Arizona republican., 1910-07-27
THINGS ID
 CONSIDER In Making of a State Con-
 StitUiOn INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM A Discssion of That Feat ure by One Who Has Made a Study of History and Constitutional Cues tions.
INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM

BlOllS.
 H is only a short time until the ! election of delegates for the consti- tutionaI convention will be held Sep tember 12th is the date. It is about ! time that the people should begin to | study upon the matter and different 1 features are already being considered One of Tempes citizens, Supt B. H. Scudder has devoted a good deal of his time during recent years to Q study of history and constitutional | questions. He is accordingly in d
 position to speak with certain de | gree of knowledge on matters of this i kind and submits the following. non partisan statement:
 1 Since the passage of the Enabling 1 Act by the congress of the United | States. it now devolves upon the peo- | ple of Arizona to make a constitu- | tion Already some things in our | territory have been said concerning ] this document Such qualities as brevity. preciseness. simplicity. have been suggested to become characters of it.
 In entering upon a discussion of a question which is now launched in i the whirlpool of politics. l wish |" | exercise the same care which is ex | ercised in the class room. where all beliefs are held. and that is not to | decide the points. but lay the mat | ter before the readers and let them | judge as to the merits themselves This constitution is not to be made i for republicans alone. not democrats | or socialists alone. but for our pres | ent people and succeeding genera tions. This fundamental la" cannot 1 comprehend all of the future nor the present. and any attempt to prepare a constitution that would so fit the
 details is futile in this complex changing age of social and business activity.
 A constitution should embody fund amentals such as are embodied Tn our national constitution. These fundamentals should be accurate and
 carefully stated The constitution of the United states" said the great | ment ever struck off by the pen of | man." From such a statement on" might think that this fundamental law vas suddenly hit upon. Such was not true as it was the outgrowth or the experience which the several thir- teen Colonists had and was the pro
 duct of the experience of the framers Some have said that our Arizona constitution should be the best. as we have now all the models which have preceded by which we may shape ! ours. This is true in measure but there are features of Arizona society almost as different in many ways as the geography itself Arizona has its individuality and the constitution of Arizona should have its distinguishing | features.
 All are pretty we'll agreed that it | should be brief. The constitution or i the United States can be read in 2S minutes. yet it is the supreme law | over ninety millions of people. The constitution of New Hampshire has but 500 words, while the constitution
 of Missouri has 26 900 words or forty l four times as many as New Hamp- | shire All of the state constitutions | contain the phrase. the right of the | people to pursue happiness. except | Missouri, and the Missourian reserv- 1 ed to himself the unwritten right to | be melancholy if he liked, however.
 our experience shows that the Mis-
 sourian is about the happiest indi-
 vidual in the world.
 | rrrt-- chn hn so there is left less of room for mis-
 understanding and few unconstitu- ! tional laws. Lawyers often make laws
 and constitutions so that endless
 euuivocations ensue and courts are
 asked to determine their constitu-
 tionality The constitution should be
 precise Ambiguous language should
 be avoided and the person who wishes
 to word parts so that they may seem
 to be in the interests of the public
 yet contrary when closely scrutinized
 should be avoided.
 With these few preliminaries let us
 take up one of the questions that has
 been suggestion for consideration, and
 consider it without political bias as
 we should consider it. It is folly and nOHSeHSe tlldl tHS ici'"i S' 'A '"
 stitution should be considered in any
 other light This constitution is for ; our children and our children's chil- dren and not so much for us. as a goodly share of our lives has already
 passed. This constitution is for our
 children and their progeny and the
 consideration from the political stand point is the sheerest sort of short
 sightedness. The voter should cast his vote for the man regardless of