La Junta tribune., 1912-06-15

III the tnltihttNe ana retoSeu
DUN there seems to be no
end. At the present time the In
dications are that the voters Of Col
orado will have more good and bad
laws submitted to them for Intel
iigent consideration" than Oregon had
two years ago. There are grave
doubts among those who are inclin-
ed to be sanely progressive whether
Colorado's initiative and referendum
law. In. Its final analysis. is going 70
prove the hoped for panacea for All
the political Ills with which Colorado
has been afflicted. Its aim was to
secure social and political better
ments for the people as 4 whole. but
whether practical and effective legts-
lation will result is very doubtful.
All that is necessary to initiate any
kind Of an old law IL to circulate .
petition and secure the signatures Of
Is. 900 or 10000 people. most Of whom
never read the law petitioned for and
would not even take the time to
I familiarixe themselves with II BE-.
fore voting for or AGAINST II,
| During the past two weeks we
have had an example right here In
La Junta OF the method and the mad
ness OF initiating laws under pres
ent statutory conditions. Petitions
were circulated In La Junta asking
that five constitutional amendments
and four laws be submitted to the
people TO be voted upon at the elec.
ton this fall Three hundred names
were attached to each one Of the pe-
titions. and We are reliably informed
that not one Of the people Who a..
IJo1 49, a1gAAeuess- tnAns -
%utioas RED - u de proposed laws
and constitution amendments. and
some of them did not even take the
time to read the titles or show m
inclination to inform themselves In
aAy way - 10 what the laws were
all about
These laws are fHthercd by the Di
rect Legislation League. and we have
the unsupported assurance OF this
distinguished body that they are all
right Some Of the proposed laws
are correct In principle, and should
be enacted into law. hut II has al
ready been discovered by those who
have taken the trouble to thorough.
ly investigate there proposed laws
that some Of them were conceived in
political sin and drafted for the sole
purpose of fooling the people and
perpetuatinE politicians In power.
People suffer far more from the fail.
ure TO enforce existing laws than
they do from lack OF proper legisla-
ti0n.
II IL folly To even think Of enact.
Ing laws by petition. without the
change of . word or the dottinE Of
an l. or without working them over
In tn. legislature and subjecting
them To severe criticism. but that
IL the system we have In Colorado
at the present time. That II about
the best We could expect or hope for
from . Democratic Legislature. howcv.
Or. Wheu the supreme court Of the
United States has decided BY vote OF
five 70 four that . Law 10 unconsti.
tudonal isn't II rather presumption
To assume that the average man IL
capabls Of Dassing upon the merits
or demsrits Of . proposed law! What
kind OF laws will we have In Colorado
In few years II we continue the sys
tenn OF enactinK them by petition.
and even Incorporating them In our
constitution. In most cases without
reading them or familiarixing our
selves with them. All We have u
do nowadays 10 enact = Law n Ia
sign 3 petition for = proposed statute
or constitutional amendment. without
oven reading II. and trust to luck
that somebody has given W the right
steer that the law 10 all right.
Elect honest men 10 the icgisis.
turs - mAhs laws. but reserve the
initiative and referendum 70 utilise
- . last resort. - nat In cass
the honest men" prove recrsant IA
tho trust Imposed upoa ,thsn and ~.
fnss 70 Dass laws that ths Dsopls
want. ths I'm nav - called out aal
eabnittpl = he DsoDIs st tAs as9t
soecttoa. ne uassss q tAs psopls
are fas bsttsr juAgss q nsa tAaa
4 teey A. q neaeuees. ~ are ~
1870 nk1ly b slesst a heasst uaa
tAaA - Aosese nsasues.
i ~ 0geDeoel 1swD 1aaAeee1 ~ ~
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