The labor world., 1912-04-20
hem: that every Same year the

people instructed the state Legislature.
oarsf " bs gbtss tsss seps9s D
New. that was = pretty tough propo-
tslature-to elect Demoorat to the
Legislature to elect a Prohib1tion1st to
the United States senate. say al
most as bad, for Of course, either
home In the United States senate: but
what on earth would q Prohtbition1ss
People Said: "You MUST" They Did.
I But to get back to our subject. The
oyer the traces, refused to elect a
! busy with the recall. They didn't
actually recall anybody, but they got
their fountain pens. and then the leg
islature awoke to the fact that they
were after all. merely public serv-
the viii and 81 tIsir Ms9 up to them to obey
former masters that they had served
SO faithfully and SO long-not the rail-
ROADS, the big corporations. the public
general. but the people. the plain,
everyday people, the farmers, the
blacksmiths, the workers at the bench,
the merchants. the professional men
people. Like the little dog in the adj
verttsement. the legislature listened to
the monograph, and for the first time
IN their experience as public servants
Heard 1t and obeyed. A Republican
| legislature elected Democratic United
states senator because the people said.
| IN mo uncertain tones: you must.
! It Is our WILL"
What Is the Initiative.
These instances, which, I may add,
are ABOUT all the instances have been
aple to discover in which it was
| necessary to use the recall, are enough
| 70 show you what other people have
| peen able to accomplish with that lit
| tie instrument of human progress. And
W. %Wnat they have done. you and I can
uesday Nay $H5 7th 'as5 asxt your Vote vote
| on the recall, initiative and referen-
| dunn amendments. Don't forget that
I And now, what about the initiative?
vasn, wnat Is g meant cant. by that? To initiate
| means that we can start the iaw-mak-
| Ing process ourselves. Let's take an
example. e Suppose you and I and the
modern housing ordinance-or law
passed;-ia law that would compel all
the cheap lodging houses and hotels
TO give their patrons--our friends the
walopers and that large class Of men
who are so often, through lack Of
Work-and ot d, other reasons-compelled to
| ona sleeP IN Cne cheapest places
they can find-to give those men,
in: How do we go about it now?
| - we go TO our aldermen and get him
1sw1 Ia in!ro1pce Tpce such u3 an ordinance Cor
I How Laws Are Killed.
IL the hotel keepers and lodging
mousse Keepers, and saloonkeepers (for
tney are often one and the same) cSuld
convince majority OF the aldermen
l some %h-k
law was not needed; that it would only
| put an unnecessary expense on the
motel Keepers, and benefit nobody, that
',o,,id wou1d pc the end of the matter. There
would have to scratch along through
the: nights as they have always done.
You see it isn't hard to convince
on such matters. Some aldermen are
always open to conviction-a1id some
tlmes they are convicted-I mean con-
Under present conditions, I say. that
aa.a,. and I and the rest of the people
But II, we had the initiative as part
1tiste' orbegi n. the -law-making. pro
some good lawyer. or professional
%aP on T. fe X Ms4taS Rsst Pesier rs or Dick cullen
ordinance as we ought to have, and
Ewe'd get the hotel men and iodrine
mouse Keepers and saloon men to meet
with US 81 and state their side Of the
case The matter would be thrashed
out thoroughly, In friendly manner.
and when the ordinance was ready to
go to the council, there wouldn't be
ole washstands in it, but there would
pc provision made for a clean, decent
bed, and sanitary place to wash for
the man with only a few cents in his
pocket: nsss Then, If the council refused
to the people themselves-to you, and
to me-and If we passed it no power
on earth could veto it-except our
l law-Our law.
va, Ana dn,na that's IS the initiative-what do
| What Is the Referendum.
| And now, the referendum.
/ II means that IT there is any doubt
| as TO a certain proposed law being
just what the people want that law
4 Can be referred to the people for their
! approval.
Suppose we illustrate it with an
example OF how 1t would work in ac-
l how 1T has worked in the places where
| 1T is in force.
Suppose our city council should be
RersuadedLsome way or other-that
| city up in five or ten-year contract
with the Duluth Edison company. Or
! course there is no danger of that hap
| pening; but I'm only using this as a.,
example. They can do it If they want
to, and If they can get majority of
| the aldermen to vote for it, and no
matter how strongly the people might
oppose such a move, nothing could be
done to prevent it.
Here Is where the referendum comes
IN. II we had the referendum as part
Of our city charter, wwe could demand
that the question be put up to vote
OF all the :people-or referred to tho
| people-and their, decision would be-
hna!. The same thing would hold
good with any ordinance-or law-that
the: city council sought to pass in spite
Of the peoples wishes to the contrary.
So there we have the referendum
In nutshell. It's simple as Abb c.
But. you ask, will 1t work? It's
g: new-fangled thing, and we're afraid
It won't work out we'll in practice.
Taft says that the people-the mob
are not conservatives; they will pass
fool DAVIS. Well, as to that If thew
can pass any more fool laws than the
average legislature they'll have to 20
some-+and then exceed the speed limit
OF foolishness. But, as a matter of
fact, the people--the mob-you and I
and the other fellows-are far more
conservative even than the people We