
model in every way1 proved that he was  
no such sissy as some of his historians 
would like to make him out4 ,his        
character was one which develops into   
grand proportions when you study it1 but
 he was no mere steel engraving of      
copy-book perfection4 ,when he got      
through with that particular session1 he
 turned to ,knox as he went out1 and    
said he would be damned if he would come
 to the ,senate again4 ,now ,i do not   
approve of profanity generally1 but     

somehow or other ,i rather like that    
story because it lets in a little light 
on ,washington and shows he was a man   
with good red blood4  ,the first power  
of the ,president that ,i wish to       
consider is the veto power4 ,the        
,english ,king has it1 but never        
exercises it1 i4e41 he has not exercised
 it for two hundred years4 ,if he       
attempted to exercise it under the      
present ,british ,constitution1 he would
 shake the throne and should he try it a
 second time he might not have a throne 
under him4 ,the ,president1 however1 has
 the veto power under a provision of the
 ,constitution4 ,when he decides to     
differ with both ,houses1 certain       
members of demagogic tendency rise to   
say that the ,president is exercising a 
royal prerogative power1 or that he is  
going back to the time of ,imperial     
,rome4 ,this might frighten an          
inexperienced man1 but in reality it is 
mere bluster4 ,as a matter of fact1 the 
,president represents the people in a   

much wider sense than any particular    
,congressional orator1 for he was       
elected by all the people1 while the    
,congressman was chosen by only one     
district4 ,the ,constitution says that  
if he disapproves of an act1 he shall   
send it back with his objections and it 
enjoins upon him the duty of examining  
every act and every bill that comes to  
him1 to see whether it ought to pass4   
,he vetoes1 therefore1 in his           
representative capacity1 with           
legislative and suspensive1 but not     
absolute1 power4 ,a vetoed act is       
returned to the ,house1 and if its      
supporters can succeed in getting a     
two-thirds majority in each ,house1 the 
bill can still pass over his veto4 ,this
 rarely happens1 however1 for the       
,president can usually give reasons good
 enough to command the vote of at least 
the one-third of one ,house that is     
necessary to sustain his veto4  ,the    
second great control exercised by the   
,president is that of                   

,commander-in-,chief4 ,this includes1   
first of all1 his command over the army1
 which is complete4 ,he can send the    
army where he chooses and he can call   
out the state militia to repel invasion1
 to suppress insurrection and to execute
 the laws1 if the army or militia be    
necessary4 ,of that he alone is the     
judge4 ,early in our history certain    
state judges thought that the commander 
of the militia in each state should pass
 on the question as to whether an       
emergency had arisen which would justify
 the ,president in calling out the      
militia1 but that was one hundred years 
ago4  ,to illustrate our practice now in
 regard to the execution of laws with   
the aid of the army1 there is one very  
striking instance which occurred within 
my memory4 ,debs organized the ,american
 ,railway ,union in order to take the   
,american people by the throat and say  
to them3 ,you shall not have any milk   
for your babies1 you shall not have any 
food1 you shall not have anything4 ,i am

 going to stop every railroad in the    
country until you come with me and make 
,pullman pay his men what ,i think they 
ought to have1 and what they think they 
ought to have4 ,that was a secondary    
boycott1 which ,mr4 ,cleveland said     
ought to be suppressed4 ,since it       
involved the stoppage of mails and      
interstate commerce1 the ,united ,states
 courts issued injunctions to prevent   
the malcontents from continuing their   
work of obstruction4 ,when ,debs's      
,union defied the court injunction1 the 
,president sent ,general ,miles out to  
,chicago with a military force to       
suppress that obstruction to the ,united
 ,states laws4  ,at this ,governor      
,altgeld protested4 ,i can take care of 
this2 ,i have not asked you to bring    
these men in here4 ,under the           
,constitution it is necessary for the   
governor or legislature to request the  
,president to send troops in to suppress
 domestic insurrection which the        
governor of the state cannot control4   

,to which ,mr4 ,cleveland and ,mr4      
,olney answered3 ,that is true where the
 insurrection does not relate to the    
,united ,states laws1 but where there is
 an obstruction of the ,united ,states  
laws1 the ,supreme ,court has decided   
repeatedly that the ,president is       
dealing1 not with state territory1 but  
with the territory of the ,united       
,states4 ,he can execute the laws of the
 ,united ,states on every foot of       
,united ,states soil and have the whole 
army enforce them4 ,and so he did4      
,another indirect power of the          
,president as ,commander-in-,chief was  
exhibited in a most remarkable way      
during the ,spanish ,war4 ,we took over 
successively ,cuba1 ,porto ,rico and the
 ,philippines1 but for three years after
 we had annexed the ,philippines1       
,congress took no action in regard to   
any of them4 ,they formed territory     
ceded to us by virtue of the ,treaty of 
,paris and ,congress thought the        
,philippines were a poker that was a    

little bit hot for it to handle4 ,the   
responsibility for them1 therefore1 fell
 upon the ,president1 and as            
,commander-in-,chief he introduced a    
quasi-civil government1 appointing a    
civil governor and commission1 whom he  
authorized to pass laws--subject to veto
 of the ,secretary of ,war--and to      
enforce them4 ,he thus carried on a     
complete government in ,porto ,rico1    
,cuba and the ,philippines under his    
power as ,commander-in-,chief until     
,congress became sufficiently advised to
 enact needed legislation for their     
government4 ,cuba was turned over to her
 people1 a ,republic was set going4     
,then after several years1 circumstances
 made it necessary for us to step in and
 take ,cuba again4 ,they had gotten into
 a row1 as they frequently do in those  
,latin-,american countries1 and they    
were having a revolution4  ,when we     
first let ,cuba go1 we made what was    
called the ,platt ,amendment to the     
,cuban ,treaty1 suggested by ,senator   

,platt of this state4 ,that amendment   
provided for the restoration of order by
 the ,united ,states whenever law and   
order were disturbed and whenever life1 
liberty and property were not secure4   
,mr4 ,roosevelt1 therefore1 sent me down
 to ,cuba with ,mr4 ,bacon to see if we 
could not adjust the matter4 ,when we   
arrived1 we found twenty thousand       
revolutionist troops outside the city of
 ,havana4 ,president ,palma had been so 
certain of peace that he had made no    
provision to suppress insurrections1 and
 these troops were just about ready to  
march into ,havana when ,i got there4 ,i
 went out to stay at the house of the   
,american ,minister in a suburb just    
between the lines1 and we did what we   
could to compose the situation4 ,in     
those countries when they have a        
revolution1 the first thing they do is  
to elect generals4 ,the next thing they 
do is to determine what the uniform of  
the generals shall be1 and then they get
 the guns and last of all they organize4

 ,president ,palma became discouraged   
and resigned so that ,i had to proclaim 
myself ,provisional ,governor of ,cuba4 
,the ,platt ,amendment said that the    
,united ,states could go into ,cuba to  
preserve order2 but the question was    
whether the ,president had the authority
 to go in without authorization by a    
resolution of ,congress4 ,i always      
thought that he had and ,congress seemed
 to agree to it4 ,so we went in1        
established a provisional government1   
passed a good election law1 held an     
election and1 at the end of a year1     
turned back the government to the       
,cubans1 where it now is4  ,the         
,president has not the power to declare 
war4 ,congress has that power2 but if a 
foreign nation invades our country1 the 
,president must1 without awaiting such  
declaration1 resist and use the army and
 navy for that purpose4 ,it is1         
therefore1 possible for us to actually  
get into war before ,congress makes a   
formal declaration4 ,that is what       

happened in the ,civil ,war4 ,the       
,southern states seceded and ,mr4       
,lincoln had war on his hands before    
,congress could declare it4 ,the        
,president thereupon declared a blockade
 of the ,southern ports and the question
 then came up as to whether it was a    
legal blockade so that prizes might be  
taken as in a naval war4 ,our war       
vessels had captured merchant vessels   
trying to run the blockade1 had taken   
them into prize courts1 and had sold    
them there1 distributing the proceeds   
among themselves4 ,the owners fought the
 proceedings and these suits1 called    
,the ,prize ,cases1 were carried to the 
,supreme ,court of the ,united ,states4 
,the court held that while ,congress    
under the ,constitution had sole power  
to declare war1 nevertheless1 actual war
 might follow with all its legal        
consequences if a nation invaded our    
country or if such an insurrection arose
 as that which had just taken place in  
the ,civil ,war4  ,let me give you an   

example of presidential authority       
exercised in pursuance of his           
constitutional duty to execute the laws 
even when ,congress passes no law on the
 subject-matter4 ,the ,canal ,zone was  
acquired by a treaty with ,panama that  
followed its recognition--a recognition 
made with such promptness that it has   
since attracted some criticism4         
,congress passed a law that the         
,president should have power to govern  
that country for a year1 but failed to  
renew the grant of power4 ,the question 
arose then as to what was to be done in 
the ,canal ,zone4 ,a prior act covering 
the building of the ,panama ,canal      
required the ,president to build it     
through a commission1 but that was all4 
,he might build it anywhere1 either in  
,nicaragua or ,panama1 but he had no    
express governmental power over the     
,canal territory4 ,he had1 however1 to  
see that the laws were executed1 which  
meant that he must look after every     
piece of territory belonging to the     

