The Green Forest tribune., 1912-06-21
The hitiatiue and Referendum h Arkansas B y C [ o II K P E K
By C L 70 1T A R p E R


the people of EACH MUNICIPALITY, EACH COUNTY, and of the state re- serve to themselves power to propose laws and amendments to the. consti- tuition and to enact or reject the same at the polls independent of the legis- lative assembly"
 Had not the capitalized amendment been adopted, the rights of "the peo- pie of the state" would have been clear and unequivoca1. But the conclusion of the words leach municipality. each county" brings on all the confusion and uncertainty.
 After the incorporation of the into the organic law, the legislature realized the difficulties and attempted-t whip it into shape by the passage of an Enabling Act, placing restric ions upon the censtitu- ton, in other words, by amending the through legislative enact ment. The restriction of the enabling act is as follows:
 Restriction by Enabling Act
 Flight per cent of the legal voters of the state * and eight per cent of the legal voters of any county CT any city or Incorporated town may # propose any measure not in- consistent with the general laws or of the state, applicable only to such county or municipality; I,fg at strued to allow the initiative of any measure to set aside or revoke any three mile petition order made by any of the county courts of this state pro- hibiting the sale of liquor under sec tions 512S to 5132 of Kirby's Digest or local option liquor laws providing methods of determining whether the sale of intoxicating liquors shall be prohibited in any county, city, town or township
 Now there is nothing said in the amendment about "in- or the discrimination in favor of local option laws. And upon that rock some well-laid plans are doomed to split. Innumerable are the questions that have arisen re- garding the application of the amend ment and the enabling act to the mak- ing of laws and adoption of amend ments.
 Some of the Puzzles Propounded.
 Can the people of a city or county pass law that is in direct conflict with the general laws of the state? If so, one county might declare crap shooting capital crime, another might make murder a misdemeanor and the city of Hot Springs or town of Leslie might set aside the entire body of the state law and adopt an individual code.
 Can the people of a city or coun- tv adopt an amendment to the constl- tuition irrespective of the rest of the state, as was proposed by Camden to authorize the selling of liquor? Ii so, it would be possible to have as many petty sovereignties as there are counties, cities and towns in the state, and the authority of the state would become a nullity. The constitution declares that not more than three amendments may be to the constitution at one time. The last legislature proposed two. the people have proposed three' Can all of them stand, or must two be The attorney general holds that amendment No. 10 did not change the constitutional restriction, and that only three can be submitted.
 Can the legislature amend the con stitution. or place restrictions upon the power reserved to the people by tha legislature Is the enabling act constitutional? If constitutional, then the power of imitation has been re- stricted against the expressed will or the people. and if unconstitutional, all the bars of restraint have been Iald down and free ingress given to all the wild-eyed reformers these perllous times may develop and chaos would soon reign unrestricted.
 Can the legislature amend, repeal, restrict, defer, or otherwise change an act passed by the people? Ii It can. then the action of the people IS nothing more than the popular lntro- duction of a bill in the legislature which may do with it as 1t pleases. II it cannot amend poular act, then must the Supreme Court become the only deliberative body that interprets a people-made law, and whips it into practical shape. eliminating the Jokers and the inconsistencies.
 These are some of the broad princi- ples the court must decide, besides which there are innumerable minor ouestions of procedure that are now hay. uncertain, inchoate, and con- troversial.
 Construction Is Too Liberal.
 Attorney General Hal L. Norwood' in his brief before the Supreme Court, contends "that section 3, of the en- abling act places too liberal con- struction upon the words of the amendment reserving to counties and municipalities the right to initiate measures.
 We insist" says he, "that it waa not the intention of those who adopt ed the amendment to allow counties to repeal laws passed by the general assembly, although such laws may be special or local in their application It is presumed tEat the members o1