Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1910-08-17

EF A "FtNftA " NAr NEt NMNr - AAff
people do DOT like III. II viii he re-
jeeted, and II they do like IL. hey viii
adopt Il.
II the majority af the people DO
not wish their constitution To contain
the initiative and the referendum
clause, they should not be compelled
10 have IL. but the IS 10 ann he
told without I'm opportunity to ex-
press themselves. see no reason
why these various modern features ri
the proposed constitution. such as the
initiative and the referendum. the
direct primary. the recall. etc. de-
manaed by many good people. cannot
be voted on tnst the same as though
we had q constitution now. and were
voting on Amendments 70 IL. There
fore the clauses embodFing b int
tiatlve and the referendum should pe
q separate clause 10 be voted on -
the same time the body 81 the CONSTR
tuition is voted On and the result 1T
this vote should determine us inciu-
sion or exclusion IN the constitution,
In Q like manner other dehatahie
| clauses should be submitted. firmly
believe The people themselves should
decide these features that some peo-
pie are free to call revolutionary
and e~anafehistic. The average IN
seiligence OF the people in New Mex
ico is sufficiently high 10 pass upon
these questions. and ], for one would
favor submitting such questions as
the Initiative referendum. the
direct primary, the recall fe-
male suffrage" prohibition. etc. 10
the voters at the time and IN the
manner suggested in the foregoing
The politicians IN the republican
ranks an least Heem a. object IN let
aFseg 4hr s.aaufn .faFFHa. This MHaRaftnn
Having been q republican I'll my
life I see no reason why they are OBJ
posed to 1t. The great Lincoln al
ways learned what the people wanted.
then went e0uFaEeouslE forward re
gardless 81 what the frlmmeFs' Of
his marty wanted. I do not believe
New Mexico wants 10 copy Oklahoma
In framing the new constitution.
That constitution undertakes 10 legis-
Kate our many questions that can be
safely left to the legislature, espe-
csaily with the referendum In force.
There seems to be a depressing fear
that should the people declare in the
constitution that they should like to
reserve a little OF their powers 20
themselves. that the president ana
coffgress would veto the new eousti-
tuition and we would drop back To
our old position. a province in the
republic. take no stock IN this
President Taft IS a wise man and
believe that the %insurgent movement
in his party IL gaining such
tnm that he would hesitate q long
while before he would declare him
self against the expressed win Of the
people of New Mexico. Therefore. ]
regard this as q fear unfounded. even
II they should 60 far beyond the ini-
tiative and the referendum and the
direct primaries and things radical ma
the new constitution.
In The thirty years 7 rave lived IN
New Mexico / think il safe q Say that
there has not been "a single session
81 our legislature when il was not
under absolute control Of the cor
porate interests SO fer as they saw
iii 10 control il. The corporations
have played the game in View Mexico
as IL was played in about every state
in the Union. There was possibly
some Justification in the conditions at
that time. but 10 continue is 70 vio-
late every principal Of free govern
ment. Things ave changed. the
people have changed, general meth
DDS Of the corporation in politics must
necessarily change and adjust them
selves 10 the more desirable senti-
meut that the win OF the people Is
paramount. The corporation must
necessarily be a great factor Of the
future development ca our new state,
The magnitude Of the development Of
our vast ~esource absolutely require
that il be done by aggregated capital
under corporation laws. The work 70
be done is so gigantic in scope that
Individual effort and capital cannot
and will not undertake it. Therefore
the new constitution must be fair ana
blst 10 the corporation. and where
possible. encouraged, but the new
constitution must protect the people
from the political domination by the
corporations. for the corporations.
and know Of no better method
than bv the referendum and direct
primaries.
/ do not think the people want any
thing but the square deal for them
selves ard are willing to give a square
deal to the other fellow. and l feel
with the corporations out OF poll
ties. they Othe c-0rporationsb viii fare
a great deal better than If they stayed
in politics n pursue the OLD ana
out-nf-date and obsolete methods Of
controlling legislation. With the ref
endum and the direct primaries, the
corporations viii necessarily go out
Of politics because il would avail
llfm MhtIltlE To- NteH hAhtFA1 AENT
the people can say whether these laws
become operative or not.
1 do not anticipate the milleuium
with the initiative and the referen-
dunn and the direct primaries in New
Mexico. but ! do anticipate q more
decent legislature, more equitable
laws. greater protection 20 the new
states public lands given us by con-
gress. and a better citizenship. n
that is worth striving for To my
mind the 0nly sensible thing for the
republicans and democrats alike 20 do
Is 10 frame q constitution as the peo-
pie Of New Mexico "a it, and sub
init IL 10 congress. and the president
without fear or favor and stand or
fall by il like a free people should.
/ am not an ardent supporter ot
the Initiative nor the recall I do not
know that 7 should oppose them. butt I
seems to me that the paramount
question for the protection OF the
people g. g little less p~artisanship and
a little more patriotism
Very truly.
j. L SAINT
Albuquerque, y. NJ, Aug Is, 1910.
sees No Danger I'm the Initiative and