,united ,states and safeguard it in the 
interest of the people4 ,it seemed to   
us1 therefore1 to be within the         
executive authority1 until ,congress    
should act1 to continue the government  
of the ,zone1 maintain courts1 execute  
men who committed murder1 and discharge 
all the political functions required to 
constitute a law-abiding community4     
,let me give you another instance of the
 ,president's exercising a law that     
,congress did not pass4 ,sarah ,althea  
,hill thought she was married to        
,senator ,sharon1 at least she said she 
thought so4 ,senator ,sharon was a rich 
man4 ,she wished to share it4 ,so she   
brought in the ,state courts of         
,california a suit for divorce and      
alimony against the senator and         
exhibited a letter purporting to have   
been written by the senator admitting   
the marriage4 ,she got into a great deal
 of litigation and employed as her      
lawyer ,judge ,terry4 ,senator ,sharon  
then brought suit in the ,united ,states

 ,court in ,california to have this     
letter declared a forgery and delivered 
up to him4 ,justice ,field of the       
,united ,states ,supreme ,court heard   
the case on the circuit4 ,judge ,terry1 
who had been on the ,supreme ,court of  
,california in its early days and had   
served on the same court with ,judge    
,stephen ,j4 ,field1 was a noted duelist
 and was known to have killed one man in
 a duel4 ,mr4 ,justice ,field had been  
appointed from the ,california court to 
be a ,supreme ,justice of the ,united   
,states by ,mr4 ,lincoln during the war4
 ,pending the litigation1 ,senator      
,sharon died and soon thereafter the    
association of ,miss ,hill and ,judge   
,terry as client and counsel developed  
into a warmer relation and they became  
man and wife4 ,she was a very violent   
woman1 as ,judge ,terry was a violent   
man1 and made threatening demonstrations
 in court when ,justice ,field gave the 
judgment against her4 ,justice ,field   
sentenced ,mrs4 ,terry to thirty days'  

imprisonment for contempt because in her
 fury she insulted the ,court and       
attempted to commit violence upon the   
,judge4 ,the bitterness of feeling      
between the ,terrys and ,justice ,field 
was really heightened by the old        
association between ,judge ,terry and   
,justice ,field as judicial colleagues4 
,the ,terrys frequently declared their  
intention1 when occasion offered1 to    
kill ,judge ,field4 ,word of this came  
to the ,attorney-,general1 then ,w4 ,h4 
,h4 ,miller1 in ,mr4 ,harrison's        
administration4 ,he notified the ,united
 ,states ,marshal to direct a deputy to 
follow ,justice ,field in his ,circuit  
work and protect him against any        
threatened attack4  ,as ,justice ,field 
was proceeding north from ,los ,angeles 
to ,san ,francisco to hold court there1 
he got out for breakfast at ,fresno4    
,unfortunately the ,terrys reached the  
same station on another train at the    
same time4 ,justice ,field and ,neagle1 
the deputy marshal1 got out of the      

train1 went into the restaurant and sat 
down4 ,when ,judge and ,mrs4 ,terry came
 in and ,mrs4 ,terry saw ,justice       
,field1 she ran out to the car to get a 
revolver she had left in her satchel by 
an oversight4 ,in the meantime ,judge   
,terry went up to ,justice ,field1      
denounced him and struck him from       
behind4 ,thereupon ,neagle arose1       
saying1 ,i am an officer1 keep off1 but 
,judge ,terry continued to assault      
,justice ,field4 ,neagle said he thought
 ,judge ,terry reached for a knife4 ,at 
any rate1 ,neagle shot1 and ,terry fell 
dead at the feet of ,justice ,field4    
,neagle was at once indicted by a state 
jury for murder4 ,he went into the      
,federal ,court and got a writ of habeas
 corpus1 asking to be released on the   
ground that he was discharging a duty   
under the government of the ,united     
,states4 ,judge ,sawyer granted the writ
 and released ,neagle4 ,the state of    
,california took the case to the        
,supreme ,court of the ,united ,states4 

,the court divided1 with the ,chief     
,justice and ,justice ,lamar dissenting4
 ,the majority of the court held1 ,mr4  
,justice ,miller pronouncing the        
judgment1 that the ,president was       
justified by the duty imposed upon him  
by the ,constitution to see that the    
laws were faithfully executed4 ,although
 there was no specific law on the       
statute book conferring upon the        
,president authority to direct ,neagle  
to take the action he did1 there was an 
implied obligation on the part of the   
government to protect its judges in     
discharging their duty from the violence
 of disappointed litigants1 and this    
obligation was a law which it was the   
duty of the ,president to see executed4 
,the ,president1 therefore1 has the     
right through his ,attorney-,general1   
who is the finger of his hand1 to direct
 an officer of the ,united ,states to   
protect to the uttermost a justice while
 on judicial duty1 even if it           
necessitates killing an assailant4  ,i  

cannot tell you all the officers of the 
,united ,states--internal revenue men1  
customs men1 post-office men1 immigrant 
inspectors1 public land men1 reclamation
 men1 marine hospital men--certainly    
#aej1jjj in number1 who are subject to  
the direction of the ,president4 ,in the
 executive work under this head1 he     
wields a most far-reaching power in the 
interpretation of ,congressional acts4  
,a great many statutes never come before
 the court4 ,the ,president or his      
officers for him have finally to decide 
what a statute means when it directs    
them to do something4 ,many statutes    
contain a provision that under that     
statute1 regulations must be made by    
executive officers in order to          
facilitate their enforcement4 ,this is  
quasi-legislative work4 ,the situation  
in regard to the present income tax     
illustrates the necessity for           
regulations4 ,you will recognize that   
regulations adopted by the ,president   
and his subordinates are sometimes      

necessary to straighten out law4 ,if you
 desire to study a maze or look into a  
labyrinth1 ,i commend you to the present
 income tax law4  ,then often ,congress 
relies upon the discretion of the       
,president to accomplish such tremendous
 things as in the ,panama ,canal4 ,it   
directed the ,president to build the    
,canal4 ,it remained for him to appoint 
all the persons engaged in the work1 and
 he became responsible for every one of 
them4 ,another notable instance of the  
reliance of ,congress upon the          
,president occurred in the ,spanish     
,war1 when it appropriated #ej1jjj1jjj  
to be allotted at his discretion4  ,yet 
it seems to me that a curtailment of the
 small duties now imposed on the        
,president might well be made4 ,the     
number of his appointments1 for         
instance1 might well be lessened4 ,the  
,president ought1 of course1 to appoint 
his ,cabinet1 the ,supreme ,court1      
ambassadors1 ministers1 generals and    
admirals1 but beyond that ,i think      

appointments ought to be made without   
bothering the ,president about them4 ,we
 have introduced a ,civil ,service      
reform system with a ,civil ,service    
,commission1 and ,i trust that the      
matter of taking these subordinate      
officers out of politics will be pressed
 generally as a much-needed reform4  ,is
 the position occupied by a postmaster  
of sufficient importance to justify the 
,president in bothering with his        
appointment when he has such a problem  
as the ,mexican situation on his hands8 
,we are coming to the time when there   
are great complicated duties to perform 
under the government4 ,we have departed 
from the ,jefferson view1 and we now    
think that the government can do a great
 many things helpfully1 provided it has 
experts to do them4 ,is it not entitled 
to the best men to do these things8 ,yet
 how are experts obtainable unless they 
are selected to permanent positions by  
those who are looking for experts and   
not looking for men who exercise        

influence at the polls8  ,i recommended 
to ,congress four times1 that is1 in    
each annual message1 that it enable me  
to put these men under the ,civil       
,service law and in the classified      
service2 but it did not do it1 and why8 
,because all local officers now have to 
be confirmed by the ,senate4 ,that power
 of confirmation gives a hold on the    
,executive and each ,senator and each   
,congressman wants to name the          
postmaster and the other local officers 
in his district or state4 ,the          
consequence is that ,congressmen do not 
wish the ,senate to lose the power of   
confirmation4 ,they believe this        
personal patronage to be a means of     
perpetuating their own tenure4 ,as a    
matter of fact1 this is not the case4   
,few men help themselves politically in 
the long run through the use of         
patronage4 ,it is a boomerang4 ,some few
 manage to make it useful1 but generally
 when a man secures an appointment for a
 henchman1 as the saying is in          

,washington--and it is a very true      
one--he makes one ingrate and twenty    
enemies4 ,the result is that after he   
has served a term or two1 he begins to  
find those aspiring constituents1 whom  
he did not appoint1 rising like         
snakeheads to strike him down4          
,therefore1 if ,congressmen really had  
wisdom and looked ahead1 they would rid 
themselves of responsibility for these  
appointments1 would abolish the         
necessity for confirmation by the       
,senate1 and would thus enable the      
,president to classify them under the   
,civil ,service law and merit system4   
,but we have made progress and ,i am not
 discouraged about it4 ,ultimately we   
shall get the ,senate to consent to give
 up that power1 though at present the   
,democratic majority in the two ,houses 
is fierce against such a suggestion1 and
 quite naturally so1 for1 while the     
,republican party has been in control   
for sixteen years1 the trend into office
 has been ,republican and the ,democrats

 wish to change it4 ,that is human      
nature1 and ,i am merely regretting1 not
 condemning it4 ,perhaps if the         
,republicans come back into power after 
four years1 they will not be quite so   
hungry as the ,democrats were after     
sixteen years of famine1 and we may have
 a little less wolfish desire to get at 
the offices4  ,the time taken up in the 
consideration of minor appointments by  
executive officers1 the ,president and  
,cabinet officers especially1 is a great
 waste and no one can know the nervous  
vitality that can be expended upon them 
until he has had actual experience4  ,of
 course they lead to some amusing       
experiences1 for there is nothing which 
gives such a chance for the play of     
human impulse as office-seeking4 ,i     
remember having a lady come into my     
office when ,i was ,secretary of ,war4  
,her boy had passed the examination for 
,west ,point1 but a medical board had   
examined him and found that his chest   
did not measure enough for his height4  

