The Harrison times., 1912-05-25
Little Rock Letter.
LITTLE Rock, MAY 22nd, 1

1 " w oAlN NuN ''NNNlNN - N''''N'N'
ably at variance, and the curriculum
very much confused, but the instltu-
tion has been chartered and the
amateur lawmakers will have to
complete the course in some way.
1t all comes about through the
effort to put the | & X Amendment
into effect, and from all sides come
the choruseS of II told YOU So from
former opponents of the policy
Even the warmest friends of direct
legislation are forced to admit that
things have gotten into an awful
muddle Each day adds to the
tangle, and many are admitting
that the sword Of a constitutional
convention is the only means Of sew
cring the Gordian knot,
The Enabling act by which the
last Legislature sought to yitalizC
the Amendment, and the Joker "
clause in the Amendment itself arc
the cause of all the trouble Some
how, things won't harmonic, and
the deeper the lawyers go into ii
the less the people know about it,
The Enabling Act is in jeopardy,
and that is all that stands in the
way of chaos, Judge Fulk Of Pu,
laski Circuit Court, in the Dallas
county seat removal case, has held
that the Enabling Act is unconstitu'
tional in SO far as it reads into the
original amendment any provisions
or restrictions not set out therein,
Omit such restrictions, and there is
not much left Of the Enabling Act.
The "joker" in the original Amend.
ment, for which Representative A,
d, DuLaney of Little River county
was responsible, extends the initia,
tive powers to the people of any city
or county The Enabling Act
sought to cure an obvious defect by
providing that 'no act shall be in.
itiatcd that is in conflict with the
Constitution or general laws But
Amendment No. 10 does not say
that, and Judge Fulk holds that the
courts cannot make laws, but must
interpret statutes as they are found
reading nothing into or out Of the
provisions of statutes or Constitu'
ton.
The logical consequence of this de-
cision, if sustained, would be that
any county or community may in,
itiate any law, whether it be in con,
ilict with the Constitution or gen,
eral laws or not Argenta and Lit.
tie Rock could have their Sunday
bascball Hot Springs could have
its horse racing; Fort Smith could
have its prize fighting Hope Cam
den, or any other town or city in
any "dry' county could have its
saloons, thereby defeating the
operation Of the local option law,
for it is well known that it is the
country vote that, rs a rule, makes
the city dry, These things are al
ready pending and will doubtless
prevail should the decision of Judge
Fulk be sustained although there
are general laws against all Of them
Carried further, it would be logic
ally possible for any city or any
county TO declare itself independent
of the rest of the state, repeal the
Constitution and the whole body OF
laws, and set up n commonwealth
of its own, Why not2 What is
there TO prevent ~ Certainly moth.
ing in Amendment No, 10, accord.
ing to the opinion Of Hon, George
h, Rose, Judge Guy Fulk, and
Others, who declare that the Amend.
ment, with the "joker' attached,
and with no restrictions upon it,
gives the people unlimited power for
the initiation oGlaws,
MOndamuSes have been granted in
the Dallas county seat, Hot Springs
racing, Little Rock Sunday baseball
and Montgomery county seat re,
moval eases, aud Others are expect.
ed,
Not only are local acts involved in
the legal entanglements, but Con.
stitutiOnNl amendments and acts OI
n general nature are threatened
with the discard One act, the War.
mock state banking bill, has already
been lost and will not be voted
upon, although over IL 900 sigma
lures were filed for it before the cS.
pirNtion of the required time But
Atty.Gcu Norwood held that It
did not comply with the require
ments Of the amendment, which pro.
vides that every such petition shall
include the Mll text Of the measure
SO proposed The individuals sheets
of the petition in this ease contained
only the title and syllabus Of the
bill, but a full copy oft was filed ut
.tk., Inat ,,ith All ,f tL. ,.titi,,,a