The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1907-05-06
INDIFFERENCE OF VOTERS.

We notice that In the various lhtct-
views with Mr. Bryan IN tho East, and
almost invariably IN interviews, talks,
and expressions from the Bryan follow
ers. there is insistencc upon the mitia'
tive and referendum. as great popular
reforms. The initiative is where the pCo'
pie have the right under the law TO
initiate legislation, 10 propose 1t TO
J Legislature. City Council OF public body
which has legislative OF quasi Legislative
/ functions. The referendum is where,
after body, legislative OF quasi legls
lativc III character. has agreed to GER
! tain proposition it is then referred TO
the people for their ratification, Tins
comes usually in the proposal OF con
stitutional amendments or III munlclpah-
| ties to the referring of various qucs'
tions. as the issue Of bonds, OF matters
! of property rights or settlements, TO the
vote of the people or of the taxpayers.
A reference TO the history of the lni-
! tiatlve in Utah is impossible, because
! there has been no instance of 1T. here;
unless possibly we may except the case
where importunatc creditors forced
session of the City Council to pay for
certain work on tho gravity sewer which
had been condemned by the City Engi
nocr. That pressure, which was the
nearest TO the initiative OF anything
that we recall, was successful in caus-
ing the City Council to accept and pay
for condemned work Another instance
of somewhat similar nature occurred
during the last session Of the LcgIsla-
turc. when appropriation was made 10
pay a large sum- FOR admittedly fraudu-
lent bounty warrants. These eases, how
I ever, were not openly and avowedly un-
der the commonly received term of ini.
tiatlvc; although the nature of them
was precisely the same as that of the
initiative, as commonly understood.
The referendum, however, has been
frequently employed in Utah. Some
constitutional amendments have been
adopted, notably those of the general
election of 1898 IL has been the COM
mon fate of all such propositions to
receive very little attention at the hands
Of the people. Thus, at thc general
posed constitutional amendments were
submitted to the people, The vote on
representative in Congress was at that
same election 67,S05; the total vote on
the proposed constitutional amendments
was 22,00S, lS.lO7, J5,772, 1914, 1867;
the average of the vote, in fact, was
less than 1900 on these amendments,
gressman, the vote on Congressman be.
ing itself light. The amendment vote
that run to 22,00S was on the proposed
constitutional amendment which pro
vidcd for the maintenance of city
schools and allowed the country dis
nue. from Salt Lake, which they had
not been able to do heretofore since
Statehood. The vote was close on this
amendment; the interest in it called out
= a vote almost one-third as great as that
cast for members of Congress-
In this city on the first Tuesday in
January, 1904, there was a vote on the
issue of 81 100000 in water and sewer
bonds. The vote on the issue of the
WtIeT DOnuS WAS lGuJ In fHVOr ant
1917 against, The vote on the sewer
4" bonds was 1868 in favor and S9C
against, OF a maximum of $3.50 in
; total vote which could easily be thre,
times as great. This is rather discour
aging from the advocacy Of the refer
C endum standpoint, especially when sucl
+ a large issue of bonds was proposed
I There was on the twentieth of tn,
Il month Just past, an election which pro
t posed the issue Of $250,000 in bonds O.
the school district whose boundarie
y coincide with the municipal boundaries
c of this city. The total vote in favo
e of these bonds was 377; against. 262
! This where a vote at least ten timc
e AS large could be polled, can hardly b
t considered an argument in favor of th
c referendum, The fact is that the pee
:, pie pay very little attention TO nbstrac
t questions submitted to them, and witt
j. the referendum enforced, all that an,