,she came in to urge me to waive that   
defect4 ,i explained to her the         
necessity for great care in the         
appointment of army officers1 because   
if1 after being commissioned1 they had  
any organic trouble1 they were          
disqualified for further discharge of   
their duty1 and would be retired on     
three-fourths pay without rendering any 
real service to the government4 ,she    
listened with gloom to my explanation1  
and asked me to look at the papers4 ,i  
took them in her presence and went      
through them4 ,i found that the young   
man had1 on the basis of #ajj1 made #ic 
per cent in all his mental examinations4
 ,that isn't done by every candidate for
 ,west ,point1 and there is no reason   
why we should not have brains as well as
 brawn in army officers4 ,so ,i looked  
again at the measurements and concluded 
he was a man we ought not to lose4 ,i   
told her3 ,madam1 ,i did not have so    
much difficulty in filling out my chest 
measurement4 ,your boy shows such       

general intelligence that ,i have no    
doubt he will have sense enough to      
pursue a regimen that will make him     
sufficiently enlarge his chest          
measurement1 so ,i am going to waive the
 objection and let him in4 ,she had not 
expected so quick a decision in her     
favor1 and was taken back a little4 ,she
 hesitated a minute1 and then1 with an  
angelic smile1 she said to me1 ,mr4     
,secretary1 you are not nearly so fat as
 they say you are4  ,then ,i had another
 experience4 ,a lady in ,washington1    
whose husband had some political        
influence1 came and labored with me for 
six weeks or more to appoint her son to 
a position4 ,she secured the aid of     
,senators and ,congressmen in formidable
 number and came with them to see that  
they spoke with emphasis4 ,the place was
 one requiring technical qualification1 
and following the recommendation of the 
head of the ,bureau1 ,i appointed       
somebody else4 ,i then received a letter
 from the mother1 saying that ,i was    

most ungrateful1 since ,i declined to   
make her a happy woman as ,i could have 
done by a turn of my hand4 ,she         
complained further that she had labored 
with her state delegation and got all   
the votes for an administration bill in 
which ,i was especially interested and  
this was the way ,i had rewarded her4   
,when you get a letter like that1 the   
first thing you do is to think how you  
can be severe with a person who has     
committed an impropriety1 or even been a
 little impertinent4 ,then you may      
compose an answer4 ,then if you are     
wise1 you will put the letter in a      
drawer and lock the drawer4 ,take it out
 in the course of two days--such        
communications will always bear two     
days' delay in answering--and when you  
take it out after that interval1 you    
will not send it4 ,that is just the     
course ,i took4 ,after that1 ,i sat down
 and wrote her just as polite a letter  
as ,i could1 telling her ,i realized a  
mother's disappointment under such      

circumstances1 but that really the      
appointment was not left to my mere     
personal preference1 that ,i had to     
select a man with technical             
qualifications1 and had1 therefore1 to  
follow the recommendation of the head of
 the ,bureau4 ,i expressed the hope that
 her son would go on to accomplish what 
she had hoped for him in the position   
which he then had4 ,that mollified her  
and she wrote me a note saying she was  
sorry she had written as she had4  ,but 
the appointment ,i sent in was not      
confirmed at once and after an interval 
,i received a letter which purported to 
come from her husband1 though it was in 
the same handwriting as all the others4 
,i was therein advised that1 due to the 
nervous prostration that had followed   
her disappointment in this case1 she had
 to take to her bed and had developed a 
most serious case of cancer of the      
stomach4 ,would ,i not restore her to   
health by withdrawing the first name and
 replacing it by her son's8 ,i had to   

write another letter1 this one to the   
husband1 to say that ,i hoped the       
diagnosis would prove to be inaccurate1 
that ,i sympathized with him in the     
sorrow he must have in the serious      
illness of his wife1 but that it was    
impossible to withdraw the name sent in4
 ,the man whom ,i appointed was         
confirmed1 and within two days after ,i 
received that letter1 we gave a musicale
 at the ,white ,house4 ,the first two   
people to greet ,mrs4 ,taft and me were 
this husband and wife1 though the wife  
had so recently been in articulo mortis4
  ,another great power of the ,president
 is his control of our foreign          
relations4 ,in domestic matters1 the    
,federal government shares every field1 
executive1 judicial and legislative1    
with the states1 but in foreign affairs1
 the whole governmental control is with 
the ,president1 the ,senate and         
,congress4 ,the states have nothing to  
do with it4 ,the ,president initiates a 
treaty and the ,senate confirms it4 ,the

 ,senate1 however1 cannot initiate a    
treaty1 the ,president alone can do     
that4 ,congress' powers to declare war  
and regulate our foreign commerce are   
its chief powers in respect to our      
foreign relations4 ,so that1 except in  
ratifying treaties1 in regulating       
commerce and in declaring war1 the      
,president guides our whole foreign     
policy4  ,through the ,state ,department
 he conducts all negotiation and        
correspondence with other governments   
and according to the ,constitution he   
receives ambassadors and foreign        
ministers4 ,now you might possibly think
 that that meant only that he must have 
a flunky at the ,white ,house to take   
their cards--but it means a good deal   
more4 ,he appoints ambassadors and      
ministers to other countries and        
instructs them4 ,he receives the        
diplomatic representatives from other   
countries and does business with them4  
,he construes treaties and asserts the  
rights of our government and our        

citizens under them4 ,he considers and  
decides the rights of other governments 
and their subjects in a way which       
practically binds our government and    
people4 ,and in order to receive        
ambassadors and ministers1 he must      
determine whether they have been        
properly accredited1 so that they have  
the proper authority to act for the     
country they claim to represent4  ,when 
there is a dispute as to what person is 
the chief executive of a foreign country
 and therefore entitled to send an      
ambassador or minister1 the ,president  
must decide it4 ,in other words1 he     
alone can exercise the power of         
recognition4 ,how important a power this
 is1 we may know from our recent        
experiences with ,mexico1 for ,president
 ,wilson1 by withholding recognition    
from ,general ,huerta1 was able to      
render his longer tenure as chief       
executive impossible4  ,in our foreign  
relations it is often the ,president's  
duty to formulate the national claim of 

sovereignty over territory whose        
ownership is in dispute4 ,this is a     
political question and his decision or  
claim in regard to it is taken as final 
by the ,supreme ,court4  ,in the        
,fur-,seal ,controversy1 ,mr4 ,blaine   
took the position that our jurisdiction 
reached out over the ,bering ,sea4 ,the 
question was contested in the ,supreme  
,court by the ,british and the ,canadian
 governments4 ,the ,supreme ,court said3
 ,we cannot determine this4 ,it is a    
political question and must1 therefore1 
be decided by the ,president through his
 ,secretary of ,state4 ,we then         
submitted the issue to an international 
tribunal1 and the decision was against  
us4  ,another great power of the        
,president is the power of pardons and  
reprieves4 ,this is not to be determined
 by rules of law nor indeed by absolute 
rules of any kind and must1 therefore1  
be wielded skilfully lest it destroy the
 prestige and supremacy of law4         
,sometimes one is deceived4 ,i was4 ,two

 men were brought before me1 both of    
whom were represented as dying4 ,when a 
convict is near his end1 it has been the
 custom to send him home to die4 ,so1   
after having all the surgeons in the    
,war ,department examine them to see    
that the statements made to me about    
them were correct1 ,i exercised the     
pardoning power in their favor4 ,well1  
one of them kept his contract and died1 
but the other seems to be one of the    
healthiest men in the community today4  
,the ,president is also the titular head
 of a party and ought to have a large   
influence in legislation4 ,he is made   
responsible to the country for his      
party's majority in ,congress1 and does 
thereby have some voice in legislation4 
,some ,presidents have more control than
 others1 but all ,presidents find as the
 patronage is distributed1 and as the   
term goes on1 that the influence and    
power that they have over legislation   
rapidly diminishes4 ,in fact1 when there
 are no more offices to distribute and  

somebody else comes into view as the    
next ,president1 the authority of the   
incumbent becomes strictly limited to   
his constitutional functions4 ,all of   
this tends to show that a ,president who
 seeks legislative changes and reforms  
should begin early4  ,the people think  
that the ,presidency gives a man an     
opportunity to make a lot of personal   
appointments4 ,i can recall some of     
these personal appointments1 but ,i tell
 you they are very few4 ,there are      
certain political obligations involving 
the recognition of party leaders which  
he has to take into consideration with  
reference to some appointments4 ,but    
when it comes to purely personal        
appointments1 one can count them on the 
fingers of one hand4 ,it is well that it
 is so4 ,a ,president with his proper   
sense of duty finds many men in office  
whom he ought to let continue and the   
question of friendship for others can   
play no part in displacing them4  ,the  
social influence of the ,president in   

