Daily capital journal. (Salem, Or.) 1896-1899, 1898-03-02

voters and therefore no law can be
made in the interest of any class at
the expense of the people.
Fifth. BY this system the people
can make any law Independent of and
against the opposition of any or all
their elected officers. and at the same
time it is impossible for any or all
their elected officials to make any law
against the will of the majority of the
cltizens. Legislators thus become the
servants of the people in fact as well
as in theory.
Sixth The Initiative and Referen-
dun is more truly preservative of law
and order than any other system Of
government, because no new law
changing existing Institutions can ever
be made suddenly or by stealth, but
by being agitated and discussed for
years and perhaps rejected twice or
three times, the proposal, If right and
wise in principle, is perfected in form
while the people and business inter
ests have ample time to adjust them
selves to the change.
Seventh. Direct legislation will
make our congressman, senators ana
threats and favors OF corporations. IL
VIII deprive monopoly Of power to
maintain itself by Dull-dOzing officials
ana defeating reform leaders Tor re-
election. The influence oil corporations
over lawmakers comes much less
from direct bribery tnan from their
wen known power TO defeat the re-
election of any legislator who seems
IN. I'm ia ~ In
interests.
FOR instance: Senator n. L. Hill, of
Colorado, made a gallant ana what
promised to be a winning tight Tor
government ownership of the teie-
graph, ana it was matter of common
knOwledge in the campaign of 1884, in
Colorado, that the Western Union
would spend any amount of money
necessary to defeat the senator's re-
election; in that campaign and the leg
stature of 1885 it was reported and
commonly believed that the company
spent in the neighborhood of two nun
ured thousand dollars. Senator Hill
was defeated and Senator Henry Nj.
Teller elected i'll his place. EX-POst-
maSter-General John Wannamaker
is another victim permanently
retired TO private life for urg-
ing government ownership of tele-
graphs and reduction Of railroad rates
Tor carrying the mails. Corporations
would not do such things if we had
direct legislation, because the power
of such men as Hill and Wannamaker
to proceed with these reforms by the
initiative would be at least equal to
thC power of n United States senator
under the present system.
Eighth The Initiative particularly
is the most conservative and educa-
tlOual constitutional power ever intro
uuced in government, in this: that ii
IS possible for the agitatOrS to have
all the friends of their proposal count
cd as soon as they can get Il reasOna-
bic number to sign their petition. This
prevents even a thought of revolution
or violence. For example, the Social
lists were anxious TO amend the Swiss
constitution to the effect that ii is the
duty of government to furnish work
at good wages to any citizen on de-
mand. No more extreme measure is
conceivable. OF one hundred and ten
members of the Swiss congress only
Two voted for the submission of the
amendment. The Socialists then cir
culated an Initiative petition, obtained
hIty-two thousand signerS and the
amendment was submitted to the peo-
ple-defeated by more than four to
one in Il vote of three hundred and
eighty thousand, and the radicals were
satisfied. Switzerland alone Oh all tn
civilized governments, is the only one
having no fear of anarchists or anarch-
ism within its territory.
Ninth. The Initiative takes the
place of new political parties seeking
all the officers as n means of getting
new idea enacted into law. 4 propos-
al may thus be submitted and adopted
or rejected by the people without one
of its supporters ever running for any
oitice or being branded as an office
seeker, a professional politician or a
political boss. 1t is not necessary to
put any man in or out of office to get
any law enacted or repealed. Direct
legislation tends to continue good men
in Office 50 long as they are willing to
serve, regardless of their opinion, for
OF against any particular law. In
twenty years the Swiss voters have re-
lected six out of seven constitutional
amendments, and seventeen out of
thirty laws approved by their con-
gress, on which the Referendum was
ordered, either by congress or by pc
tition; they have settled the tariff
question in favor of protection; grant
ed the national government a monop-
oily of the issue Of paper money and
power to create national bank; re-
iected proposal by their congress to
buy one railroad and five years later
approved an Initiative proposal TO buy
all the railroads; rejected the govern
ment currency and banking bill but
Notwithstanding all these differences
between the people and the congress,
theY haYe not In that tWentY Nenrs