The broad ax. [volume], November 25, 1922, Image 1

About The broad ax. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1895-19??

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It
THE BROAD AX
-t'A-
SCENTS
per copy
volxxviil
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 1922
No. 10
Down With the Proposed New Constitution for the
State of Illinois for It Is a Delusion and a Snare and If
the People of This State on December 12th Vote in Favor
of Its Adoption They Will Rivet a Loadstone or Chain
Around Their Necks and a Heavy Burden Upon Their
Shoulders Which They Will Be Unable to Shake Off
for the Next One Hundred Years to Come
I 4-
AN ABLE AND LOGICAL ARTICLE IN
OPPOSITION TO THE ADOPTION
OF THE NEW CONSTITUTION, BY
MR. CHARLES C. ROE, MEMBER OF
THE CHICAGO BAR, AND ONE OF
THE ASSISTANT ATTORNEYS
FOR THE BOARD OF EDUCATION.
When we elected a Constitutional
Convention it'was because we thought
that it was necessary to bring the
basic law of Illinois into line with the
progressive thought of the age, and
it was because of that reason that
the adoption of a new constitution met
with ready response.
After nearly two years of debate,
a new constitution has been submit
ted to the voters of this state for
their approval, and an election will be
held by the people to determine
whether the proposed draft of the
constitution, as submitted by the
members of the convention, shall be
approved and become the new consti
tution of the state of Illinois. A
special election to vote on this ques
tion takes place on December 12,
1922. After a careful -perusal of the
proposed constitution my objections
are as. follows:
It limits the right of citizens
charged with crime to be admitted to
bail by investing Judges of our court.-,
with discretionary power. Under the
present law of this state, and of every
state in the Union, and of the-United
States under our federal law, any per-
son charged with crime, other than
son -ii b -
murdcr. has a legal right to be ad
mitted to bail pending his trial; but
under this proposed new constitu
tion such personal liberty would be
taken away from him and the writ of
1 abeas corpus would be abrogated, be
cause where the judge is given dis
cretion the court . cannot Interfere
v.ub the discretion.unless it be of such
a character. as to indicate gross in
justice. It permits the trial of an individual
on a criminal - charge without pre
viously showing a cause or indictment
of such charge by grand jury- This
is unheard of among the Anglo-Sax-cn
people and is not along progressive
hnes, and tends to reduce the people
to personal servitude to the whims
and caprices of- the attorney-general
of the state, who is authorized by the
new constitution, to file an information
against any person he may see fit
without making any showing of prob
able cause.
It has token -away from the people
of Cook County and the city of Chi
cago their proportionate share of rep
resentation in the senate and limits
Cook County forever to but one-third
of the membership of the state sen
ate, even if the county of Cook, should
became so great in. population as to
outnumber all the Test of the State,
and although it has, now over 47 per
cent of the population of the entire
states Cook county, including the city
of Chicago, binder the new coastita
tion, will be entitled to but two mem
bers out of the nine members o the
new Supreme court of the state of
Illinois.
It takes away from the people, in ay future constitutional conves
throngh then representatives ia the tion, that no matter what the popk-
regular assembly, the right to legis
late concerning the practice and
pleadings in our courts and gives this
right to the Supreme court, which is
a delegation of power unheard of
among English-speaking peoples.
The Supreme court is authorized to
appoint judges under the new consti
tution, and the people would 'have no
ngnT to elect their own judiciaries,
which would be appointed by the
seven members of the Supreme court
who were elected outside of Cook
County and the city of Chicago, and
would place in a foreign body the se
lection of judges to preside over the
courts in the city of Chicago and
Cook county. It has placed in the
hands of the Supreme Court the ap
pointment, through its selection, of
from five to six hundred office holders
and attaches of these .various courts
which it is in power to create. Under
the rew constitution the Supreme
court will become a political organ
ization, and it will become an office
brokerage bureau, and its appointees
would be determined by the political
complexion of the court. '
Business and individuals will be
come burdened with income taxes and
preference will be given to owners of
intangible property (stocks and
bonds), and exempts from taxation
the owners of desmenses under the
wtr a - fn-Aii dual.. a .rf C VO th
v. .A . r , ' . . .
limitation of the exemption given to
the poor at $1,000 for the head of a
family and $500 for an unmarried
person, the effect of which will be to
require every laboring man, working
girl, stenographer, and scrubwoman
at present wages to file income tax re
ports and claims for exemption. The
income tax on earnings from business,
professions, and rents, under the new
constitution, could be graduated pro
gressively upward, while the income
tax on stocks and bonds, must be uni
form, thus discriminating in favor of
the stockholders and bondholders of
the state as against the business, pro
fessional, and working people.
