University of Santa Clara - Redwood Yearbook (Santa Clara, CA)

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10 THE REDWOOD. A PETITION 01 OTHER, when the evening shadows Purple all the neighboring hills. In thy love and care confiding Peace my spirit sweetly fills. And when daylight softly gleaming Fills each vale with golden light, On thy strength and aid relying, Life ' s rough path seems glad and bright. Mother when my days are lengthened Into months, the months to years, May I feel thy loving presence Calming all my doubts and fears, And when down I lay life ' s burden. As eternity draws nigh, Then, O Mother, then be near me To receive my dying sigh. —Nicholas Jacobs.

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THE REDWOOD. ing through his jersey. He could lose by an inch, and the consequence wouldn ' t affect Clarenta ' s chance. He would think I was afraid, shot through his mind. I ' ll win, or die! He made a second spurt, based on the same straining effort which had given him the lead in the start, and skimmed the ninth hurdle barely two inches ahead of the Black and Gold hurdler. Ten yards ahead the last standard awaited him. The tenth h ur- dle — and death! In a state of mind bordering on frenzy, he literally flung himself at the standard, leaving Thorsen a foot in the rear. As his spikes bit into the cin- ders on the other side of the hurdle, his ears, straining for the sound of the shot as a condemned spy listens for the report of the rifle which his blind- folded eyes cannot see, heard ' the muf- fled crack of a pistol. But no leadened messenger of death tore through his jersey, and he dashed across the line, alive, the winner. Puzzling over the strange outcome of the race he made his way to the dressing room. He was alone as he pealed oflf his running clothes until his lather stepped through the doorway and without a word drew his revolver, snapped out an empty shell, refilled the chamber with a ball cartridge, and restored the weapon to his pocket. Bob thought he now understood why the gambler ' s threat had failed. You — you shot him to save me. Dad? he gasped. The first blank I ever fired, and the last, he said grimly. Out with that hand of yours, my boy. Bob you ' re the same old Bob, with the same good old manly character. And I ' m proud of you. All that last night, laughed the sheriff, was a part of the game. I had the intention of testing you when I started down here, so Harry and I framed up a way. I had him shoot so as to impress you that he could bore your heart, no matter how fast you ran. I slipped the note into your pocket which I had scribbled before I came aown. Just to make it more emphatic, I fired a blank over your head as you went over the last stick, sort o ' cele- brating the victory of my son. But, stammered the still bewilder- ed youth, where did you get that ' Harry? ' He shoots like a demon. For an answer. Sheriff Bob Adams crossed over to the door and whistled a signal. The slender, dark-faced man left the crowd and made his way to the Texan. As he walked into the room the sheriff took off his wide-brimmed, bullet-punctured hat with a sweeping bow. Son, he said grandly, make the acquaintance of ' Harry Graves ' , an old Clarenta graduate, the new foreman of cur ranch. Harry, my son, Bob. —Thomas R. Plant.

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THE REDWOOD. 11 RECALL OF JUDGES (PRIZE SPEECH IN RYLAND DEBATE) Mr. Chairman, Hon. Judges, Ladies and Gentlemen : I intend to prove that the good to be obtainedl from the recall is worse than the evil it proposes to overcome. That the proposed cure does not cure, but only aggravates the diseases. That the recall will not elim- II ate the evils of our present system, but only intensify them. Justice Story once said that to de- stroy the independence of the judiciary was to destroy its usefulness. But, Mr. Chairman, this is just what will happen if we adopt this proposed re- call of judges. The bench, in order to apply the law as it is, must be abso- lutely free from outside influences; but under the recall this will not be so, it must, in order to retain its position, keep its ear to the ground to ascertain public opinion, and the consequences will be that our judges will not admin- ister the law as it is ; but as the people think it should be. And, gentlemen, we all know that the average citizen is not equipped either by experience or education, to determine what the law is; and a successful recall would not decide the question as to whether the judge decided the true state of the law as it is written in the books and ex- pounded by the courts. It is an in- justice to our judges to expect them to feel the public pulse before decid- ing a legal question. Public opinion is not, never has been, and never will be a factor which may be considered an element in interpretation. If it is once understood that the function of judge is to meet popular opinion as to what the law ought to be, his term in office will be exceedingly precarious, as this opinion is as changeable as the wind. He would be constantly having his ear to the ground, waiting for sug- gestions as to how the public would like to have a given case decided. Public opinion is rapidly formed and m the heat and passion of the moment the people will go to extremes. This is aptly illustrated by an example given by Curtiss Lindley. Some years ago two brothers were indicted, in one of our Central Counties, for murder. Ow- ing to the great public excitement caused by the crime, their counsel urged that the offenders could not be safely tried in that county and at that time. The trial court refused to change the place of trial. The Supreme Court, after reviewing the case, dispassion- ately held that the constitutional rights of the accused had been violated and over-ruled the trial court. The ink was hardly dry upon the opinion filed by the Supreme Court when the people assaulted the jail, took the prisoners out and hanged them. This illustrates the rapidity with which public opinion is formed and in how drastic and vici- ous a way the populace, when once aroused, may express its displeasure at the action of our judicial tribunals. The sword of recall hanging over the heads of our judges would simply be a temptation to intellectual dishonesty, depriving them of their independence and making them mere ministers to popular demand. And not, withstand- ing this, we are told that this measure IS for the best interests of the people of this state. Political freedom for our judiciary has been the cry in this state ; and any- thing that tends to destroy the free- dom of our judges will certainly not