The representative. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1893-1901, 1897-09-08
THE INITIATIVE
AND REFERENDUM
keynote of FOunda tfOn.

Keynote of Foundation.
CThos. B. King in the Southern Mer-
cury.)
The point made in our last article OH
the subject of restoration of power to
the people was, that from every stand
point ct view, it appears all power was
intended to be invested III the people
and to be exercised by the people for
their own benefit. We cited the great
law under which man was created,
showing that he was to have dominion
over air, sea and land, and over ev-
thing in air, sea and land, aad all
were to be "as meat for man"
For ages men retained this power.
Their governors were only'such as par
ents ruling, each in his own family,
called PATRIARCIAL. There did
not seem to be any supreme
court with it's sheriffs or
marshals to round up Cain when
he murdered Abel. Like Judas Iscar-
lot, he withdrew from society on his
own motion. Counsellors, like Deborah,
whose home was under palm tree,
ruled the people with gentle sway.
Finally place-seekers began to assert
the doctrine that it was better for one
man to rule over other men, as a king
rules over his subjects. One ambitious
and self-seeking political buncc-steerer
named Abimileck, had a whole lot Of
kin folks, who, aided by a set of hired
heelers, hired by campaign fund fur
nished by a money lender named Daal-
bevich, opened his campaign for the
office of king BY kinfolks, heelers and
a free use of bulldozing, Abimileck was
elected, or rather made king"
Thus power departed from the people
and was vested in a king. h..
AS usual in such cases, the king
smote and slew the people. God Al
mighty, through the prophet Jothan1;
denounced Abimileck and all of his
kinship business. The subsequent fate
of the people showed that God Almighty
not to put their necks under the yoke
Of king.
Further on, as related in 9Th chapter
of the 1st Book of Samuel, even the
people had gotten to be such fools as
to demand a king to rule over them"
The Lord protested against this de-
mand, saying, eye will cry out in that
day because of the king We shall have
chosen" and he showed to the people
that a king would be such a self-seek-
ing fellow that, whilst he rode in char
that king would be such a voracious
pie-eater that he would take all the
daughters of the people to be bakers,
confectioners and cooks, and whilst the
daughters of the people were doing all
the cooking, the king would eat up all
the cookies!
In other words, the Lord showed
that the whole king business would re-
suit disastrously to the people, and
that the people would better rule
themselves.
So it will ever be, where the people
as ruling sovereigns abdicate their own
power and vest it absolutely in a king,
whether that king be an Abimileck, a
Saul, czar of the house, party king
caucus, a law-making oligarch, a one
man veto, corporation or any other
outfit where the one or the few rule
over the many. All these are species
of kinship.
At this day in America there are
lords many and kings many. The
wrestling of power from the hands Of
the ollgarchs and the restoration of all
power direct to the people, will be the
direct result Of the initiative and ref
erendum and imperative mandate. Thus,
all power will be restored to where the
tended it should be.
Notwithstanding the declaration vf
American independence repudiated the
"divine right of kings" and notwith-
Slk~nuluS CQo national constitution ana
the several state constitutions declare
that "all political power is inherent in
the people," and that this power is
'inalienable from the people, yet as
a matter of fact the people do not ex-
ercise any power. A few oligarchs
called legislators, or law-r,~l1Crs, have
all law-making power. His excellency,
the president or governor, has the ap-
proval or veto of all laws. One set Of
men called supreme judges" have all
power to nullify and set aside any and
every law. The people are mot In it. %
1t is true the people elect the law
makers, but the lawmakers do NOT
carry out the will of the people. The
people elect congressman, the congress
men elect car of the house, the czar
creates committee which becomes a
mausoleum in which measures sub
mitted to 1t are in most cases strang-
Id % d0d 70