,washington is not much4 ,i think       
perhaps it might be useful if it were a 
little more1 for the question of        
precedence1 which makes everybody       
outside of ,washington laugh1 sometimes 
becomes a very serious matter4 ,as the  
,french ambassador once said1 when there
 are three hundred people1 they cannot  
all go through the door at one time4    
,somebody has to go first1 therefore it 
is most important to fix who that       
somebody shall be4 ,but nobody in       
,washington has the authority to say4   
,if only the army and navy were         
concerned1 the matter would be easy     
enough1 because they are controlled by  
the ,president and he can issue orders  
that they must respect1 but with civil  
officers he has no such authority4      
,congress could1 of course1 provide     
rules of social and official precedence1
 either by legislation or executive     
order1 as is done in all ,european      
countries4 ,but here such a proposal    
would be laughed out of ,congressional  

halls1 though it would be a wise measure
 to prevent confusion1 unnecessary      
friction and heartburning4  ,the very   
men who make most fun of such matters   
and profess to despise their            
consideration are in actual practice the
 most unreasonable as to their own      
places at functions4 ,the ,house of     
,representatives is supposed to be the  
embodiment of democracy and contempt for
 social distinctions1 yet of all the    
people in the world who have made a fuss
 over the matter of precedence1 speakers
 of the ,house of ,representatives have 
been the most insistent on their proper 
place at official dinners4 ,the speaker 
says3 ,i represent the body of the      
people who come from the soil and the   
people who make this country4           
,therefore1 ,i decline to sit after the 
presiding officer of the ,senate4 ,an   
ambassador says3 ,i am the personal     
representative of my sovereign4 ,if he  
were here in ,washington1 he would sit  
next to the ,president4 ,the ,cabinet   

officer says3 ,the ,president is the    
head4 ,i am connected with him as       
,secretary of ,war1 the ,cabinet is a   
small body and the ,senate is a large   
body4 ,therefore1 we are bigger men than
 the ,senate and we ought to have       
precedence4 ,in fact1 the head of a     
scientific bureau came in to see me one 
day and said1 ,i think you ought to put 
me after the ,supreme ,court4 ,he even  
filed a brief with me on the subject1 to
 the effect that ,i run an independent  
department4 ,the judges represent the   
judicial branch1 and the ,president the 
executive branch1 and the heads of the  
two ,houses1 the legislative branch1    
while ,i represent the scientific       
branch4 ,indeed1 the matter of procedure
 is not such a joke as it seems outside4
 ,it is not so important as to who comes
 first as that their order of precedence
 should be once determined4  ,the       
,president is made responsible for      
everything1 especially for hard times4  
,of course his supporters claim credit  

for good crops1 so that perhaps it is   
not so unfair to charge him with        
responsibility for bad crops and for    
everything else that happens wrong      
during his term4 ,every ,president      
strives to do the best he can for the   
country4 ,it is a great task1 one of the
 heaviest in the world4 ,a man does not 
really know1 until he gets out of the   
office1 what the strain is4 ,and1       
therefore1 knowing that he is struggling
 to do the best he can1 while he may    
differ with you1 while he may do things 
that seem to you absurd1 consider that  
he is there1 elected by the ,american   
people1 as your representative1 and     
remember that while he is in office he  
is entitled to your respect4 ,now1 don't
 be flippant in regard to him4 ,don't   
think it shows you to be a big man to   
criticise him or speak contemptuously of
 him4 ,you may differ with his policy1  
but always maintain a profound respect  
for a man who represents the majesty and
 the sovereignty of the ,american       

people4     ,,chapter ,,iv  ,,the       
,,signs ,,of ,,the ,,times   ,we are    
living at a time when political and     
social conditions are a bit chaotic1 and
 it is a little difficult to distinguish
 between the symptoms that are ephemeral
 and those which are permanent4 ,what we
 must do is to try to make things better
 and to save from the past the things   
which are good4 ,it is often true that a
 movement that is excessive and         
destructive in one way1 ends by being   
the basis of great progress after       
reaction from its excesses has left what
 is valuable in it4  ,our ,american     
,revolution1 which we are accustomed to 
regard as quite important--and it was   
for us--did not really represent a great
 world change such as was represented in
 the ,french ,revolution4 ,it grew out  
of a very unwise1 selfish colonial      
policy on the part of ,great ,britain4  
,we were right and wise in putting it   
through1 and our ancestors demonstrated 
great courage and great tenacity in     

fighting it4 ,it certainly gave us      
independence and an opportunity for     
expansion that we should not otherwise  
have had4 ,but the pap that we have been
 brought up on with respect to the      
tremendous outrages which ,great        
,britain inflicted on us was sweetened a
 little bit4 ,if you would see the other
 side1 read ,trevelyan's ,american      
,revolution4 ,in this you will see that 
while the right was certainly with us1  
we were not quite so much outraged as it
 seemed in our earlier childhood        
studies4 ,the ,american ,revolution did 
as much good for ,england as it did for 
us1 because it taught her proper        
colonial policy1 and today the colonial 
policy of ,great ,britain is one of the 
greatest instances of statesmanship in  
history4 ,in her dealing with ,canada1  
with ,australia and with the ,south     
,african ,republic1 she has given them  
such self-government that1 far from     
wishing to sever the bond with the      
mother country1 they cherish it4  ,the  

,french ,revolution indicated a very    
much more important movement among      
peoples4 ,it developed awful excesses4  
,the wild declarations and extremes     
practiced by the ,committee of ,safety  
in the ,french ,revolution were         
revolting to any man affected by        
ordinary humane considerations and had  
in fact a remarkable effect in          
strengthening conservatism in ,england4 
,indeed1 they caused the issue and the  
bitter personal quarrel between the     
one-time warm associates1 ,burke and    
,fox4 ,the natural result of those      
excesses was to be expected4 ,it took   
the shape of the man on horseback4 ,the 
imperial control of ,napoleon led the   
,french people into a military waste of 
strength which has affected the ,french 
race even down to the present time4 ,yet
 ,napoleon1 by building up his ,code    
,napoleon1 and by spreading over ,europe
 the idea that the people were the basis
 of government1 profoundly affected     
political conceptions and conditions4   

,there followed a reaction in the ,holy 
,alliance1 which was a combination to   
maintain the ,divine ,right of ,kings1  
and then the spirit of the ,french      
,revolution reasserted itself in #ahcj4 
,in fact from then on until now the     
movement toward more and more popular   
government has gone on continuously in  
,france1 ,germany1 ,austria and         
elsewhere4 ,it is spreading today even  
more widely than it ever did before1 and
 every country1 even ,russia1 has to    
count the cost with respect to the will 
of the people4  ,when ,i went through   
,russia after the ,russian-,japanese    
,war1 ,i met one of the leading         
diplomats of that country who greeted me
 with1 ,well1 how do you like it8 ,how  
do ,i like what8 ,i asked4 ,how do you  
like helping ,japan to lick ,russia8    
,those were the homely expressions that 
he used4 ,to which ,i replied1 ,we did  
not help ,japan to lick ,russia4 ,but1  
he said1 you did in effect4 ,your people
 and your press sympathized and they    

expressed the kindly sympathy that      
counts for so much at such a time4 ,the 
government cannot control our people1 ,i
 responded4 ,they think for themselves  
and express themselves as they see fit4 
,we cannot control the press in our     
country1 but we have observed all the   
laws of neutrality with respect to the  
war1 and if some of the people expressed
 themselves in favor of ,japan1 it was  
only because they were in favor of the  
under dog in the fight4 ,why did you    
give up8 ,i inquired further2 ,you were 
getting stronger and stronger4 ,yes1 he 
said1 we had to fight at the end of a   
#e1jjj-mile1 single-track railway1 but  
handicapped as we were1 we got our      
forces out there ready to fight and we  
could have gone in and beaten the       
,japanese4 ,why didn't you8 ,i asked4   
,why did you make peace8 ,the trouble   
is1 he explained1 we were living on a   
volcano at home4 ,our people were       
opposed to the war1 and we did not go   
on1 lest the throne would be a forfeit4 

,this is only an indication that even in
 the country that is supposed to        
represent the most absolute of empires1 
the people are manifesting a control4   
,the ,douma was given too much power at 
first1 so that universal suffrage was   
necessarily a failure in the condition  
of the people at that time4 ,but the    
,douma now is gradually acquiring useful
 power and in the course of the next    
twenty-five or fifty years ,russia will 
probably have a popular constitutional  
government4 ,we have had democracy in   
this country for one hundred and        
twenty-five years1 or indeed for two    
hundred and twenty-five years4 ,it is   
now proposed to have more democracy to  
supply the present defects of our       
existing democracy4 ,this is one phase  
of the present situation that ,i wish to
 discuss4 ,another is the spread of the 
fraternal spirit1 the desire of one to  
help another1 the actual improvement and
 increase in the brotherhood of man     
which we are seeing in society1 and a   

third is trades-unionism1 its essence   
and what is to be hoped for or feared   
from it4  ,if you will read a book like 
,chamberlain on ,the ,foundations of the
 ,nineteenth ,century1 especially the   
preface1 which is written by a man who  
uses a better style than ,chamberlain1  
you will find that he attempts to       
summarize the progress of the previous  
eighteen centuries as a predicate for   
the strides of human civilization in the
 nineteenth4 ,as he minimizes the effect
 of one century and then another1 you   
note how few centuries1 in his judgment1
 play any part in the onward march1 and 
you are discouraged as to what one man  
can do to help along any movement that  
shall really be world-wide or permanent4
  ,the effect is much the same upon your
 personal hope of accomplishing some    
good in the world as when a professor of
 astronomy takes you over to the        
observatory1 lets you look through the  
telescope1 tells you that light takes   
something like eight minutes to come the

