The Birmingham age-herald., 1912-03-10

The initiative and referendum, formerly
 known s>the New England Town meet ing system, has for more than two cen turies been used in local affairs in the
 northeastern section of the United States.
 Just as in municipalities when the voters | decide by a direct vote as to issuing im- | proyement bonds, etc, so the people of
 the eastern states decided at their town
 meetings" the amount of money they
 would raise by taxation in their town | (precincD for repairing roads and for the
 keping of the poor. In many sections the | feeble. the aged or infirm are still kept by
 individuals in each township, town or pre-
 cinct.
 When the constitution of the United ! States was adopted the referendum prln- ciple was retained for the ratification of
 Tor for amendments to constitutions, and
 an adverse vote was their veto to the pro-
 posed constitution or amendment; but the people could decide whether the vote should be direct or through representa-
 tive delegates chosen for that purpose. | The people have always initjated-com- | menced all reforms-not only in our own ] country, but in all other lands where democracy in any form has existed. Jef- l ferson needed the cry of the people when, | the great northwest was anneXed-the | Louisiana purchase was demanded by the
  | that Texas and California should become
 a part of the United States. The purchase | of Alaska was the result of an old issue. when the people demanded all of North
 America as their heritage and right. The various treaties and purchases of con- | tiguous territory on this hemisphere was | the early policy of our government The
 taking of the Philippines alone was not | demanded by our people.
 | Contrary to the general belief of cur people our constitution was not-like the | Declaration of Independence-a happy in- | spiraton of genius; but 1t was a growth, | a development-the experiences of all the
 states under their several basic laws | under the articles of confederation as a
 whole. as a cohesive bond for the states | before our national constitution was framed, and the experience of the historic past was studied, then aided by the lamp | of experience' was formulated and in | which all the good features of all consti- tutions were embodied dropping such features as experience hath shown" to be detrimental to the ''purpose of forming a
 more perfect union--in order to establish justice-to insure domestic tranquility and | to promote the general welfare of our people that gave priceless treasures for | this purpose
 The recall was very thoroughly tried out | before 179O, when our constitution was | adopted. The Continental Congress con- | sisted of one house-somewhat like our | House of Representatives, except that the | bicameral system now in use was com
 bined in one legislative body. The mem | bers were called delegates. The repre- | sentatives were state representatives, as well the peoples representatives, and | their term of office was for one year. But | they could be recalled at any time, and | other representatives sent in their stead | The system was very unsatisfactory, so much so that 1t had no great advocate in its defense and 1t was not presented for | incorporation in our constitution. Recent | ly this old exploded idea has been brought | out as something new and urged as a pan acre for all the civic ills our government now has or may have.
 Another old, tried out plan that brought | disgrace and poverty to it's author and | ruin to the country, has been brought for | ward and introduced to the people as a | specific for the civic ailments of business. | Like the original author of the scheme | the advocates are men of standing and influence; they are wealthy and are known
 as captains of industry" but these pro-
 fessional @ statesmen seem to need a
 kindergarten school of primary historic instruction.
 | The "Mssissipp Bubble or John Laws
 system of frenzied finance, backed by a | royal edict May ?, 1716, and known as the | La Banquc Generale was under the con- | trol of John Law. By decree in August, | 1717, Law established the "Compagnie des | Indes- s-Occidentales," and practical sov ereignty was given the company over the | Mississippi valley. Operations began near
 Mobile and extended westward to the | mouth of the Saline river. The govern | ment priced all commodities-all that the planter produced for sale-all the trapper l had for sale, and all that all persons liv- | ing under the French government in | America bought Not only the produc-
 tions of the soil, but chattles (slaves) were
 also priced by the government, just as
 our government has by law fixed the mon
 etary value of gold. It was tried out un- l der most favorable conditions and was oD- | noxious to all concerned. | Over and against the theory stands | written in black letters, failure. disaster
 and ruin, and yet capitalists are asking that our government shall fix a price for l the products of their steel mills, that the government shall guarantee to their oper-
 ations by this method a stable income, and | for gain alone they propose that the whole
 policy of our government shall be | changed The ''protective tariff" has been l found inadequate to meet the require ments of well watered stock scheme and now it is proposed to saddle the American working man with a new scheme to in- | CftdS6 Inslf bufutiiS anu thieli bS tho ii- | comes of plutocrats. In snort It would | be the rankest kind of class legislation | and paternalism gone mad. . l No sane man can advocate the scheme. unless he desires our form of govern ment changed from a democracy to an | aristocracy-from republican form 10 | that of a despotism-foI" at no time have we an historical record of such a plan being forced upon any people save under | the influence of John Law fin France; but | to be operated in this country only. In actual practice there was always and ever 1 a failure to obtain a legal standard. | In all measurements of length distance l from point to point is obtained by means | of a standard of length. nothing is said as | to quality or quantity or kind of material. l A wooden yard stick-36 inches long-is | just as lawful as a yard stick of brass or gold And this is equally true of weight. The pound averdupois must be the equiva- lant of 256 drachms; but the government does not require the weight to be of iron or lead or copper.
 If steel rails are to be priced by the gov ernment at $3O per ton of 200O pounds. want to ask if the government shall also have power to compel the manufacturers to produce a given quantity of steel rails per month or year. even if the price of materials should rise and the rails should be worth s35 per ton here and in other