Los Angeles herald., 1907-09-09
REFERENDUM TESTED

OS ANGELES voters have a deeply
interesting object lesson in the
question now being tested in Sac
ramento, as to whether the referendum
clause in the city charter will be tried
successfully by the people The city
trustees, clearly against the wishes of
a majority of the people, have granted
a railroad franchise to occupy x street
with railroad tracks, which will inter-
vene between the river front and
transit thereto when the proposed i'm
provements to the river shall make 1t
possible for deep water ships to come
to the levee to load. The press and
people were and are a unit in con-
demning the proposition, from it's in
Ception to finish, and all possible in
huences were used to stay the trus-
tees in the wroAgful act In the face
of such concerted opposition the trus-
tees deliberately ignored the wishes of
the people and granted the franchise.
Now there is wave of popular in
dignation calling for the application of
the referendum clause of the charter,
and it will succeed. Under the law
the people have thirty days in which to
get their petition before the board of
city trustees demanding referendum
of the franchise question to the peo-
pie, and under the initiative clause of
the charter the people may proceed to
advertise franchise for sale that
shall be located where they want it
to be.
Let the voters of Los Angeles place
themselves in the position of the peo-
pie of Sacramento and reason out the
true value of the initiative and referen-
dunn in such case. A hostile board of
trustees, for the reasons adduced by
the press in this case Ignorance, self
interest, outside dictation or worse
Interior motives) see fit to outrage the
interests of the people and locate
track or tracks, or plant, or bridge, or
other public structure where a great
majority do not, for good reasons,
want it or them to be; what bless
ing it will be If, like the people of
Sacramento. they can call the recreant
officials down and enforce their wishes
by public ballot! What a paralyzed
condition the city would be in if they
could not!
The ballot or election which must
follow the demand under the referen-
dunn clause is the safeguard of the
city and may result in indorsing the
board. but if it should do so it lwould
be only after the popular will had been
expressed, and then no man could
reasonably object.
In the phenomenal growth of Los
Angeles now in progress scores of like
propositions are almost certain to
arise; as. for instance, the granting of
licenses on the canal zone from Owens
river, which latter could not be, if the
people could have their way, for the
good and sufficient reason that q
great majority of the people, regardless
OF political leanings, are opposed to it.
1t is not difficult to picture other and
more important questions likely to
come up, on which the board and peo-
pie may differ widely, and the initiative
and referendum are the only means
whereby the will of the majority may
be made secure
The people of Sacramento will veto
the obnoxious franchise, because they
have the power to do SO; the people of
Los Angeles could not copy their
action if they permitted the initiative
and referendum and recall clauses to
be cut out Of the coming charter.