 #ie1jjj1jjj miles from the sun to the  
earth1 and then says that the sun after 
all is a pretty poor thing considered in
 connection with what other suns there  
are4 ,when you find furthermore that    
some stars are so far distant that the  
light you are now receiving on your     
retina started from them centuries ago1 
you say to yourself3 ,well1 what's the  
use8 ,if we are such atoms and so       
unimportant in the general result1      
what's the use8  ,still if you study    
,chamberlain's history of the eighteen  
centuries you will find that1 after all1
 the men who were real factors in the   
world civilization were the geniuses who
 were able to interpret and enforce what
 was inchoate in the minds of all but   
had no definite expression and led to no
 useful action4 ,each atom counts       
something1 two make a molecule and the  
world is made up of them--at least it   
was in my college days4 ,therefore1 what
 we are here for is to make the best    
possible effort to help along the       

general weal1 and it is no excuse1      
because we cannot play a large part1    
that we should play no part at all and  
should feel no sense of responsibility  
for what we can do4  ,what then of      
conditions of civilization in our       
country in the last half-century8 ,the  
,civil ,war grew out of a great moral   
and social issue4 ,it was a moral issue 
on the part of the ,north and a social  
issue on the part of the ,south4        
,material considerations were           
subordinated4 ,after the war we had a   
pretty hard time in getting over its    
immediate effects4 ,the panic of #ahgc1 
which prostrated all business1 was the  
result of the excesses of the war1 the  
overissue of legal tender and the       
feverish1 unhealthy expansion that      
followed4 ,in #ahgh1 we resumed specie  
payments4 ,i presume no country in the  
world ever showed such an enormous      
expansion and such material growth as   
ours between #ahgh and #aijg4 ,it was   
shown in the useful inventions4 ,steam  

had been invented before1 but it was    
increased in its uses1 and electricity  
was made the tool of man4 ,now it is    
easy to follow that kind of material    
expansion4 ,we can count the growth in  
wealth and trace the effect of it on the
 people1 for they all got into the chase
 for the dollar4  ,in the ,west1 the    
pioneer spirit was so strong that they  
were glad to have anything in the way of
 development at any cost4 ,counties     
would issue railroad bonds to build     
railroads and would give the bonds to   
the railroads4 ,they would give         
franchises of all sorts and do          
everything that they thought would help 
open the country4 ,there was a most     
substantial increase in the average     
income1 and the average comfort1        
especially in the bodily comfort1 of    
everyone4 ,have you ever thought that   
today the humblest workman has more     
bodily comfort in many ways than ,queen 
,elizabeth or even ,george ,,iii8 ,we   
had learned the advantage of combination

 in machinery and we adopted it in      
business4  ,this brought about great    
combinations of plant and capital which 
reduced the cost of producing           
commodities necessary to man to a price 
never conceived of before4 ,i do not    
wish to depreciate the value or         
importance of improvement in material   
comfort4 ,when you hear a man denounce  
it1 you may know that either he is not a
 clear1 calm thinker1 or else he is a   
demagogue4 ,material growth and material
 comfort are essential for the          
development of mental and spiritual     
activities4 ,the result of this         
combination and material expansion1     
however1 was to create great            
corporations which began to get control 
of things4 ,the same spirit of          
combination entered into politics and we
 had machines and bosses which lent     
their hand to1 and furnished a          
complacent instrument for1 corporations4
 ,time was when they ordered delegates  
in a convention with the same degree of 

certainty that the order would be       
supplied1 as they did steel rails or any
 other commodity4 ,that time has passed 
and why8 ,because the danger of         
plutocracy forced itself on the people4 
,leaders took it up and showed it to    
them2 and in the last ten years we have 
had a great movement to eliminate       
corporate and money control in politics4
 ,great statutes have been passed--the  
anti-trust law1 the interstate commerce 
law1 the statutes against the use of    
contributions from corporations in      
politics1 the statutes requiring the    
showing of the electoral expenses1 have 
all been brought about in response to a 
popular demand4  ,the people failed to  
scrutinize before1 but now that they are
 aroused and have taken matters in their
 own hands1 they have brought about     
reform4 ,the fact that he is supported  
by bosses is now generally enough to    
defeat a man1 and the charge that he has
 a machine with him is enough to        
interfere with his electoral success4   

,organization is necessary for political
 success2 even reformers find that out  
after they get into politics1 but today 
there is an unreasonable prejudice      
against it4 ,the great and good effect  
of the reform1 however1 is that         
corporations are no longer in politics4 
,of course corruption is not all gone1  
but it is largely stayed1 and there is  
no longer any chance that corporations  
can control as they did4  ,but the      
leviathan of the people cannot be       
aroused in this way and his movement    
stopped at the median line4 ,we must    
expect unwise excess4 ,sincere reformers
 have reasoned that because we had the  
representative form of government during
 this corrupt period1 it is the         
representative form of government which 
is responsible4 ,because we had courts  
during the corrupt period1 the courts   
are responsible for the corruption4     
,therefore we must change the           
representative system by injecting more 
democracy into it and we must change the

 courts by injecting more democracy into
 them and require the people at an      
election to decide cases instead of     
judges on the ,bench4 ,these are the    
excesses to which we trend4  ,we are a  
pretty great people4 ,we admit it4 ,we  
have great confidence in what we can do1
 and when we are set1 neither an        
economic law drawn from political       
science nor experience seems a very     
formidable objection4 ,we are a         
successful people in machinery1 and so  
we take our analogy for political       
reforms from machinery4 ,we found that  
by uniting various mechanical elements  
we could make machines which would do as
 much as one hundred or one thousand men
 in the same time4 ,so we think that if 
we are only acute enough to devise a    
governmental machine which will work    
without effort on the part of the       
people1 we can sit at home while        
elections run themselves so well that   
only what the good people desire in     
political action will necessarily       

result4 ,we want the equivalent of what1
 in the slang of practical mechanics1 we
 call a fool-proof machine1 because     
anybody can run it and no fool can      
interfere with its normal operation4 ,so
 these political reformers are hunting a
 corrupt-politician-proof machine for   
government4 ,it does not and cannot     
exist4 ,no government can exist which   
does not depend upon the activity1 the  
honesty and the intelligence of those   
who form it4 ,the initiative1 the       
referendum and the recall have been     
urged and in many states adopted1 as a  
machine which no boss or corrupt        
politician can prevent from producing   
honest1 effective political results4    
,they are expected to reform everything 
and those who doubt their wisdom are1   
for the time being1 in the minds of many
 enthusiasts1 public enemies4  ,the     
representative system1 on the contrary1 
recognizes that government1 in the      
actual execution of governmental        
measures1 and in the actual detailed    

preparation of governmental measures1 is
 an expert matter4 ,to attempt to devise
 and adopt detailed legislative measures
 to accomplish the general purpose of   
the people through a mass vote at a     
popular election is just as absurd as it
 would be for all those present at a    
town meeting to say1 ,we will all of us 
now go out and build a bridge1 or we    
will use a theodolite4 ,thus to say that
 by injecting more democracy you can    
cure the defects of our present         
democracy is to express one of those    
epigrams that1 like many of its kind1 is
 either not true at all or is only      
partly true and is even more deceptive  
than if it were wholly untrue4  ,take   
the power of appointment in executive   
work4 ,you elect officers1 choosing men 
of character1 intelligence1 and         
experience for a few great offices1 and 
then what do you do under the ,federal  
,constitution8 ,you turn over to the    
,president the appointment of great     
officers because he needs intelligence1 

knowledge and skill to make their       
selections4  ,consider the system of    
general direct primaries in the         
selection of judges4 ,there is a ticket 
at the primaries on which something like
 twenty or thirty lawyers run for the   
,supreme ,bench4 ,some of them go around
 and tell the electors how they will    
decide on questions after they get in4  
,the qualifications of most of them as  
lawyers and as men are not known to the 
people4 ,some of them are prominent     
because they have been in the headlines 
of newspapers as figuring in sensational
 cases4 ,others have political          
prominence but no public experience to  
test their judicial capacity4 ,do you   
think this method of selection by the   
people would lead to the choice of a    
learned1 skilled lawyer with that       
experience1 courage and fine judicial   
quality that are to make him a great    
judge8 ,of course it would not4 ,it has 
been my duty to select more judges in a 
term of four years than any other       

,president1 and ,i have had to look into
 and compare the results of selection of
 judicial candidates by popular general 
primary and by convention1 so that ,i   
know what ,i am talking about when ,i   
say that the primary system has greatly 
injured the average capacity of our     
elective judiciary4  ,why should we not 
use common sense in matters of          
government just as we use common sense  
in our own business8 ,why should we be  
afraid to tell the people that they are 
not fitted to select high judicial      
officers8 ,they are not4 ,you know you  
are not4 ,you could not tell me who     
would be good judges for ,connecticut1  
or for any state in the ,union where you
 happen to live unless you went about   
and investigated the matter4 ,if you are
 put in a position of responsibility1   
you have sense enough to know where to  
find out the facts and then to make the 
selection1 but the people lack that     
opportunity4 ,so how is the question to 
be solved8 ,by electing a ,chief        

,executive and charging him with the    
responsibility of selecting competent   
men to act as judges4 ,that is what is  
meant by the short ballot4              
,reformers-for-politics-only include as 
many vote-getting planks in a platform  
as they can get in it without regard to 
their consistency or inconsistency4     
,they sometimes combine the short ballot
 with the initiative1 referendum and    
recall though they are utterly at       
variance4 ,the referendum is the        
submission of every issue to the people4
  ,the short ballot1 on the contrary1   
means putting up one or two men whose   
names shall not encumber the ballot4    
,have you ever seen these ballots8 ,they
 are a yard long and a yard wide4 ,they 
have a hundred and twenty names on them 
and the people are expected to make a   
selection4 ,they are to make a selection
 of ten out of fifty or one hundred     
names4 ,why1 it would seem to be        
mathematically demonstrable that that is
 absurd4 ,but when some men get into    

politics and talk about the people1 it  
seems as if they had to abandon ordinary
 logic4 ,i am just as much in favor of  
popular government as anybody1 but ,i am
 in favor of popular government as a    
means to attain good government1 not in 
order to go upon the stump and say1     
,vote for me because ,i am in favor of  
the people4 ,the people are all wise and
 never make a mistake4  ,now what is the
 initiative8 ,in practice1 it means that
 if #e per cent of the electorate can   
get together and agree on a measure1    
they shall compel all the rest of the   
electorate to vote as to whether it     
shall become law or not4 ,there is no   
opportunity for amendment1 or for       
discussion4 ,the whole legislative      
program is put into one act to be voted 
on by the people4 ,speakers will get up 
and claim that the millennium will be   
brought about by some measure that they 
advocate4 ,suppose it is voted in8 ,it  
never has had the test of discussion and
 amendment that every law ought to have4

