The morning journal-courier., 1908-10-24
VISIT HERE MOST PLEASANT
CriiiClScs Referendum in His Final Lecturc--Philpnthro in United States and England Cause
 for Hope.

years.
 Ambassador Bryce said last night that his visit here had been one of the most pleasant experiences of his stay In the United States While in New Haven he has been tho guest of Presi- dent Hadley and Secretary Stokes and the interim was spent with Admiral and Mrs Cowles at Pennington.
 After the lecture a reception was giv- en for Ambassador Bryce al the Yale Art school by President and Mrs Had ley. The seniors of the university were invited and many took the opportunity of personally meeting YaIe's distin- gushed guest.
 The lecture was delivered in Lampson lyceum and began observing that of the three chief obstacles Co the discharge of civic duty, incidence or apathy was the most frequent Selfish personal in- terest the most noxious. while party spirit, In itself the least harmful, was the most likely to affect those who were directlGconcerned with the work ing of practical politics There was not vet anything 10 show whether these evils were increasing in Europe Par ty spirit was apparently less strong than 1t had often been,
 of the remedies that might be used to cure the evils described. some were me- chanlcal others ethical Improvements might be made in the machinery of government which would tend 10 stim- uatc the interests of the citizens and 10 make it easier for them Co assert their independence against a too pow erful organization or to repel the at tacks which selfish Interests made upon the community. After passing refer ence to philosophical anarchsm and collectivism, the lecturer considered several of the plans suggested for rouslng the citizens 10 q keener sense of their duties he indicated the scheme of proportional representation as one which was advocated as enabling the eector who found himself in . minori- ty to effect more than he could under | the existing system If he could do more, he might be more eager to do l what he could Whether the nropor- l tional system would effect this was a much debated question Light might he sought from the experience of Bel eium and Switzerland In England tho experiments begun forty years ago had been dropped Another plan was i that of screwing the citizen up to the duty of voting by Guing him f. he ah- stained without sufficient cause This l has been tried in some cantons of swit- l zerland II is too alien to English ar American ideas 10 commend itself 10 us ar to you More practical and Interest ing was the proposal to refer the most l qualified voters, for their final decision 1 after they had been passed by the leg i islature This scheme works well In | Switzerland, Is universally approved there. while the plan of giving the neo- 1 ple what is called the initiative, and letting them vote on laws that have not come before tho chambers Is of much more doubtful utility The experience of switzerland deserves to he carefully studied There could be no doubt that when the laws voted for the people they were carefully discussed and sclutnlzcd and that this contributed both 10 sustain the active interest of the ciizcns in public affairs and to re- duce the influence of party organiza- tions and party spirit. Neither did suiss statesmen think that the dignity and influence of their legislative cham bers had been substantially reduced. However Switzerland was small country with conditions very unlike those of Britain France ar America and experience might work well there which would work less beneficially in larger countries
 For the preventing of the pervor- sion of politics by tho selfish interests of individuals it was obviously desir- able to reduce as far as possible the points of contact between those in- terests and the action of legislation and administration. To do this was difficult, because there were many kinds of public work which only q public authority could do either In the national or in the municipal sphere, Nevertheless it ought to he bern in mind that the danger of let ting private business interests come in to affect the action of government was a real and a constant danger, flt to he guarded against by every safe guard that could be applied. Govern ments ought to seek to avoid all measures which tended to enrich one group or plants of persons at the ex- pense of the general public. Com. mon justice, as well as considerations of purity, required that Great care ought to be taken in the giving out of contracts and the granting of fran. chises. Public employees should not he allowed to become a privileged class getting higher wages than other workers for the same kind of work Fills promoted in legislature by prl. vato persons for their own pccuniary benefit ought to he strictly and closely examined by a responsible public au- thority, and precautions taken against the exercise of undue private inau. enco.
 Tho lecturer then observed that pri. mary laws belong to the class of ox. pedioncc for helping the citizens tc discharge his duties efficiently. But Europe had no experience of suct laws, and he could add nothing tc what they knew here, He thcr touched on the necessity of maintain. ing the standard of public duty in of. fcials by the enactment of stringent penalties for breaches of public trus and the efficient enforcement of suct penalties Public prosecutors must be active, juries must be firm, sent