Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1910-08-28

Z AN*H~N aE uHaN EaftA AAaaW LHN HA r
feet ~ ~ initiative and referendum
Ia very large part 81 ahlch partaEei
~ the nature 81 acrimonious confro'
yefsy Fafher than ealm and impair
ffal discussion 81 fire merits ~ fhesf
proposed changes In Our system %
government. would ike 10 contrib
uto as briefly ag possible ON things
which may ~ 81 importance and
from ain entirely different point -
view from that occupied hg : sd
g0cates or opponents ~ these things
While q few pHfsons have definitely
informed shemEelges as ~ What j.
meant Dy the Initiative and referen-
DUN. yet H. remains b fact that 2
large portion 81 the public has no
very definite IDEAS on the subject and
this ia ia part due to the facf that
az ther exist "a she few states where
they have been adopted. the yrotl-
aions are not uniform 10 has been
stated more than once in the COM
municsfl0ns published in your paper
| thai the Initiative and referendum
have been adopted In twenty-five
states. but this Is incorrect 10 one
FORM or another they have been
| aGopfed ln five atatea-MOntana.
| oklahoma. oregon south Dakota and
Utah, and lu one efafe-Negada-the
referendum appears - have been
adopted.
Time and space win nor permit 81
any detailed statement ~ the varying
provisions ln each 81 these states bot
~ "a general way 10 should be said
that the Initiative consists Of the
proposal by some specified percent
age of the legal foters Of the state. ~
q legislative measure. which must
%therenpOn be submitted 20 o vote Of
the electors III the state. nnd. u
adopted. hccomea the law beyond
possibility of change hE the iegisla-
lure. while the referendum is to De
ordered upon q ike petition Of a
gpecifled percentage 81 the voters
within "a limited time after "a passage
81 an act by The legislature. when
the voters are permitted 70 pass on
tho question Of the approval or dis
approval ~ the statute In question.
In Montana. oklahoma and oregon,
eight per cent Of the voters are re-
quired for the Initiative, and IN South
Dakota five per cent. For the refer
endum TO Nevada ten per cent are
required. and IN Montana. oklahoma.
oregon and south Dakota. five per
cent are required while IN Utah the
number required Is left 20 the legisia-
mre 70 fix. a recent work on state
constitutions notes the fact that IN
oregon the secretary Of state com
plains that laws adopted by initia-
tive are Of poor or "a spelling
punctuation, omissions, and repeated
wortia and the author SAYS that u
O. yei too early a. nudge " the effect
in the other states
The first thing that strikes the
mind if that. as applied 90 conditions
in the United states, these proposed
measures are comparatively new and
we can hope for little instruction
from observations Of their practical
working The initiative and refer
eudum have been in use In the RE
public Of switzerland for many years
but conditions ne 90 area and p%opula-
zion SIRE 70 different that 80 Is diff
cult 20 draw any satisfactory conclu-
sion from the experience Of that
country.
The total area Of Switzerland Is
not quite 10000 square miles. OF
which only 1861 square miles are
classed az productive, the remainder
being covered by mountains, glaciers.
and lakes. II Is divided into 22 small
states or cantong the largest OF which
contains only 2773 square miles, while
the smallest has only % square miles.
Each OF these states. like our own,
has its independent legislature, eXecu-
tive and judiciary. Ia four OF these
cantons the legislature IS made up OF
an citizens appearing in person. one
canton has $50 kline of referendum
and another hes only a financial ref
erendum relating to money matters
nniy. The -four IN which the legisla-
ture Is made up - Oh citizens appear
ing haze naturally always had a ref
erendum la the legislature Itself, as
every citizen could appear In the
Legislature. fust as citizens APP
pear at the town meetings in some
OF the New England states or the
remaining %cnutous. even and a half
have what rs called the obligatory
referendum. requiring every law 10
bo submitted To- q popular vote. while
eight and "a haif have the iacultative
referendum, by which "a fixed number
of citizens. varying from 500 to 5000,
may demand q popular vote. In the
four cautous whore every citizen Is "a
member of the legislature. each one
enjoys the right of initiative, but IN
The other ctutons the number re-
quircd for the initiative varies from
!. 900 Go 1900 100 1874 the faculta-
tive referendum was adopted 600 fed
eral matters. requiring eight cantons
or 10000 citizens. 60 put 30 lu motion.
ana fu 1881 in federal matters the
initiative WINS adopted in an imper-
feet form to meet the case of q par
tlal revision OF the constitution. re-
quirinR $4,000 citizens Go exercise the
right of initiative. The total popuia-
ton of switzerland Us less thau three
and q half millions.
From this brief outline Of Swiss
conditions b does not seem that exc
pericn,c boz that country can Dee OF
great assistance 90 as in considering
what ought to be dome i'm "a state OF
great size and comparatively small
population in proportion to lts size,
such cas- NeW Mexico will be-
The earliest adoption of the rcfcren-
dunn In the United States appears to
have been in South Dakota In 1898
aud there has been much more activ-
lily IN this direct legislation by the
people IN oregon than in any OF the
other states A reference 10 Oregon
Will again De hereinafter made.
Before proceeding with an attempt
az fair aud impartial consideration %
what can De said for and against the
Initiative and referendum. a. seems
proper To- call attention TO the fact
that. while these particular words and
the exact thinEH Indicated by them
are or recon appearance ia American
political affairs. vet they are. boo "a dtf-
ferent form only, a survival OF the
spirit Of pure democracy. which has
been s~truggling fer moro complete
recognition for centuries with hut lit
fAn suU-4aa E4fUn halE mn farther