The independent., 1903-03-19
MAJORITY RULE
Report of Work Accom- plished and Out
line for the Future by National Fed
eretien fer Meierlty Rule


On January at the municipal cleo
tion in Toronto, a common council
and mayor were elected, pledged to
install peoples veto and direct in
itiative through rules of procedure.
This was the result of questioning
candidates by non-partisan organi-
zatiOn, the candidates being informed
that their replies or failure to reply
would be made public, and every pos
sible effort made to defeat the OPP
ponents Of majority rule. AS result
II OF the "a aldermen elected are
pledged in writing, and so is the
mayor.
Equally good results were obtained
in the city of Detroit, last November,
and in Chicago last April.
In the state campaigns of last year
the Observation-Disclosures system
was applied in ten states and with
the usual result, namely, majority
Of the legislative body were pledged
in writing in every state where the
questions were asked by a fairly
strong organization. In seven states
the legislatures were carried, namely,
linnois, Missouri, Colorado, Califor-
mia, Washington, Montana and Massa-
chusetts. This is a remarkable show
ing.
In Missouri the candidates for con-
gress were questioned, and eight DEM
ocrats and one republican are pledged
to majority rule in national affairs, to
be attained through rules of proceed
ure. The newly elected United States
senator from Missouri is also pledged
in writing. These pledges are in the
possession of the chairman of the leg
islative committee of the Missouri
state federation of labor, and will be
forwarded to the executive officers of
the American federation of labor at
Washington.
A most noteworthy fact is that the
Missouri chairman states that he
found it easier to secure pledges from
the congressman and senators than
from the candidates for the legislature.
In Illinois both the candidates for
United States senatorship pledged
themselves to the referendum. The
successful candidate made the fol-
lowing pledge through the public
press:
II favor any principle care not
what it may be called-that will en-
large the power of the people on all
questions, state and national, that af-
feet the we'll being of the citizens"
There are also pledged to the ma
jority rule system for the control of
trusts, Congressman John Lind of
Minnesota, and many other of the
newly elected members.
TIE foregoing results are COM
plete demonstration that the refer
endum and the initiative are being es-
tablished by merely questioning the
candidates and publishing their re-
plies or failure to reply. In short, by
making majority rule & real issue,
majority of the candidates are Sc
cured at once. No candidate dares
to openly oppose the establishment of
majority rule.
THE WORK OF NON PARTISAN
ORGANIZATIONS.
The questioning of candidates in
last years campaign was by the leg
islative committees of organized la
Dor, and of the grange in the state
of Washington, also by referendum
leagues, and by non-partisan fedora
tions for majority rule.
These non-partisan organizations
are being reinforced, and to re-
markable extent. Since January ] of
this year, two new movements have
been launched:
THE PEOPLES RULE"
Early in January, Hon. George Fred
Williams asked the people of Massa-
chusetts, regardless of party, to or