 ,i am not complaining of the movement  
that brings about this initiative and   
referendum1 for that is prompted by a   
desire to clinch the movement against   
corruption1 on the theory that you      
cannot corrupt the whole people and that
 the initiative and referendum mean     
detailed and direct government by the   
whole people4 ,but the theory is        
erroneous4 ,the whole people will not   
vote at an election1 much less at a     
primary4 ,when the people are thus      
represented at the polls by a small     
minority there is nothing that the      
politicians will not be able to do with 
that minority when they get their hands 
in4  ,this is still a new movement1 for 
which we have little precedent to guide 
us1 but we have seen politicians fit    
their methods to any form of government4
 ,their chance is always through the    
neglect to vote on the part of the      
majority of the electorate and this new 
system calls out fewer votes than ever4 
,now what is the referendum8 ,it is a   

reference of the thing proposed by the  
initiative to the people who are to vote
 on it4 ,these                          
reformers-for-politics-only are never   
content to acquire a majority of the    
electorate vote for the adoption of the 
measure referred4 ,they seem to love the
 promotion of the power of the minority4
  ,what answer do the people themselves 
give with reference to the wisdom of the
 referendum8 ,at many elections         
candidates run at the same time that    
questions are referred to the people1   
and what is the usual result of the     
vote8 ,in ,oregon1 where they have tried
 it most1 and where the people are best 
trained1 they do sometimes get as much  
as #gj per cent of those who vote on    
candidates to vote on the referendum2   
but generally1 as in ,colorado1 the vote
 at the same election upon the          
referendum measures is not more than #ej
 per cent--sometimes as low as #be or   
#bj per cent--of those who vote for     
candidates4 ,why1 in ,new ,york they    

were voting as to whether they should   
have a constitutional convention1 and   
how did the total referendum vote       
compare with the total electorate8 ,it  
was just one-sixth of that total4  ,they
 have tried it in ,switzerland4 ,we get 
a good many of these new nostrums from  
that country4 ,they said in             
,switzerland1 ,these men vote for       
candidates1 they shall vote on          
referendums4 ,what was the result8 ,the 
electors went up to the polls and       
solemnly put in tickets4 ,when they     
opened the ballots1 they were blanks4   
,what does that mean8 ,it means that the
 people themselves believe that they do 
not know how to vote on those issues1   
and that such issues ought to be left to
 the agents whom they select as         
competent persons to discuss and pass   
upon them in accordance with the general
 principles that they have laid down in 
party platforms4 ,in ,oregon1 at the    
last ,presidential election1 the people 
were invited to vote on thirty-one      

statutes1 long1 complicated statutes1   
and in order to inform them1 a book of  
two hundred and fifty closely printed   
pages was published to tell them what   
the statutes meant4  ,i ask you1 my     
friends1 you who are studious1 you who  
are earnest men who would like to be a  
part of the people in determining what  
their policy should be1 ,i ask you to   
search yourselves and confess whether   
you would have the patience to go       
through that book of two hundred and    
fifty closely printed pages to find out 
what those acts meant8 ,you would be in 
active business1 you would go down to   
the polls and say1 ,what is up today8   
,you would be told3 ,here are thirty-one
 statutes4 ,here are two hundred and    
fifty pages that we would like to have  
you read in order that you may determine
 how you are to vote on them4 ,you would
 not do it4  ,there was once a ,senator 
from ,oregon named ,jonathan ,bourne1   
who advocated all this system of more   
democracy4 ,he served one term in the   

,senate and then sent word back to his  
constituents that he was not coming home
 at the time of the primary4 ,he said   
that he was not on trial1 for a man who 
had worked as hard as he had for the    
people could not be on trial4 ,instead1 
he said1 it was the people of ,oregon   
who were on trial1 to say whether they  
appreciated a service like his4 ,they   
did not stand the test1 and he was      
defeated at the primary4 ,then he       
concluded that after all he would have  
to forgive them and take pity on their  
blindness4 ,so he went out to ,oregon   
and ran on another ticket to give them  
the benefit of his service4 ,but still  
they resisted the acid test4 ,he himself
 went to the polls to vote at this      
election where there were thirty-one    
statutes to be approved or rejected4    
,how many of the thirty-one submitted to
 him do you suppose he voted for8 ,the  
newspapers reported him as admitting    
that he voted on just three1 and the    
other twenty-eight he left to fate4     

,now1 gentlemen1 is not that a          
demonstration8 ,is not that a reductio  
ad absurdum for this system of pure and 
direct democracy8     ,,chapter ,v      
,,more ,,signs ,,of ,,the ,,times   ,the
 present movement for a purer and more  
direct democracy--the initiative1       
referendum and recall--is clearly an    
ineffective method of securing wise     
legislation1 good official agents1 or   
even a real expression of the people's  
will4 ,the representative system is the 
most valuable system that has thus far  
been invented to make popular government
 possible and the introduction of more  
democracy1 so-called1 is a retrograde   
step4 ,it is going back to the machinery
 of the ,new ,england town meeting and  
of the ,republics of ,greece and ,rome1 
which we have given up because          
conditions have so changed as to make it
 impracticable and ineffective4  ,in the
 small number of people who constituted 
the town meeting in ,new ,england1 or in
 a ,greek city1 it was possible to      

discharge the comparatively simple      
functions fulfilled by government       
because of the high average intelligence
 of the freemen who took part4 ,but even
 the ,greeks ran into difficulties1 and 
if you will read ,lord ,acton1 possibly 
the greatest historical authority on the
 subject1 you will find that pure       
democracy1 as it is called1 resulted in 
disaster4 ,we now have a much more      
complicated government and more         
democracy will not supply its needs4    
,the representative system1 much abused 
as it is1 is the system that has rescued
 us from plutocracy4 ,its laws are the  
laws that have done the work4 ,congress 
has adopted laws that have taken hold of
 the corporations1 and ,congress is the 
most perfect model of representative    
government4 ,why did ,congress act8     
,because the people were aroused4 ,you  
must have the people aroused in order to
 make any system effective1 and when    
this is the case under the              
representative system1 there is no      

difficulty about its working4  ,the     
general primary is1 of course1 a good   
thing for certain leading offices1 but  
if you resort to it for selecting judges
 or subordinate officials whose         
qualifications the public cannot be     
supposed to know1 the result will be    
anything but good4 ,men will be put into
 office by some fortuitous circumstance1
 such as a particular advertisement in  
the newspapers4 ,thus your ,senator1 and
 your governor1 might well be elected by
 the general primary as the result of   
party selection1 but if the people      
selected judges and subordinate officers
 they would have to take men without    
regard to their qualifications4 ,the    
short ballot means1 as ,i said1 that the
 people should select leading officers  
who should in turn select the           
subordinate officers and appoint the    
judges4  ,to the objection that voters  
will not vote on referendums1 it is     
urged that they ought to be compelled to
 do so4 ,this is a futile remedy4 ,burke

 said you cannot bring an indictment    
against the people1 and it is equally   
true that you cannot indict a great     
majority of the electorate for not      
complying with their electoral duties4  
,suppose you attempt to forfeit their   
right to vote1 you may injure them1 but 
you injure the whole people a great deal
 more4 ,the #hj per cent of the         
population whose welfare is directly    
affected by the action of the           
electorate1 but who are not by law      
permitted to vote1 are entitled to have 
the more intelligent voters retained in 
the electorate4 ,for1 ,i am sorry to    
say1 it is generally among the          
intelligent part of the community that  
we find neglect of electoral duties4    
,the wisest course1 therefore1 is to    
give to the people as much electoral    
duty as they are ordinarily able and    
willing to perform1 and no more4 ,the   
fundamental fallacies in the initiative1
 referendum and recall are1 first1 that 
they impose on the voters three times   

the electoral work they had to do under 
the representative system1 and second1  
that the additional work involved is of 
a kind that could be done much better   
through agents than by the people       
directly4 ,as to the recall of officers1
 ,i have only to say that if you elect a
 man for three years to try to help your
 city1 or state1 you must not make him  
subject to recall at any moment by those
 candidates or people whom he has had to
 disappoint in order to do his work     
effectively4 ,under the system of recall
 you are not going to secure the men who
 will work well by looking ahead to     
preserve the real public interest1 but  
men who are trimmers1 devoting their    
time to politics and doing as little as 
possible to avoid criticism4 ,your      
executive officers should be men of     
independence1 courage and ability1 who  
are interested in the public and willing
 to encounter criticism for the time    
being in order that they may carry out  
those policies that are going to inure  

to public benefit in the end4 ,by making
 them subject to recall1 you eliminate  
all independence and courage in your    
officers4  ,another sign of recent times
 which will repay consideration has been
 aptly termed muck-raking4 ,mr4         
,roosevelt took the word from ,bunyan's 
,pilgrim's ,progress to describe the    
irresponsible and slanderous attacks    
upon public officials1 which were made  
merely for the purpose of selling the   
wares of penny-a-liners4 ,to eliminate  
corporations from politics and to bring 
them under government control1 as ,i    
have described1 it was doubtless        
necessary to formulate charges against  
individuals and political leaders and it
 was not to be expected that            
misstatements would not creep into such 
personal attacks4 ,while many people    
were doubtless injured unjustly1 it was 
essential that general corrupt          
conditions should be revealed to the    
public4 ,but there were a great many who
 were induced to go into outrageous     

