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Show THE CITIZBN 4 IIMIIllUI II I I'lillill II Ullll 11111111111111 Ill'll III IIIIIIIIIIII t III lllllll lllllllllllllllllllllll (SDflMit? IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMIIIIIIIIIIIIIlllIIII'lillllllllMllllllllllilllllilllllllllllllllllltllllllllllllllll Published by TIIE GOODWINS PUBLISHING COMPANY 420 Ness Building, Salt Lake City, Utah. Entered as second-clas- s matter, June 21, 1919, at the Postoflice at Salt Lake City, Utah, under the Act of March 3, 1879. SUBSCRIPTION PRICE: Including: postage in the United States, Canada and Mexico, $2.50 per year; $1.50 for six months. Subscriptions to all foreign countries, within the postal Union, $4.50 per year. SALT LAKE CITY, FEBRUARY 9, 1929 not under the party emblem, a large percentage of the voters will ignore that portion of the ballot. Without conceding that such would be the case and for the sake of discussion admitting it to be true, it affords the strongest argument thus far advanced for a election. If it be true that a large percentage of the voters are so indifferent in respect to the election of these officers as to neglect their duty in the manner above suggested, what better reason can be given for providing a method whereby the election of such officers may be determined by those who have some interest and concern as to the fitness and qualification of such candidates, even though they may receive only a small percentage of the votes cast. Viewing this matter from every point of view of which we are capable, without further light upon the question, the weight of the argument seems to be in favor of a election of judicial officers from Justice of the Peace up to Justice of the Supreme Court. The Citizen picks no argument with the proponent of party government in Utah or in other states, and in the nation at large. History has too freely demonstrated the value of such government to the people, and an argument against its existence is an argument to amend the entire mode of government in these United non-partis- an non-partis- Judiciary SINCE THE historic battle in the Utah Constitutional Convention in 1896 when party lines were forgotten in the effort to obtain nonpartisan election of judiciary officers, the question has been agitated through the state. At that convention, the effort failed when factions became too definitely divided, and as a result Utah adopted the party system of selecting judges. Sentiment in this community appears to be rapidly crystalizing in favor of a election of judicial officers. That such should be the case at the present time is opportune inasmuch as it requires legislation to bring it about and the legislature is now in session. Our school boards at present are on a basis, as far as the manner of their election is concerned, and the beneficent results thereof are no longer a subject of controversy. election of Those who favor a judicial officers point to the fact that our judges are not influenced in their decisions by party considerations. If that were the only feature to be considered a discussion of the question would hardly be worth while, but the real objection is found in the fact that the nomination and election of judicial officers by party organizations are not calculated to produce the best results. Our judicial officers at the present time are nominated and elected in nearly every instance in the same rear that the President of the United States, the United States Senator and Congressmen are elected. The Governor and Secretary of State and other state officers are also elected at the same time. All of these officers, in addition to their dignity and importance, have more or less patronage to bestow and consequently become the centers of attraction, especially to the politicians .who in the main have more influence in molding the sentiments of the voter than do others who are devoting their time to their private business. Judicial officers have little or no patronage to bestow, besides this they appear to be farther removed from the people than any other candidate on the ticket. The result is that judicial candidates are likely to be treated by the party conventions as of secondary importance and used merely as party expedients to balance the ticket, or to recognize some class or faction without special regard to fitness or qualification of the candidate. It is further contended bv those who favor a partisan nomination and election of these officers that if they are nominated and elected at different times from that of other officers onlv a small percentage of the voters will go to the polls, or if the names of such candidates are placed in a separate column on the ballot, and Non-Partisa- n non-partis- non-partis- an non-partis- an an an States. But that argument and the argument for a selection of the judiciary are very different arguments, and present very divergent non-partis- an facts. The judge of a judicial tribunal should owe his election to no political party or faction of a party as such, nor should he owe his election to any class or special group of our citizenry. If there is any public officer more than another who should be entirely independent and free from every form of obligation to anyone a party or otherwise it is the judge of a judicial tribunal. If after having been once elected and he should served as a judge he seek be able to go before the electorate on the record he has made, instead of depending upon the whims of a political organization. Not only should the judges of the courts be in the manner of their election, but the small patronage they have to bestow should likewise be bestowed solely upon considerations of fitness and competency, without Experience has regard to party affiliation. demonstrated that under the present system this wholesome policy has not always been observed. The Supreme Court has the appointment of supreme court reporters, supreme court clerk, his deputies and court stenographers. In all cases since the beginning of statehood when the personnel of the Supreme Court has been entirely of one party its appointees have been of the same party. Whether or not there was any meritorious basis for such discrimination might be seriously questioned. Whether a man believes in a high protective tariff, a tariff for re-electi- on, non-partis- an revenue only, or absolute free trade has no logical relation whatsoever to his competency as a judge, clerk or stenographer, and just why these beliefs should be made the basis of fitness or unfitness for the offices mentioned something that should be explained by those who believe in a partisan election of judges and a partisan appointment of other court officers. The present system is wrong and should be changed by the legislature now in session. , a? Truth in Advertising in Utah, in fact as well as in ideal, is the aim of two combined forces in Salt Lake City that apparently will be realized during the present legislature. In this enterprise, The Citizen heartily joins and adds its voice to the petition of this action for clarification of the statutes to remove loopholes through, v which fraudulent and wildcat advertising allowed to go practically unchecked at the present time. The committee through whose efforts the bill is fostered, together with a number of the legislators who have recognized the need for such action, is composed of members of the Better Business Bureau and of the Salt Lake Advertising Club. This committee has gone over the present situation in Utah, and is prepared to offer suggestions based on actual conditions. Lottery is one of the evils at which the new statute will be directed. Ambiguities will be removed from the statute under which advertising is regulated at the present time, and the law will be made operative where it has heretofore been without teeth. With the tremendous role played by advertising in the daily life of every person, and with the advertising touching on every phase of daily routine, such a move for an enforceable law within Utah is a mighty fine step forward. The power of the printed word is no less potent in a paid advertisement than it is in an editorial effort. Advertising has entered the ranks of big business and its regulations should be along business lines in which the legitimate advertiser is protected to the end. The action of the Ad Club makes the fact apparent that this organization is taking steps towards raising an active voice in the conduct of the affairs relative to the advertising business. The Better Business Bureau is looking to protection of its legitimate affairs, and to both of them The Citizen extends its voice in raising the truth in advertising issue before the legislature. is' With what pathetic splendor the family of the Hohenzollerns celebrated the seventieth birthday of the former Kaiser Wilhelm II at Doom the other day! Only the hollow shell of pomposity remaining, the kin of the exiled monarch gathered to feast and to toast while the old castle scintillated once mflre in the court dress of rayolty that is royal now in name alone. As a demonstration of the public sentiment, it is significant that President Van Hindcnburg greeted the former ruler as a private citizen, and as a former officer of His Majestys army! The old Germany is but a shell, and Kaiser Wilhelm is one of the husks which Germany discarded to get to the true heart of the nation. With practically all animosity gone towards the German people, and with less bitter rancor of the towards the man on whom civilized world has laid the blame for the start of the World War, the nations looked indulgent- Iv on the birth celebration of the Kaiser merely as a demonstration of a beaten old man. Germany has moved. And she has moved far. It would take a dozen kaisers, today, to whip. Germany back into the royalist ranks. The two-thir- ds |