The Sentinel=record., 1911-05-14

tO slFS the BiedpSst sdtiSldtsoH UT to effect just the change which was sought to be effected. nancy, the change from an Irresponsible. ex- travagant and inefficient government to responsible, economical and eff cient government. This is the prin- ciple and the purpose of the short ened ballot; the concentration of the choice of the people upon a small lgroup of persons whom they can watch and whom they therefore can control.
 Another of the most interesting features of the commission form Of government is that 1t is usually asso- ciated with the initiative and referen- dunn; the right of the citizens. that Is to say, to originate proposals of law, and to insist that certain meas ures of a debatable character shall be submitted for them for decision And in many of our states there is a dis tinet movement to adopt the initia- tive and referendum as methods Of legislative action for the people of the states themselves. as has already been done in the noteworthy instance of Oregon. The idea of this method of action is not superseded law making or ordinance making bodies, but merely to supply a means of action to be used when and if necessary, in order to keep representatives con stantly aware of their dependence upon public opinion and the judgment of their constituents. It is nowhere sought to substitute these methods of action for those long established amongst us. The purpose is merely one of rectification, restraint, con Itrol
 The same may be said of the re- call; that is to say. the right of the voters of any political, self governing unit to cancel the election of an oi ficer and substitute some one else upon occasion. This is merely means of heightenng the sense of responsibility and when properly safe guarded by the law, can only with difficulty be used for any other purpose. It's intention is to establish in the field of administrative action the same sense of dependence on the common judgment that the initiative land referendum are meant to create in the field of legislative action
 s'In short, these are methods by which we are attempting not to dc Istroy. but to restore-not to impair, but to repair-the great institutions which have been serviceab'e instru ments of Our liberty.
 Take another question of fact in the field of national politics. The question of the operation of the tar Tiff. What are the facts with regard to it's operation? It is becoming plain CT and palmer that the fact Is that. in recent times, at any rate, it has been used not as system of protec- tion, btu as a system of favoritism, a system of patronage, system by which all sorts of favors and special by which all sorts of favors and spe- cal advantages have been dealt out if necessary, secretly tucked away in single words and phrases here and there in the schedules which it was hoped most people would overlook and not understand. The system has gone long way beyond it's primitive purpose of protecting. It has become a system by which, by means of tax ation. the national government seeks to assure certain classes of manufac- turers of their profits, no matter whether they earn them by efficiency and economy or in the production Of sound and marketable goods or not.
 It is obvious, too. that behind this wall of special favors it has been much more possible than it would otherwise have been for those who conducted our industries to combine and. by combining, to assure profits to the badly equipped factory as well as to the we'll equipped; or, if neces- Isary, to put the badly equipped fac tory entirely out of business and pay dividends on the price paid to bring lit into the combination by the price put upon the product of the more efficient factories. No man who looks beneath the surface of the facts can fail to see that much of the history Iof combination and monopoly in this country in recent years has been traceable to the opportunities afford ed-the illegitimate opportunities-by the protective tariff.
 What are the remedies here? They are. as elsewhere. the remedies Of adjustment. We must adjust our fis- cal policy. to the standards of na-