St. Paul daily globe. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1884-1896, 1892-03-21


report some recommendation Of that
nature to the coming convention. The
practical principals of both the COM
munal or township meetings and the
cantonai or lard-community meetings
are these two:
First-That every citizen shall have the
right to propose measure of law to his tel
low citizens, this principle being known as
the initiative
Second-That the majority shall actually
enact the law by voting the acceptance or the
rejection of the measure proposed THIS
principle. when applied in cantons where
land community meetings are not held
through ballotings at polling places on
measures sent by legislative bodies to the
people, is known as the referendum.
The initiative has been practiced IN
one form OR other from time lmmem-
orial in many Of the communeS and in
the several land community cantons.
In the past twenty years, however. it
has been practiced by petition in an
increasing number of the cantons not
having the democratic aSsemblage of
all the citizens.
The referendum owes its origin to
two sources, and is not as ancient as the
initiative. One source of its origin was
in the vote taken at the communal and
cantonal meetings. The principle some
example, in the fifty-fve years from
1869 to 1924 taking
Sixty Referendary VOtings.
The other source was in the vote
taken by the ancient cantOnS on any
action by their delegates to the federal
diet or congress, these delegates under
taking no affair except on condition OF
referring it to the cantonal councils.
InEA In It1n Of
Initiative and referendum have been
extended SO as to apply to greater or
less extent not only to cantonal affairs
in canton far too large for the caDtonal
meeting. but to the affairs of the whole
Swiss Confederation, comprising 3,000.-
900 inhabitants. Usually the proposal
of measure of cantonal law by
popular initiative must be made
through petition. signed by from one
twelfth to one-Sixteenth Of the voters Of
the canton. This petition is then sent
to the cantOnal Legislature and this body
is obliged within brief but specified
period to refer the proposal TO cantonal
vote. II the decision of the citizens is
favorable, the measure at once becomes
a law. and the executive and judicial
officials must proceed to carry it into
effect.
The cantonal referendum is in con-
slant practice in all the cantons except
one, Frelberg, which is governed by
representative legislature. The eX-
tent, however, to which the referendum
is applied varies considerably.
In two CantOns it is ap-
plicable only to financial
measures; in others it is optional with
the people, who can demand it or not. as
they please. In some it is obligatory
and must be called into use in e0nnec-
ton with the passage of every law.
While the initiative has been in use
from time immemorial in the commons,
the federal initiative was only adopted
last year and the federal referendum in
1874. The form of cantOnal referendum
now in use was begun in st. Gall in
1880. and only five ca ntOnS had any
referendum whatever. and in these it
was
Wholly Optional.
The plan has grown rapidly in favor
until at the present time 80 per cent OF
the cantonS have the referendum and
only 10 per cent sHbmint to law-making
officials. When Zurich, in 1869, adopted
the cantonal initiative, it was unknown
outside of the land community meet
ings, but since that time one author
says: "The plutocratlc govern
ment and the grand council
of Zurich, which had connived with the
private banks and railroads were pulled
down in one great voting swoop." The
politicians and the privileged classes
have been going ever since. The doc
trines of the French theorists were sue
cessfully engrafred on SWISS expert
ence.
The canton of Zurich has the obli-f
gatory referendum, and through its
workings that state has risen from the
slough of miSgovernment to prosperity,
peace and happiness. In Zurich the law
provides:
First-That all laws. DEGREES and changes
in the constitution must be submitted to the
people.
Second-That all decisions of the grand
council on existing law must be voted on.
Third-That the grand council may submit
decisions which it itself proposes to make,
and that. besides voting on the whole law.
the council may ask a vote on q special
point. The grand council cannot put i'll
force Professionally any law or decree. The
propositions must be sent to the voters at
least thirty days before voting.
The regular referendary ballotingS
take place twice year, spring and au-
tamn, but in urgent cases the grand
council may call for
A Special Election.
The law in this canton assists the
lawmakers-the voters lin their task;
when citizen is casting his own vote
he may also deposit that of one or two
relatives Or friends upon present
ing their electoral card. it was
at first predicted that this sys-
TEN would call the voters out
too frequently, and prove expensive.
This has been proven wrong. Up to
year ago ninety-one laws had been
passed upon at twenty-eight elections
with surprising results. The taxes have
been reduced and partisanshiD is at
low ebb in Zurich. Special legislation
has been shut off. The expense of the
police system is less than half that of
Geneva, less populous canton.
The Swiss constitution of 1874 first
established the federal referendum. 1t
is optional and not obligatory. To secure
vote upon federal law the demand
must be made by 10000 citizens or eight
cantons, and this petition must be made
within ninety days after the publication
of the proposed law. 1t can be called into
existence either upon statute passed
by the federal assembly or congress, Or
a decree by the executive power. In
149 laws and DEGREES subject to the
referendum were passed or declared,
and ~ of these were challenged by the
necessary 10000 petitioners, and Is of
these were rejected and IL adopted.
The
Federal Initiative
was established by vote taken Sunday,
July 5. 1891. 1t provides that petition
sigued by $4,000 citizens demanding the
passage of a certain law must be con-
sidered by the federal assembly within
a certain time, and then, without delay,
submitted to vote of the people. This
is not petition to the Legislature, but a
| demand upon the whole people.
Were there such thing as federal
initiative and reperendum in this coun-
try the silver and tariff questions could
| be. settled in short order. A half-milI-
ION citizens could demand a revenue
tariff by petition addressed to congress.
The receipt of this demand would be
followed by submission of the ques-
ton to direct vote of all the
! people which would settle the question,