United labor bulletin., 1912-07-25
CORPORATIONS ATTACK THE
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. Law
Claim 1t to be Null and Void Because Not Properly
Advertised and ReCorded--Ask Writ
of Mandamus

( Secretary of State James B.. Pearce,
acting on decision of the attorney gem
eral. has decided to advertise and place
on the ballot all of the bills and constitu-
tional amendments that have been fled
by petition in his office. There was some
question in regard to what position the
secretary of state should take in the
matter, and he put the question to At
torney General Griffith as to whether he
should take eognizance of the many IL
legal signatures on said petitions. The
attorney general told him that there was
no other course to pursue than to adver-
tise the proposed laws and place them
on the ballot.
To prevent the proposed amendments
initiated by petition of the people from
coming to a popular vote of the tax
payers next November is the intent of
a writ of mandamus against Secretary of
State Pearce, sought in a complaint filed
in the district court by William H. Tate.
former city clerk of Pueblo. 1t will be
heard Aug. ).
Tate, through his attorney, N Walter
Dixon, claims, as a taxpayer, that Sec
ton 1 of Article of the constitution,
passed at the general election of 1910,
and creating the law of the initiative
and referendum, invalid, for the reason
that it was not published with the ses-
sion laws of 1910 to be submitted to the
Also that the enacted law was not filed
by the governor in the office of the sec
retary of state until Nov. 16, or after the
election.
Tate allowed commission form of gov
eminent in Pueblo to be attacked while
in Office. and had Dixon to prosecute.
The case is now pending in the courts.
| The public utilities bill, the contempt
of court amendment, the headless ballot,
and other measures will be weighed
against the voice of the people with the
ballot next fall, and it is believed that
: the attempt to secure mandamus, the
| writ for which not only will prevent the
proposed amendments from going on the
ballot, but will cause the bill itself to be
re-enacted. is clever ruse on the part
of the interests to have it knocked out
altogether.
Tate charges that he has made ef-
| forts to have Pearce ignore the petitions
of the people to initiate the proposed
bills without avail and that he has like
wise failed to have Pearce submit to the
voters of the 1912 election the laW.Hok
t1s10, creating the Initiative and refer
endum. because of the alleged illegal
qualification. but without success.
| A further reason why the proposed
amendments should not come before the
people is the needless waste of public
money" entailed because of the so-called
invalidity of the creative bill. 1t will
cost at least 100000 to have these bills
submitted TO the vote, according to Tate
Not only does the affidavit of Tate
charge that through a peculiar juggling
of the records the laws of Chapter 5,
containing the initiative and referendum
act. were not filed in time to be legally
placed on the ballot, but that the failure
to have this proposed law printed. caused
it TO be prematurely voted upon and
rendered void.
Tate's remedy is to ignore all of the
twenty proposed amendments to be
voted upon next fall, by attacking the
validity of the bill itself and thus pre-
venting certain needy reform measures
from coming to the expression of the
people in their vote.