Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-03-29
REJECTED IN TEXAS
Referendum and Recall Prin-
cipIes Placed Under Ban.
BY COURT AND GOVERNOR
Declared to Be Unconstitutional and
Undemocratic.
TEXARKANA CHARTER VETOED
Importance Of Manufacturing In
dustries Recognized in state-Ef-
fort to Induce Investments.
rEXARKANA CHARTER VETOED
BY WILLIAM E. CURTIS
Special Correspondence Of The Star and the
Chicago Record Herald.


| and the other from the governor, who has
| vetoed an act OF the legislature granting
\ new charter to the city Of Texarkana,
because 1t provides for the initiative,
referendum and recall. which, he declares,
are repugnant to the constitution of
| Texas. undemocratic in principle and con-
| trary to the principles upon which the
government of the United States is based.
These two blows at a system that is grow
ing in popularity and is being generally
adopted throughout Texas and other
states in the southwest is likely to bring
matters to cricis. If President Taft
vetoes the new constitution Of Arizona
for the same reasons that the Governor
of Texas has given, as he probably will.
the initiative, referendum and recall will
become national issue.
Last year the initiative method OF legis-
| lation was first adopted by the socialistic
element in Dallas to regulate the rates
| of the telephone company. An ordinance
| fixing a schedule OF rates 10 per cent be-
| low those which now prevail was adopted
| at a general election: 1T was vetoed by
the mayor. and the referendum, that is
the popular judgment, was appealed to. A
| special election was held. the ordinance
was passed over the mayors objections,
| and the telephone company applied to the
courts for protection.
| Supreme Court Unanimous.
| The case was carried up to the SUI
| supreme court, which rendered a unani
| nous decision on the LIST of March, de-
| claring the result of the vote on the tele-
phone ordinance in Dallas null and void
! and pronouncing the referendum provision
| in the city charter unconstitutional. This
decision, Of course. applies to every other
city in Texas which has adopted the
referendum. The court holds that the
initiative may be constitutional when used
| as form of petition, but that it cannot
be final. 1t is merely an expression of
opinion on the part of the voters that
they desire to have their ideas adopted
but the constitution does not give such
expression the authority of law.
This decision puts the referendum out
of business in Texas and by inference
renders the recall invalid also.
The recall was tried in Dallas last sum-
mer. having been invoked by the enemies
of two members of the board of educa-
ton who are elected by the people and
serve without salary. The policy of the
board, for which two of it's members were
chiehy responsible. was not approved by
certain citizens, who passed around a
petition addressed to the mayor. re-
questing a special election for the pur-
pose Of removing the obnoxious gentle
men from office and electing others to
succeed them. 1t was more a piece of
spite work than recourse to the recall
privilege for the public welfare.
The petitioners found it comparatively
easy to accomplish their purpose, because
the election Immediately preceding the
petition called out a very small vote.
only little more than 1000. and it was
only necessary for them to get signers
numbering So per cent of the ballot cast.
But the public understood the situation
and declined to humiliate the members
o. the board of education. This incident
demonstrated to the people Of Dallas that
the recall is a mistake and that it should
anne3led a CT
per cent of the qualified voters sign a Pc
tition 1t is not probable that it will
ever be attempted again.
Governors Veto No Surprise.
The action of the governor in vetoing
the Texarkana charter was not unex-
pected. He has never been in favor Of
altruistic ideas and the freak legislation
that has brought the government of
Texas into ridicule. He is we'll known
throughout the state and is highly re-
spected. Oscar b. Colquitt is his name.
He was railway commissioner for six
years before his nomination for governor.
His home is at Kaufman, in north
eastern Texas. He went into office the
18th of June last. being elected as a To-
cal option advocate. in opposition to the
prOhibitiOnfsts on a platform calling for
"fewer laws and better, enforcement of
those upon the statute books" He made
a pledge in his inaugural address that he
would not recommend any legislation ex
cept the regular appropriation laws; that
he would do his best to relieve the state
from political agitation and secure 1T po-
| litical peace and legislative rest: that
| foreign dollar should have the same
rights as the domestic dollar, and that
| the same protection should be given to
corporation property as to private prop
| erty.
Thus far he has carried out his pledges,
and recently demonstrated his sincerity
| by sending sharp message to the legis-
latura telling the members that they
| were wasting their own time and the
public money, and recommending them to
adjourn and go home. This sarcastic adj
| vice was vigorously criticised and con-
demned by the political leaders of the
| legislature, but was heartily commended
| by the people generally. Although 1t
was bitter dose. the legislature swal-
lowed it and adjourned within very few
days. leaving g. large number Of funny
i propositions pending. A bill to submit a
| prohibition amendment to the constitu-
ton was passed. however; has been sign
| ed by the governor, and will be voted on
by the people at special election July
| Although there is a general understand
ing in the eastern states that the laws Of
i Texas are unfriendly to corporations and
| to foreign capital. 1t may be said that
| public sentiment is veering in the other
/ direction. The feeling is becoming gen.
eral that something ought to be done to
| induce outside capital to come here for
| investment and to interest itself in de-
veloping the rich and unlimited resources
| of the state.
Real Difficulty Explained.
| am assured by bankers and other men
| of financial responsibility that the diff
Guilty has been more in the radical appli-
cation than in the letter Of the laws, and
they point to the successful operation of
the thousand industrial and commercial
| corporations which have been conduct
ing their business without the slightest
interference and with great profit. Sew
| eral representatives of manufacturing
corporations outside Of the state have
also assured me that they have never had
the slightest difficulty in transacting their
| business. although they admit that dema-
gogues and fanatics, Of which Texas has
her full share, have endeavored to make
political capital in their attacks upon the
Standard Oil Company. the International
Harvester Company and other so-called
trusts and have endeavored to convince
the public that railways are the enemies