The progressive farmer. [volume] (Winston, N.C.) 1886-1904, 1896-11-24

Gu0 N6SlOu.
But suppose there is a question that
the people wish to vote on, but the
legislative body will not pass such g
bill, and thus it could not BE- referred
to a vote Of a people. To provide for
such a contingency, the wias law gives
anyone the right to prepare and pro
pose g bill, and when such bill receives
the signatures of a certain per centage
OF the voters, say IL or 30 per cent, it
Shall be referred to q v)te Of the people
the same as a bill passed by the legisla-
tive body. and if it receives the vote of
a majority of the people, it shall be
a law. This is called the "Initia-
tive;" that is it gives the people the
right to initiate, or propose, legislation.
Ii the people Of Philadelphia had this
privilege, we would soon have before
the people bills providing for the city
ownership Of street rail way lines, the
establishment of a municipal electric
light plant, ETC., etc.
But S witzerland has gone still another
step in the direction Of government
by the people" Suppose a legislative
OH 2er does not give satisfaction. We,
IN this country, have no but
to wait till his term is out. In S Witzer-
land anyone can prepare a petition de-.
handing the recall Of an omcholder,
and when such petition is signed by a
majority OF the voters in the district
which elected such officer, he shall be
declared voted out. This process is
called the imperative Mandate"
The Initiative, Referendum and In
p9ra5ive Mandate usually go together,
for those who believe in anyone usually
beliove in all three, for they are all in
the direction of government by the
people, of the people and for the people;
and collectively they are called Direct
Les islation."
We think we gained cur freedom in
this country in 1875; but this is q great
mistake. VS. are free only on election
day, and then we are only free to choose
the ''Cz ar5 who will hold absolute sway
over US for a given time. For example,
the CouGcilmen representing the
Thirty second ward can introduce, ad-
v0cate and vote for any bill whatever
in Councils during the term for which
they have been elected, and the people
of that ward have no resources what
ever. They can neither recall their
representatives, nor pass Judgment
upon the measures supported by them.
Neither can the people propose legisla
tion, bu5 they must depend entirely
upon their representatives. True, they
can refuse to re elect q representative
who has made g bad record, but all
they can 90 is TO replace the old 'Czars'
by new ones. The same thing is true
of State legislators and Congressman.
We are ruled by absolute diceator8, and
the only privilege We have ia to change
dictatOrs at certain times. We, the
people, have no gightfurther than that.
Yet we fondly, tooIishly speak Of a
government Of, by and for the peo-
pie" The fact is, I'VE, the people"
have very little TO do with it. We may
vote for men, with ali their frailties
and uncertainties, but we cannot vote
for measures. What does a vote mean
in this country7 Did you Y e notice
nov q IF trently the meaning Of an cleo
ton is construed by different people2
r ead the editorials in a number of diff
ferent papers the next day after an
election. For an example, the election
Of Cleveland in 1892 was construed by
many papers to mean lover tariff; to
others it meant gold mono metallism;
to the New York Sun it meant nomore
Force bill; and these are only a few
examples, and this election is no ex:ep-
ton. With Direct Legislation we would
s,,yw definitely the meaning of every
election.
Shall the people ruIe9 or shall We
have a continuation Of Gears" and
the most irresponsible Gears at that,
for their reign" is so short that they
feel little or no responsibility for re
mote results while the Gear of all
the Russias" is interested in and re
sponsible for remote as well as imme-
date results7
The next day after our last city cleo
tion l saw the editor Of one Of our city
papers. I asked him how he liked the
results of the election. This question
elected earnest, highly amusing and
impressive expressions from him. He
spoke Of "whang doodle" reform by
fine gentlemen" thai knew nothing