The Leavenworth echo. [volume] (Leavenworth, Wash.) 1904-current, 1906-05-25

years.
Under the Initiative and Ref
the minority can set the
law in motion but it takes the
consent of a majority of the vo-
ters to effect a change, 1t may
be applied to the federal govern
ment, the state government or
the town government, but in
every instance it requires ma
jority to make it operative.
To illustrate, we will take an
incorporated town as an in
stance. Under the initiative the
majority can pass any law, even
tho the council be opposed to it.
Under the referendum the ma
jority can make any ordinance
passed by the town council
imperative. Under the right of
recall the majority can declare
any office in the corporation va
cant, without waiting for the in
cumbent's term of Office to ex-
pire. Any or all of these things
can, however, only be done with
the consent of a majority of the
voters of the town. To question
the abstract justice of such a law
is to say that the majority are
either fools or rascals. The for
mer alternative contemplat, s the
man who does not believe tie
majority has sense enough to
rule.
The following comment on the
effort now being made in the
state of Iowa to have the Initia-
tive and referendum adopted is
taken from Law Notes, a recent
number of New York lawyers
magazine.
"We notice that plan to amend the
Iowa Constitution so as 10 provide for
the initiative and referendum | as
been introduced inlo the Legislature OF
that State. 1t is proposed that five
per cent. of the electors of the State
may demand either the initiative or
the referendum. In theory, among a
citizenship each member of which is
educated and is interested in all the
problems of government, such plan
seems to be ideal. But we doubt
whether such plan is capable of work
ing we'll in any country so large as
Iowa, or among any population which
is not educ tied, upon plane the world
has never seen, to a capacity for anal
wing complicated problems and to pa
triotic interest in the welfare OF the
State. The initiative has not been
tried in this country, and must be
wholly experimental. In Switzerland,
where it exists, it has been applied for
the country at large only to amend
Switzerland has something over a
forth of the area of Iowa, much of it
unfit for habitation. The initiative
was adopted there as Il check to the
centralizing tendencies of the radicals,
and seems to have produced less
effects, either for good or i'll, than
were anticipated. The tendency Of the
average man to imitation and compli
ance with any request not involving
personal discomfort might not render
the securing Of thirty thousand citizens
to demand for particular Legislation
a very difficult matter, and one may be
sure that of the thirty thousand not
one per cent. would have an intelligent
comprehension of the objects at which
the legislation was aimed. Who that
has taken part in an election on con
stitutional amendments submitted tn
the people does not know that the av-
erage voter is ruled only by party atfil-
iations? The truth is that such schemes
are idealistic aud impractical They
neglect the consideration of conditions
as they exist around us. The making
of laws is a matter which calls for spe-
cial knoledge and expert, nee, and,
while we are specializing in other di
rections, we seem to be ignoring the
need of specially trained men for legis-
iation. Will the citizen act with more
intelligence and discretion in initiating
or voting on legislative measures than
he now uses in electing the men who
make laws for him? And if this last
duty were well performed there would
be no need of initiative or referendum
While, as we noticed last month,
some States are feeling the need of
simplifying the problems presented to
the voter, and lessening their number,
in Iowa the present amendment, if it
is adopted, would denote a totally differ
ent and less promising tendency TO re-
medy present ills"
With soma tampritV we bap