When this Constitutional Conven
tion was elected tnere was express
instructions given to many of the
members of this convention to provide
and incorporate in the new constitu
tion provision for the creation by the
legislature of, the initiative and refer
endum, which, in spite of this express
understanding, this convention was so
dominated by the money power that it
has failed entirely to include any pro
vision for the creation by the people of
the state of Illinois of any initiative
legislation, and refuses to the people
the referendum for the approval of any
iniquitous legislation that might be
passed by subsequent general assem
blies after the adoption of this pro
posed new constitution.
Cook countr would have but two
members out of the nine members of
the new Supreme court of the state
of Illinois, although it has now nearly
one-half of the population of the state,
and will in a few years have a great
deal more than one-half of the popu
lation of the state, thus discrimi
nating against the people of the me
tropolis of the state in favor of the
people down-state. It provides that
tion of Cook county and Chicago
might be, it could only have 45 out of
121 members of any new constitution
al convention that might be called
either ten years from now or one
hundred years from now.
No provision is made in this con
stitution for the many progressive
ideas of the times: such as old age.
'&Gi7&
pensions, etc
This new constitution permits the
reading of selections from any ver
sion of the old or new testament in
the public schools without comment
by the teachers. This is in direct op
position to the wishes of two large
and influential bodies of our people
the Roman Catholics and the Jews.
Selections from the new testament of-
all versions reflecting upon the Jew
could be made by teachers if they
so saw fit, and from the Roman-Cath
olic version there could be selections
made to Protestants that would be
distasteful, and from the Protestant
version there could be selections that
would be distasteful and would re
sult in ill feeling on the part of the
Roman Catholics, and would be very
detrimental to the proper training of
our children. Ever since the founda
tion of this great American republic, it
has been the purpose of the people
to keep the church and state separate.
and to keep religion out of our pub
lic schools; and since the foundation
of the state of Illinois, over 100
(years, it has been unlawful to read
selections from the old and new tes
tament in the public .schools. With
the large number of public school
teachers of all religious faiths and
nationalities, it is quite likely that
there would be fanatics among all
branches of religious thought, who
would be authorized to select such
parts of the old and new testament
from any version they saw fit to em
phasize their unreasonable and ta-
satical views, and to force them upon
HON. CHARLES C. ROE
One of the able and resourceful Assistant Attorneys for the
Board of Education of Chicago, fires into the proposed
5 new Constitution for the State of Illinois
children whose parents would not
wish them to be so instructed; and if
for no other reason than that the
new constitution permits to be read
in the publif schools of this state se
lections from any version of the new
and old testament, it should be de
feated. It erntraizes the tinner of covern-
nieHS at tle expense of popular ma
jorities ani undermines the principals
ot major it; rule.
It denic home rule to Chicago. It
will intcrf re seriously with the future
progress if Chicago in its power to
ssuc bonds for municipal projects, on
income-producing utilities.
It will prevent legislation by initia
tive of the people and it has many
other daigerous innovations upon the
present (constitution which are un
heard of and would be too long to
discuss An this 'short communication.
For vecks and months the state has
been fUoded by the proponents of the
new constitution with arguments fa
voring its adoption. Where the
nionej is coming from to pay this
vast expense no one knows, but we
have . ur ideas. This new constitu
tion i lay contain some provisions
which are good, but it contains so
many ad things that it should be de
feated. It provides that "the truth, when
pub) is 1 ed with good motives and for
justifia e"cnds, is a sufficient defense"
in trills fop -libels, civil or criminal.
This vfculcT permit newspapers to pub
hsh all sorts of lies and libels ruinous
to profession and character, and to
escape damages by publishing (after
the damage had been done) the truth.
The people of Illinois want a new
constitution, but we want one that
will reflect the progressive spirit of
the times and until we can secure
such a! constitution let us hold fast to
that which we have. '
HAVE HIS
Wife Confessed Love for Rival, Says
Veteran Who Wins Divorce
Los Angeles, Cal. "She told me she
loved the other man better than she
did me. I let her have him."
Forest Tyrrell, an overseas soldier,
concluded his statement of why his
home was broken up with these words
and Judge Summcrficld granted him
a decree of divorce.
The other man, according to the
wife, seemed to tyield an influence
over Mrs. Lcona May Tyrrell. She
begged her husband to help her break
the spell. When the other man looked
at her, she said her. brain was in a
whirl. She was unable to resist him.
Mrs. Tyrrell crept back to her hus
band and he thought the spell had
been broken, but the man again
crossed her path and she went away
with him. Mr. Tyrrell found them
toc-'Mer, and then she confessed her
love for the "other man."
The chances arc ten to one that
Mrs. Tyrrell put the spell on the other
man and that she had an evil eye for
him, and that the other man under
stood her and was able to handle her
much better in every way than the
husband whom she deserted. Editor.
r
Honorable John H. Ryan, Re-elected
to the Legislature in the State of
Washington
Honorable John H- Ryan, who suc
cessfully conducts a weekly (newspa
per at Tacoma. Wash, was at ihe
late election re-elected to the legisla
ture of that state on the farmers' la
bor ticket.
