Belding banner., 1911-08-03
. hol. 4. the sieve. There will be

q hole In the sieve. There will be
elections to select lawmakers and
elections to make laws for them; cleo
tions TO select judges TO construe laws
and elections to determine whether
we like the way they construe them;
elections for men TO execute the laws
and elections TO execute the executors
II they do not execute to suit us. Mr..
President, we can not have too much
OF a good thing. The composite citi-
zen." bearing upon his shield the in
spring device
Count that day lost whose low descend
ing sun
Views at thy hands no uplift voting
done
will unanimously and hilariously go
into perpetual action. With nothing
to do but feed and clothe a family OF
six or eight or ten hearty, growing
children, the composite citizen" Will
have no difficulty In snatching few
months of time here and there during
the year TO devote TO these duties or
progressive citizenship, and his spare
moments can be utilized In reading,
studying. digesting and perhaps un-
derstanding a few volumes OF pro-
posed initiative and referendum legis-
lation.
GOVERNOR WILSON THEN AND
NOW.
A government of the people In a ter
ritory of vast extent, of large popu-
lation, and of great and increasing
diversity of pursuits and interests, can
be administered only by system OF
representation. 1t Is almost as i'm
possible for the people en- masse un-
der such circumstances TO directly
perform the various functions of gov
ernment as II is for the human body
in its entirety to perform the func-
tions Of the heart or the brain or the
lungs. In a primitive state of society
the one may be done, as In the most
primitive forms of life the other may
be done, but as society becomes COM
plex and as the forms OF animal life
become complex organs to discharge
special functions are necessary.
Mr.. Woodrow Wilson, in his very
valuable book, Constitutional Gov
ernment In the United States" has ex-
pressed the thought clearly and force
lully. ne says.
A government must have organs; II
cannot act inorganically by masses. 1t
must have a law-making body: ii can no
more make law through its voters than II
can make law through its newspapers.
Thus spoke the president of Prince
ton university, In the days of his tran
quillity, before the microbe of polit-
ical ambition invaded his system
Mr.. Chamberlain-Mr President
The Vice -President-Does the sena-
tor from Utah yield to the senator
from Oregon?
Mr.. Sutherland-I do.
Mr.. Chamberlain suppose the sen
ator has noticed that Mr.. Woodrow
Wilson has been candid enough 10
say that he has changed his mind?
Mr.. Sutherland had observed that,
Mr.. President.
Mr. Chamberlain-But the senator
seems to be standing pat"
Mr.. Sutherland-That this view does
not seem to be shared by the governor
of New Jersey is one of the peculiari-
ties of human psychology which ! do
not attempt TO explain. | can only say
that | prefer the calm, reflective judg-
ment of the college president to the
fevered hallucinations of the hopeful
presidential candidate. Those who in
dorse his later utterances, reversing
the ancient epigram, are simply ap
pealing from Philip sober to Philip
drunk.
Those who favor the initiative and
referendum are in the habit of refer
ring to the Swiss experiment with
those methods. If ii should be con-
ceded-as II by no means can be
that the initiative and referendum are
successful in Switzerland, the condi-
tions in that country differ so yadica
ly from conditions here that 1t doe
not follow that they would be sue
cessful in the United States.
The cantons in Switzerland are
small In area and in population. The
people are essentially homogeneous
and conservative. Their legislative
needs are few and simple. None OF
the legislative checks which exist un-
der our system of government exist
there. There Is no executive veto, no
judicial power Of setting aside consti.
tutional law, and there is only a single
legislative chamber in each of the
cantons. But even under these condi-
tions thoughtful men who have investi-
gated the matter agree that more
harm than good has resulted from
their employment.
Mr. Wilson, already quoted, has CIV
en- the subject very thorough and care
ful investigation. Speaking OF the ref
erendum, he says:
Where IL has been employed 1t has not
promised either progress or ehhghten-
ment, leading rather TO doubtful expert
ments and 70 reactionary displays OF
prejudice than to really useful legisla-
ton.
He refers to the fact that In the
cantons of Zurich and Berne it led to
the abolishment Of wise health regula-
tions; that in federal legislation ii
was used only to aim a blow at the
Jews under the guise of a law for
bidding the slaughter of animals by
bleeding He says:
The vote upon most measures sub
mitted to the ballot is usually very Hight
there is not much popular discussion. and
the referendum by no means creates that
quick Interest In affairs which its orig
inators had hoped to see II excite. II
has dulled the sense of responsibility
among legislators without in fact quick
eninR the people TO the exercise OF any
real control In affairs.
If It has thus failed In the compare
lively simple affairs of small Switzer-
land, how much more dismal must be
the failure In this country, with its
vast and complex affairs.