The labor journal. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1909-1976, 1910-04-29
VOTERS ARE
TO DECIDE

Legislation Becomes the
Issue of Fall Campaign.
Shall the people in this state have.
what those in Oregon, Maine, the two
Dakotas, Montana, Missouri Oklahoma
and some other states have secured. the
right to propose a direct law for public
discussion and vote? That is. shall
the voters have a right to take the
Initiative in making law that the
people want, and that the state legisIa-
ture has not sen fit to enact?
Faddists Will Not Do the Work
of LawMaking.
1t is some work to devise good law.
to write out il full text, and to obtain
for it the attested signature of eight
per cent of all the legal voters in the
state No one is going to undertake
so much work unless there appears to
be sound reason why the said law
should exist; nor unless there is eX-
pectation that majority of the people
will vote for it when it comes to them
for approval or disapproyal at the next
election. The Referendum is the re
ferring of an unsettled question to the
voters for their decision; and no law
proposed through the Initiative pan
take effect until it is approved by ma
jority vote in Referendum. To secure
the right of Initiative and Referendum
is the only sure way for the people
to get such laws as they want.
We Ought Not to Submit to
Misrepresentation.
Is it fair or right that the people
should be compelled by the action of
legislature to live under laws that are
injurious or unjust The people should
have the power to veto any harmful
law that the legislature enacts. If,
at any time within ninety dayl after a
law has ben enacted by the legislature.
so many as five per cent of the voters
demand by petition that the said law.
or some part of it, shall be submitted
to the people for their adoption or re
lection, then the said law should be
suspended until the next regular cleo
tion when the voters may decide by
majority vote. whether the enacted law
shall stand. The people may thus con
troll the making of all laws, except
such as are necessary for the immedi-
ate preservation Of peace, health or
safety.
The right of Initiative and Referen-
dun does not do away with the leg
islature. but it prevents the legisla-
ture imposing upon the people certain
laws that the people do not want, and
it enables the people to secure all laws
that they believe to be desirable
There are wise, far sighted, human
ity-loving men outside the legislature
Among the people of the state taken
together, and including those in the
legislature, there is more wisdom than
is pos sessed by the hundred and fifty
men who may make laws at Olympia.
1t is best for the state that all the
wisdom it contains should be utilized
in the making of its laws.
1t Is Impracticable to Buy a Majority
When money speaks to a legislature,
it may corrupt a majority therein, and
secure legislation that exploits the
people at large. But money cannot
induce a majority of all the electors to
vote against their own interests, and
no law that is against the interests of
the majority is likely to pass a Refer
endum vote. If the voters make a mis-
take, the right of Initiative and Refer
endum enables them to correct the mis-.
take quickly We should have the Ini-
tiative and Referendum.
How may the people OF this state Sc.
cure the right of using the Initiative
and Referendum in law-makingg BY
electing to the next legislature only
candidates who agree to further the
plan of making an amendment TO the
state constitution, which, if carried by
majority vote in Referendum at the
election of 1911, will give the people
of this state "a square deal" in the
making of laws
The state constitution can be changed
only by Referendum vote, on an
put before the people by the
legislature The constitution requires a
Referendum vote for its own amend
ment, but does not permit a Referen-
dun vote on state laws. The constitu-
tion must be amended TO permit the
application of the Initiative and Re
fcrendum TO all law making,
Stir up the attention of your fellow
citizens, urging them to elect to the
next Legislature only those candidates
who will pledge themselves to the said
amendment of the constitution.
Whenever, in other states, such an
amendment of their state constitution
has been offered by the legislature TO
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