The Washington herald., 1911-02-05

nations bill, carried by 56,905 to 1854
No other propositions were submitted
that year.
sitions were submitted. and seven oi
them were carried. The four defeated
were one for woman suffrage. a change
in the local option law, a bill for the
State ownership of a certain toll road
and one to veto an act Of the Legislature
the only time that has been attempted
The measures adopted. on which from s!
to 50 per cent of the voters cast theil
ballots, included the extension of thu
initiative and referendum to municipal
town, and county affairs, the right Of
cities to frame their own charters. ar
anti-pass bill, and bills for taxing sleep
ing car, express, telephone. and telegraph
companies.
In 1905 nineteen measures were sub
mitted. Of which eleven were proposed
by initiative petition. The variation
in the total vote cast on each Of these
questions, ranging from 81 to so pei
cent of the total vote for governor. IL
pointed to by the friends of the initia'
tive and referendum as an indication
that the people do discriminate and
carefully consider measures submitted
to them. OF the eleven initiative pro.
posaIs. three were beaten, including
the woman suffrage amendment and d
bill exempting improvements on land
from taxation-the single tax" -Four
of the referendum proposals were de-
feated, including an increase of salary
for members of the legislature. requil
ing free passes to be issued to public
officials, increasing the number OF
judges. and appropriating funds for an
armory. Among the initiative pro-
posals adopted was one providing foI
the recall of any elected official on Pc
tition. one for proportional representa-
tion in the legislature. and one re-
stricting the use Of money in elections
In 1919 there were thirty-two questions
submitted, of which only nine were adopt
ed. The average vote on the thirty-two
the total vote for governor than in any
previous election. reaching only 722 pei
cent of the total. The heaviest vote was
on Statewide prohibition amendment,
which was defeated. Among the measures
adopted in 1910 were one permitting three
fourths of a jury to bring in a verdict
in civil cases, one extending the direc,
nominations law to the nomina ton at the
primaries of Presidential electors and
dele gates to national conventions. an en-
ploycrs' liability law, and one the i'm
portance and significance of which has
been generally overlooked, permitting any
county in the State to adopt the Henry
George single tax system of taxation
the first constitutional permission fol
such legislation that has been given II
ndN
Gates of the initiative and referendum In
Oregon said after the election in 1910 thai
steps should be taken to prevent the sub
mission of so many questions at any ons
election in the future. 1t is generally
conceded that ten or twelve questions are
all that the average voter can be ex
pected to assEmilate and make an un
biased decision upon at any one election
Under the initiative and referendum II
Missouri the people in 1910 voted down {
Statewide prohibition amendment to tha
constitution. In Oklahoma some Of thu
important questions adopted in 1905 in
cluded the Torrens system of land regis
tration and a constitutional amendment
authorizing the relocation of the Stat
capital, while measures for the estab
sale of liquor and a proposal to sell tn
school and other public lands owned b!
the State were defeated.
| A very active propaganda for the ex
tension of the initiative and referendum
to other States is now at work, and tn
publicity given to the proposal by II
adoption as part of the platform Of tn
| National Republican Progressive Leagu
will doubtless add interest to the subject
| In the States where 1t has been in oper
alton for some time. its most active op
! ponents have been the big corporations
| BY many the initiative and referendum
has long been regarded as the panacea 70
nearly all the evils of government tina
are complained of from time to time. A
! to its probable extension. Ellis Paxso
Oberholtzer, who has given the subjec
| more intimate study than any othe
American authority, says:
Whether We approve of the principl
per Sc. or disapprove of it, it is some
thing that has fastened itself securel
upon our constitutional practice, and !
| appears to be assured of a much NOR
extended development in the immediat
| future"
Copyright. 1911. by Frank Parker Stockbridsc.)