The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1911-11-02
Vote AS You Believe.

land county have never voted for a
more important official than the dele
gate to the Constitutional Conven.
tion. If adopted, the new constitu,
tion will contain the basic principles
under which we will be governed
The ideas and views of the men who
make the constitution will determine
whether it will be for the benefit OF
all or for a privileged few.
We have been urging for several
weeks the Importance of this Office
and have advanced arguments in favor
of certain principles we think should
be embodied in the constitution. The
initiative and referendum we espec.
tally favor.
On account Of this position We have
been called both socialists and anar-
chists. If belief in these principles
makes us socialists and anarchists,
we are rightly manned. We, however,
believe that we belong in the Repub
lican ranks, as many Of the leading
Republicans of the state and nation
are earnest advocates of the initiative
and referendum.
The people who are opposed to these
principles should cease calling their
advocates names and try to show why
they will not benefit the people
When men like ex.pIesident Theo-
dore Roosevelt, Senator Cummings,
Gov. Woodrow Wilson, DR.. w. O.
Thompson, president of O. S. u, DR..
Washington GLADDEN., Walter f.
Brown, chairman of Republican
state central committee, Gov. John
son, of California, Clifford Pinchot,
Hon w. j. Bryan Senator LaFollette,
Senator Gore and many others, among
them many of the brainest men in the
United States are advocates of the
principles, the time is past for calling
them fads and issues.
The opponents of the initiative and
referendum almost universally will
admit that theoretically they
are good, but claim they will not
work in practice. They claim that
ift he people have the power to pass
laws directly or keep laws passed by
the legislature from ever being in
force, that it will unsettle business
that bad laws will be passed and that
we will be ruled by demagogues and
mobs
What do the cries of mob rule, con-
troll Of demagogues, that the people
will enact bad laws amount to in their
final analysis, but claims that the
people are ignorant in regard to gov
matters that The people
are not intelligent that the people
are not fair and honest.
II we believed these things about
The people we wouldIalso oppose the in
Itiative and referendum, but we do
not. We think on the contrary that
The people are intelligent, honest and
have good judgment. We think that
for the legislature to know that any
law IL might pass could be referred to
Jhe people for approval or rejection
would be a good thing. We think
that for the legislature to know that
II 1t refused to pass a law the people
,ould pass that law directly would be
l good thing. We believe that this
would do away with the corrupt lobby
md corruption in the legislature.
Further than this we advocate these
principles because we believe that the
people are less often deceived in
than in men. If a law is
presented TO the people either for
enactment or for approval or rejec-
ion, we think they are intelligent
enough TO know whether the proposed
aw is good one. The principles
Llone will be presented TO them. 1t
will not be as II is when two men are
for office, that the person
Ility Of the men will largely decide
he voters In the casting of their votes
lor Will man vote for or against the
law because he Is a Demo
rat or Republican as the majority do