Bisbee daily review., 1910-10-18
THE sNlTIATivE
 AND REFERENDUM.

porated in the constitution will be one of the first important matters to be disposed of by the convention now in sess.on in Phoenix. In the cleo tion for delegates to the convention the people most emphatically declared in favor of an initiative and referen- dunn provision in the fundamental law of the new state, but it is safe to say that in doing this they were not possessed with any desire to have such provision that would in vite or permit the use of the plan of direct legislation to the annoyance or disturbance of the territory by sec tional or class agitators. The demo- cratic convention in this county took an ultra-radical position on the in itiatiye and referendum, but it is safe to say that not ten per cent. of the voters of this county would de sire that by the Oregon plan of the in- itiative and referendum, on per cent basis for the initiative the direct legislation machinery could be i'm voked by any locality or by any class. Such we do not believe is the desire of any considerable number of the people of Arizona. The people want plan by which they can force I legislation whenever there is a gen. eral demand for it and do not want plan which will keep them continu- ally disturbed by agitators for this or that particular fad or legislative ism desired by some particular To- cality or class Of citizens. To ob- viate such an undesirable state of affairs the initiative and referendum provision should require that what ever percentage is agreed upon should be distributed throughout at least majority of the counties Under such a plan a petition would be a guar antee that the desire for a proposed law was not confined to one locality or class. There is another objection to the Oregon initiative plan which should be eliminated from the Ari- zona constitutional provision, which could be done without in the least curtaiIing the power demanded by our people for direct legislation. In Ore gon initiative petitions are directed to the secretary of state prior to a gen . eral election and it is made the sec retary's duty to give publicity to the proposed law and place it on the official ballot. To our mind a much better plan is that found in the state of South Dakota, where initiative pc titions first go to the legislature un- der a requirement that the legisla' ture must either enact the law re. quested or cause its submission to a vote In the state of Oregon today \ the people are called on to vote or many proposed laws that perhaps would be on the statute books had the original petition been submitted to the legislature of that state ana the expense incidental to their sub
 mission saved to the state. On thu
 other hand those proposed laws found to be faulty or objectionable would
 have been given publicity by dls
 cussion in the legislature. alway
 presumed to be men above the aver | age intelligence and chosen to repre- ' sent the people. With these imms
 terial changes from the Oregon iI
 itiative and referendum plan, so ia as providing a self-acting direct les U islative plan IS concerned, Arizon
 would be relieved of any disturbanc
 from tose who might be disposed [ force elections on trivial or unin portant matters.
 Tn the work of framing the const ' tuition wherever improvement can b } made in any part of it that shoul q be done, so that Ar.zona will proud of fundamental law equal | d or better than any other state.
 One of the answers of the Lc