muck-raking solely for profit1 and      
magazines filled with such stuff and    
spreading real poison among the people  
were sent in the mails at a much less   
rate than it cost the government to     
carry them4 ,i am glad to say           
muck-raking is not so profitable now and
 it has been greatly reduced in volume4 
,but the opportunity for attacking      
prominent and powerful men in this way  
has served to create a condition that we
 still suffer from4 ,it has brought     
about a feeling that nobody is to be    
trusted1 and it has spread too far the  
idea that all men are corrupt4 ,in fact1
 it has led to the feeling that         
everybody is on the same level in       
matters of character1 learning1 skill   
and effectiveness of labor1 and1 in     
short1 that every man is as good as     
everybody else in everything4 ,the idea 
is that men are on a dead level4 ,there 
is no room for leadership in such a     
view4 ,inequality is essential to       
progress4 ,if you make a dead level     

there will be no interest in life or    
motive for effort1 and you will destroy 
the very spring of progress and the     
fountain of ,christian civilization4    
,we now have political parties that are 
made by vertical divisions among the    
voters4 ,in each party we have the      
intelligent and the fortunate1 with     
those who are not so intelligent nor so 
experienced nor so well circumstanced4  
,what will be the tendency of this      
refusal to recognize intelligence and   
high character in those who deserve it8 
,it will make the parties horizontal    
layers in the body politic4 ,it will    
unite in one party those who are        
ignorant and unfortunate1 and array them
 against the intelligent and those who  
have the ability for leadership4 ,when  
that comes about1 the ,republic will be 
in danger1 because the permanence and   
usefulness of the ,republic rests upon  
the controlling influence of men of     
intelligence1 experience1 patriotism and
 character4 ,this array of a proletariat

 against intelligent and successful     
leadership produces factionalism in     
society4 ,factionalism is a class spirit
 which will sacrifice the interest of   
the whole to the interest of the class4 
,it sometimes permeates a majority1 but 
more frequently a minority4 ,it is      
illustrated for us by the militancy of  
,english women suffragists1 who will    
sacrifice property1 art and even life1  
in order to convince the majority that  
unless they receive the vote they will  
destroy all society4  ,we cannot1 of    
course1 yield to such a force4 ,nor can 
we yield to trades-unionism when it     
seeks to promote so-called labor        
interests by lawless violence and       
dynamite4 ,the bonds of society will be 
loosed if we do4 ,i would not for a     
moment be thought to say that those who 
are in favor of more democracy1 through 
the initiative and referendum1 are      
factionalists1 and insincere in their   
view that that system will work a good  
result in the fight against corruption  

in politics4 ,i only think that they are
 idealists in this matter1 and don't    
fully understand the practical operation
 of the system which they recommend4    
,in this movement against corruption in 
politics and corporate control1 it was  
necessary that corporate control should 
be attacked4 ,the muck-raking added to  
it aroused a spirit against all success 
in business1 whether the methods pursued
 were honest or not4 ,the result has    
been a hysteria that prompts hostility  
to capital even when it is working in   
honest lines and earning an honest      
profit4 ,in many states it has led to   
excessive restrictive legislation and   
has terrorized capital2 it has shrunk   
investments and frightened those who    
have money until today there is lots of 
money in the banks everywhere but it    
can't be borrowed for any length of time
 because nobody will put it into        
permanent or active investment4  ,this  
state of affairs is likely to continue  
for some years4 ,i am not complaining   

about it because it is part of what we  
had to pay for the great reform that was
 accomplished4 ,after a while confidence
 will be restored1 and we shall come to 
our senses1 just as they did in ,kansas 
in the ,populist days4 ,the ,kansas     
farmers concluded that all their        
unhappiness1 and they suffered real     
stress1 was due to the wicked mortgagees
 who had lent them money on mortgage    
security and who insisted on the payment
 of interest and even the principal when
 it was due4 ,so they elected a         
,populist legislature and passed a law  
providing that a mortgagee could not    
foreclose his mortgage under two years4 
,they did this by stay laws and by      
requiring an obstructive procedure in   
collection of debts4 ,as a result1      
capital fled the state as men would flee
 yellow fever4 ,when there was no money 
at all left in the state and they found 
that they couldn't get any1 they began  
to recognize the benefit in money loaned
 on mortgages4 ,their next legislature  

repealed all these laws and devoted its 
attention to advertising their change of
 attitude in ,eastern markets where     
money could be had and mortgages could  
be floated1 promising to be good        
thereafter1 and in general welcoming the
 capitalists who would advance money on 
farms4  ,the next sign of the times is  
pleasanter to dwell upon1 that is1 the  
spread of the fraternal spirit that has 
grown out of this great material        
development4 ,material development in   
this country had grown into corruption1 
undue luxury and waste at the hands of  
men who did not realize the             
responsibility of having been fortunate 
in accumulating money1 and this         
absorption in the chase for the dollar  
began to pall on the people4 ,they tired
 of statistics of the growth of         
business1 and began to look about for   
some justification for our activities4  
,the change has brought a greater       
popular interest in the less fortunate  
who have fallen behind in the race4     

,this feeling has much weakened the     
influence of the laissez faire school of
 political and economic thought which   
was largely in control when ,i was in   
college4 ,professor ,sumner was a strong
 member of this school4 ,he was sure of 
his opinions and taught them4 ,but we   
have now drifted away from some of his  
moorings1 and today a good many         
professors are giving way to their      
imagination in suggesting remedies that 
have not stood the test of experience4  
,yet it is generally conceded that the  
government can do a lot to help the     
people that individual enterprise cannot
 do4 ,we have also gone far in the      
matter of regulation1 though there again
 we are likely to go to excesses4  ,it  
is quite probable that we shall find out
 by hard knocks that the government     
cannot perform everything now expected  
of it4 ,nevertheless1 under the         
influence of a greater fraternal spirit1
 we have done a great deal4 ,the housing
 statutes1 the safety appliances both   

for passengers and employees1 the       
restrictions on the hours of labor1 the 
rules against child labor1 the pure food
 law1 the white slave law1 the thorough 
health regulations1 the control of      
public utilities1 the growth in the     
public charitable institutions of the   
state1 the parcels post and the rural   
delivery1 all are instances of what the 
government has done to help the         
individual by applying the results of   
public taxation and restrictive laws4   
,moreover1 we find among rich men a     
greater feeling of responsibility for   
their fortunes1 which is proven by their
 large donations4 ,among those less     
wealthy we find an activity in          
philanthropic organizations and in work 
of a charitable character that has      
vastly increased during the last decade4
 ,in education1 too1 we have widened    
out1 especially in vocational study1 by 
preparing the pupils directly for wage  
earning by skilled labor4               
,unfortunately1 however1 many good      

people in social settlements and in     
philanthropic work devote their         
attention so exclusively to the sore and
 rotten spots of society that they lose 
their sense of proportion1 and bring    
hysteria even into this movement4       
,persons so affected come to think that 
if suffering1 wickedness or squalor is  
permitted to exist anywhere1 society    
must all be bad4 ,there must always be  
sin1 and there must always be neglect   
and waste until we get to the           
millennium1 which is not yet so near    
that we can see and feel it4 ,in making 
our estimate of human progress1 we must 
size up the whole situation and take the
 average condition4 ,similarly in       
attempting to remedy a local or special 
evil1 we must avoid the injustice of    
unduly sacrificing the general welfare4 
,by extreme measures planned to         
accomplish what may be good in the      
abstract but is still not practical1 we 
can make the cause ridiculous4  ,eugenic
 reformers1 for instance1 plan to rush  

right into regulation of human society  
and arrange marriages just as horses are
 bred at a stock farm4 ,it has made some
 progress in ,wisconsin1 where they have
 required examination of those about to 
marry and certificates of health before 
issuing the marriage license4 ,but ,i   
don't think the ,american people are    
quite ready to submit to that kind of   
regulation4 ,if it could be enforced1 it
 might be a good thing for the race1 but
 a strong sentiment on the other side   
makes it impractical4 ,in ,wisconsin the
 law is being ignored and in foreign    
countries where restrictions upon       
marriages are rigorously enforced1      
marriage is dispensed with and          
concubinage results4  ,there is another 
feature of this present hysterical      
condition that1 ,i hope1 is going to    
disappear4 ,but we might as well        
recognize it4 ,that is this wish to     
exculpate the sins of those who are     
unfortunate by putting the blame on     
society at large4 ,the desire seems to  

be1 if possible1 to make scapegoats of  
those who are fortunate4 ,it is this    
sentiment that has given rise to        
investigations into the cooperative     
stores in order to charge their managers
 with responsibility for the            
prostitution of some of their employees 
because of the wages they pay4 ,as the  
investigation shows1 there never was a  
more unfounded charge1 but the very fact
 that it was used is an indication of   
what ,i mean4 ,it manifests itself in   
the movement to dispense with all       
reticence and amplify in every way sex  
education on the theory that society is 
to blame because it is not telling young
 people of the danger of sin4 ,you do   
not have to stand over a sewer and      
breathe in the bad smell in order to    
recognize that it has a bad smell when  
you meet it again4  ,i am strongly in   
favor of having young men and young     
women know certain things about sex     
matters1 the young men through lectures 
in school or college1 and the young     

