The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1893-05-31
BY THE PEOPLE.



The Switzerland Plan Of Enacting Laws-
The Initiative and Referendum.
The referendum" is system that
has been in use in Switzerland for some
time, and one that is growing in popu-
lar favor in this and other countries.
The people have discovered long ago
that law making bodies frequently fas-
ten vicious laws upon them which can
not be repealed till another session Of
the body that enacted them. Laws in
the interest of special classes under the
pressure of influential Hobbies are FREE
quently passed by legislatures at the
instance of individuals who are the in
tended benefciaries of them, and
against the violent protests Of the
masses who are at the mercy of the
misguided or mercenary Legislators.
The referendum" plan would just SIM
ply provide that all laws of Importance
passed by the legislature and approved
by the governor would not be laws till
voted upon and approved by the people
at an election held for that purpose.
This would indeed be the people gov
erning themselves, and would complete
~ disarm the lobby and the mercenary
legislator.
The referendum" in q limited form
has been in vogue in this country for
some time in the '1ocal option" plaza
plan by which questions of legislation
are referred to the people for decis-
ion. The legislature, for instance,
passes a law granting towns or counties
the right to decide for themselves
whether liquor shall be sold inside
their borders This is using the refer
endum in limited way Questions re-
ferred to the people would not encoun-
ter the ''dilatory TACTICS" the ''fxed"
committee, the pigeon hole lined with
glue" the money-manipulated mo
quorum" and the thousand and one OBJ
stacles thrown by designing dema-
gogues and venal hirelings in the way
of the peoples demands.
If, however, the people had to wait
for the legislature to do the submitting
of questions, the very ones they con-
sidered most important the legislature
might refuse to submit. In Switzer-
land there accompanies the ''refer-
endum" what is known as the popular
initiative" in legislation. This system
provides that when a specific number
of citizens demand that any given
measure shall be submitted to the peo-
pie it becomes the duty of the legisla-
ture to submit the measure. The near
est approach to the popular initia-
tive" in this country is the instructions
given to candidates for the legislature
''The advantage of the plan" says an ex-
change, sis that it enlarges the scope of
popular self-government by ENGRAVING
on the representative system the prin-
ciples of direct democracy in such a
way as to avoid the great objection to
the vote of the town meeting in law
making-the objection that the town
meeting is a mob, and very possibly a
tyrannical one. Under the referendum
the power of the people would be in
voked in final appeal-not really for or
against the measure in affirmative &C
ton, but for or against the veto of it.
Thus one more check would be placed
between each individual of the people
and the perpetual tendency, inherent
in all governments, to ignore individ-
ual rights and encroach on individual
liberties" While the system may have
its disadvantages, we believe it has
many advantages and is worthy of con-
sideration by lovers of good govern
ment.-Journal of Agriculture.