Mr. Ryan has the honor of being
the only Colored man elected to a leg
islative body in that body of the ex
treme west,
LET "OTHER MAN"
WIFE
ECHOES AND RE-ECHOES OF THE
LATE ELECTION. THE CHICAGO
TRIBUNE RECOMMENDED AND
URGED THE VOTERS RESIDING IN
THE THIRD CONGRESSIONAL DIS
TRICT OF ILLINOIS TO ELECT
THOMAS M. CRAINE TO CON
GRESS AND DEFEAT HON. EL
LIOTT W . SPROUL. THE BROAD
AX, SUPPORTED CONGRESSMAN
SPROUL, AND DEFEATED THE
CHICAGO TRIBUNE.
A SPLENDID JOKE ON THE GREAT
EST WEEKLY NEWSPAPER IN THE
WORLD. ONE OF THE MOST
PROMINENT PUBLIC OFFICIALS
AND POLITICIANS IN THE CITY
HALL OR COUNTY BUILDING HAD
NEVER HEARD OF IT UNTIL A
FEW DAYS PRIOR TO THE LAST
ELECTION.
Prior to the late election, Novem
ber 7, some mighty funny things hap
pened and among them were that in
many instances the voters paid not
the slightest attention to the sugges
tions or recommendations of the old
Chicago Tribune, for it tried its level
best to defeat Hon. Elliott W. Sproul
in his race for re-election to Con
gress from the Third Congressional
District of Illinois and it supported
Mr. Thomas M. Craine, Democrat, but
this newspaper loyally supported Con
gressman Sprout and he won out and
the Chicago Tribune was defeated in
that instance by The Broad Ax. That
same newspaper urged the voters re
siding in the 11th Senatorial District
of Illinois to elect Hon. William H.
Cm den to the state senate and this
newspaper advised the voters in that
district to elect Hon. Frank J. Ryan
to the state senate and he was elected
so this newspaper scored two big
points over the Chicago Tribune.
One week before the late election
a half baked preacher, representing the
greatest weekly newspaper in the
world called on one of the candidates
seeking re-election to one of the most
important positions in Cook County,
being located in the County Building
and the would-be preacher endeavored
to secure an advertisement from him.
It so happened that ttje writer was
engaged in conversation with that
prominent politician at the time that
the so-called preacher approached him
and he was requested to state his busi
ness very briefly and right to the point
and the one-horse preacher went on to
state that his newspaper was the
greatest weekly newspaper in the
world, that it had more than two hun
dred and fifty thousand circulation,
that he wanted seven dollars per inch
per issue for an advertisement." When
he had finished talking, looked over its
political advertisements and he only
ran across five small cuts stuck; away
down in several corners of the paper
and they were so black with real black
ink that it was very hard to tell
whether they represented white men
or colored men and the preacher
stated that they represented white
men and tnat prominent politician
simply responded, "is that so?"
At that point that big politician
brought a copy of The Broad Ax, of
October 28. which contained twenty
five beautiful half tone cuts of all the !
leading candidates both Democrats
and Republicans in this city and coun
ty and the prominent politician strong
ly intimated that all of the live apd
the biggest politicians or candidates
seemed to be using Mr. Taylor's news
paper to reach the colored voters and
that it contained the finest and the
cleanest cuts of any newspaper in this
city and in every respect it is a real
live newspaper and finally the prom
inent politician capped the climax
"when he asked the preacher if his
greatest weekly newspaper in the
world was published in Chicago" and
the preacher responded by saying,
"Yes, sir, it is published right here in
this city." Then the politician said,
"Is that so? I have never heard of it
before, but I have heard of the Broad
Ax," and in winding up the conversa
tion the big politician said, "Come in
and see me next week, and I will see
what I "can do for you, but do not
bank on securing a write-up or an ad
vertisement from me," and after the
preacher representing the greatest
weekly newspaper in the world had
departed from his rooms, the big pol
itician locked the main door leading
into them and he pulled 'out a roll of
money big enough to choke ten
horses and he said, "Friend, Taylor,
one thousand dollars of this roll will
be expended in buying the misses a
new fur coat and after I have finished
paying a few other bills, my money
will be mighty scarce, but here is a
brand new one hundred dollar bill for
you and do the best you can for me
for it. After tucking the one hundred
dollar bill away we 'almost rolled
down all the steps from the 10th floor
to the main floor in the county build
ing. Years ago when this newspaper first
began to treat Democrats who were
friendly inclined toward the colored
people fairly through its columns the
colored editors and owners of the
other newspapers in this city hounded
us as an old "Nigger Democrat," they
laboring under the impression that'sby
calling us a "Nigger Democrat" that
in time would loll us oft but ati
the late election the greatest weekly
newspaper in the world and the heads.
of the other colored newspapers in this!;
aty raked in all the money that they
possibly could from the Democratic
candidates which enabled them to buy
some new black silk or satin dresses
for their wives or lady friends.
&,&ifc, &
. u.tb. jib' Ji. x