women through instruction by women who  
can tell them in a short time all they  
need to know2 but this idea of          
emphasizing and expanding the subject   
and of cultivating a free interchange of
 thoughts between the sexes is most     
dangerous4 ,for one hundred years these 
subjects have been suppressed in        
,america to the great benefit of society
 and it is well that they should remain 
so4 ,so-called reforms in this direction
 are made the excuse for pruriency in   
drama1 in novels1 in moving pictures and
 in other ways that are distinctly      
vicious in their effect4 ,they promote  
lubricity and although such literature  
and exhibitions may have the support of 
good people who think they are          
advocating great principles1 they should
 be condemned4  ,take another instance4 
,of course we all wish penitentiaries to
 be free from disease1 and we are       
interested in prison reform to the      
extent of making them as healthful as   
possible for the prisoners4 ,but this   

idea of making society a scapegoat and  
ridding everybody from responsibility   
for his sins1 on the theory that his    
grandfather or grandmother was wicked   
and he is only doing it because of his  
heredity1 makes the preservation of law 
and order impossible1 and destroys the  
peace and comfort of those who are      
law-abiding4 ,the penitentiary is a     
place for punishment and reformation4   
,it is not a rest cure or a summer      
hotel4 ,i have no doubt that prison     
discipline can be improved2 but changes 
based on the theory that convicted      
criminals are disguised heroes who only 
need an appeal to their honor and       
freedom from restraint to make them good
 citizens will have humiliating but     
perhaps instructive results4  ,but these
 extravagances should not blind us to   
the real benefit of this growing sense  
of brotherhood among men4 ,it is shown  
not only by the fact that it is preached
 in the pulpits and emphasized in the   
press and in magazines1 but1 still more1

 by the fact that it has been taken up  
by politicians4 ,when they get hold of a
 subject and believe it needs           
elaboration1 you may know that it has a 
lodgment with the people4 ,nor can we   
ignore the fact that this feeling has   
been increased by indignation at the    
political and social corruption incident
 to our enormous material development4  
,the people have become ashamed of it in
 a sense4  ,with many1 this growing     
sense of brotherhood stimulates the     
movement toward state socialism4 ,our   
excessive paternalism leads on to this4 
,the view that the government can do    
anything1 remedy every evil1 level every
 inequality and make everybody happy1   
would have a most disastrous effect on  
production and individual effort and    
enterprise4 ,the next step will be to   
curtail the right of property4 ,it is   
difficult to define ,socialism as a     
practical plan of government4 ,the plan 
as set forth in a little book published 
in ,austria called ,the ,quintessence of

 ,socialism is as definite as any that  
,i know4 ,it involves such governmental 
restriction of individual freedom of    
action and such real tyranny that the   
,american people could not stand it4 ,in
 fact1 the regulation of the details of 
life by a system of awards for          
particular work1 made by committees     
instead of by the operation of the law  
of supply and demand1 would bring about 
a condition that would burst itself in a
 very little time4 ,as ,billy ,sumner   
used to say1 ,if you have that kind of a
 system1 ,i choose to be on the         
committee4  ,another sign of the times  
is trades-unionism4 ,trades-unionism is 
essential in the cause of labor4 ,one   
man as a laborer is in a position where 
it is utterly impossible for him to deal
 on an equality with his employer4 ,the 
employer has capital and can get along  
without his services1 but he cannot get 
along without the wages which the       
employer pays him4 ,therefore1 laborers 
unite and contribute to a fund which    

enables them to withdraw together and   
say to the employer3 ,here1 we propose  
to deal with you on a level4 ,we have   
great force4 ,we have a fund which will 
enable us to live while out of work and 
we are going to embarrass you as far as 
possible by withdrawing from your employ
 unless you do justice to us in the     
matter of terms of service4 ,that power 
of union cultivated in organized labor  
has done a great deal to raise wages and
 bring about equitable terms of service4
  ,organized labor is only a small part 
of labor generally2 but organized labor 
exercises great influence in            
legislatures4 ,it is thought to hold the
 balance of power at the polls and has  
undoubtedly exercised beneficent        
influence in securing laws to control   
healthy conditions for work1 safety     
appliances on railroads1 limitation upon
 the hours of labor and a number of     
other laws that would not have been     
passed if organized labor had not       
brought political influence to bear upon

 members of the legislature4  ,on the   
other hand1 a sense of their power has  
sometimes given leaders of labor unions 
a lack of discretion1 a truculence and  
an unreasonable and unjust attitude4    
,like the employers1 they have been     
dependent upon public opinion and after 
a time public opinion has controlled    
them4 ,probably the greatest evil that  
stands out from all the good work unions
 have done1 is the dead level to which  
they seek to bring the wages of skilled 
manual labor4 ,organized labor insists  
on making a class and then having that  
class receive the same wages1 and it    
does nothing to encourage individual    
effort by consenting to the payment of  
higher wages to the man of experience1  
industry and skill than to the mediocre 
and lazy4 ,it will in some way have to  
obviate that difficulty which works     
against the cause of labor and the      
interest of society4 ,moreover1 its     
leaders do not discourage1 as they      
should1 lawlessness as a means of       

achieving their industrial ends4 ,the   
history of the dynamiters in ,california
 and of the civil war in ,colorado shows
 this4  ,on the other hand1 we find many
 in the ranks of labor offering the most
 effective opposition to the increase in
 socialism4 ,the leaders of             
trades-unionism have no sympathy with   
the ,i4 ,w4 ,w4 ,the ,i4 ,w4 ,w41       
however1 led by ,haywood and others1    
serve a useful purpose by furnishing an 
awful example for the average           
workingman4 ,when they go around with   
the signs1 ,no ,god1 ,no ,country1 ,no  
,law1 creating disgust and conservatism 
in the ranks of organized labor1 they do
 not know what a good thing they are    
doing4 ,they act blindly1 but they are  
offering a sample of what may be        
expected if organized labor is tempted  
to excesses4 ,we are going to have      
organized labor for all time1 and we    
ought to have it4 ,while ,i would go to 
the fullest extent with courts and even 
with the army to protect a non-union man

 in freedom of labor1 if ,i were a      
workingman myself ,i would join a labor 
union because ,i believe that if such   
unions can be properly conducted1 they  
are useful to promote the best interests
 of labor and of society4 ,what         
trades-unionism needs is leaders to     
teach its members common sense4  ,the   
truth is1 the longer you live1 the more 
you will find that nothing is perfect1  
and everything has a side that can be   
criticised4 ,what you have to do is to  
sum up the whole1 take the average      
benefit which comes from it1 and attempt
 to increase that average4 ,now ,i am an
 optimist4 ,people say the initiative   
and the referendum1 against which ,i    
have talked1 are like a ratchet wheel4  
,if you extend power to the people and  
the voters1 you will never get it back  
again4 ,i agree that is a rule that     
generally works1 but with respect to the
 initiative and the referendum there is 
an element that may cause an exception  
to the rule4 ,the initiative will throw 

a heavy burden on the electorate4       
,cranks and their followers will        
constantly be compelling voters to act  
upon wild proposals4 ,as the popular    
disgust grows1 the requirements in      
respect to the number of signers will be
 made so heavy that a successful        
petition can rarely be secured4 ,the    
referendum will then be limited to such 
matters as the legislature chooses to   
refer and will then cease to be a       
practical burden4  ,we must pray that   
the injurious excesses which ,i have    
been describing as the cost we have to  
pay for a great reform1 may not unsettle
 the foundation of our government and   
destroy the self-imposed restraint      
arranged in the ,constitution to make   
that government just to the individual1 
to the minority and to those who do not 
vote4 ,if we do not disturb those       
foundations1 we can count on the common 
sense of the ,american people to bring  
them back to sane views1 and we can     
rejoice and continue to rejoice in the  

preservation of a popular government    
that for one hundred and twenty-five    
years has vindicated its conservatism   
and justice before the world and will   
continue to do so forever4     ,,page   
,,lectures  ,,published ,,by ,,yale     
,,university ,,press   ,,morals ,,in    
,,modern ,,business4 ,addresses by      
,edward ,d4 ,page1 ,george ,w4 ,alger1  
,henry ,holt1 ,a4 ,barton ,hepburn1     
,edward ,w4 ,bemis and ,james ,mc,keen4 
7,second printing7 #abmo1 cloth binding1
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,price #a4be net1 delivered4  ,,everyday
 ,,ethics4 ,addresses by ,norman        
,hapgood1 ,joseph ,e4 ,sterrett1 ,john  
,brooks ,leavitt1 ,charles ,a4 ,prouty4 
#abmo1 cloth binding1 leather label1    
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delivered4  ,,industry ,,and ,,progress4
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delivered4  ,,politician1 ,,party ,,and 
,,people4 ,by ,henry ,c4 ,emery4  #abmo1
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,price #a4be net1 delivered4            
,,questions ,,of ,,public ,,policy4     
,addresses by ,j4 ,w4 ,jenks1 ,a4 ,platt
 ,andrew1 ,emory ,r4 ,johnson and       
,willard ,v4 ,king4  #abmo1 cloth       
binding1 leather label1 #adj pages1     
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,,trade ,,morals3 ,,their ,,origin1     
,,growth ,,and ,,province4 ,by ,edward  
,d4 ,page4  #abmo1 cloth binding1 #bgf  
pages1 index4 ,price #a4ej net1         
delivered4  ,,ethics ,,in ,,service4 ,by
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 net1 delivered4  ,transcriber's ,note3 
this list of publications appeared      
inside the front cover of the original  
book