Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-03-20
CONTEMPORARY OPINION


Krem Star: 1t will be interesting
for the people Of the state to know
just what sort of initiative and refer
endum law the legislature has dished
up for them. One of the bills passed
by the house and the senate provides
for initiative and referendum as ap-
piled to constitutional amendments.
The petition for a change or al add
ton to the constitution requires the
signatures of rs per cent of the voters
in a majority of the counties in the
state. This looks as though it would
make the law imperative as that is a
requirement that is almost impossible
to meet. Then when the matter comes
to an election it requires that there
be a majority of the votes cast at. the
election before the measure a carry.
1t appears then that an amendment to
the constitution would be more diff
cult under that law than at the pres.
int time, when it is necessary to pass
two sessions of the legislature and
then will carry if a majority Of the
votes cast on the proposed amend
ment are for the measure. The bill
providing for initiative and referend-
UNI as applied to the statutes requires
that there shall be at least ten per
cent of the voters at a previous cleo
ton on the petition. This leaves open
to subsequent legislatures what the
maximum number shall be and gives
another legislature a chance 10 put
such a maximum on the petition
clause as to make the law imperative.
Then too, the addition of the emer
gency clause on any law will take the
matter out Of the hands of the people.
There was no bill providing for the
recall passed at all. .
Driscoll News: The thirteenth leg
islative assembly closed last Satur-
day morning, not exactly in a blaze
of glory, but rather in a spirit of
t~hankfulness on the part of the peo.
pie that it was over. Over three
hundred measures were passed, but
for the most part they were unimport-
ant ones AS is the usual proceed
ure, the majority of the laws were
sent through at b%reakneck speed on
the last two days, and as n mem
Der told the writer, on a great many
different measures the members did
not know what. thew were voting for.
The real simon pure initiative and
referendum and recall measure failed
of passage, with an apology for it
squeezing through. A woman's suf-
fer (for an age) bill saw the light,
at. which the men and. women and E
future Legislature are all to get a
crack before the fair sex can vote.
Among the things we did get, were
the a%nti.snuff law, anti-cigarette law,
no spring shooting, better roads, and
other lessor meritorious measures.
Taken as a whole, the results are be-
low the average session.
Darlington Record: The executive
committee of the state editorial asso-
citation met at Minot last week, and
passed a resolution urging all papers
in the state using patent insides to
discontinue the use of the same as
soon as possible. This will mean
that a great many of the papers will
of necessity reduce their size just one
half. That is, where the paper is
now furnishing its readers eight
pages, with the patents eliminated
there will be but four pages. The
newspaper men have realized for a
long time that this step was neces-
sary if they were to make a success
of their business. Up to a short time
ago there was real competition in the
furnishing of patents, but all the COM
panies putting out these r~eady-prints
have combined into a gigantic and
most ubiquitous trust, a trust that
the people themselves who read these
pages are made the victims of, as
well as the publishers. When this
combine was perfected, the price of
these sheets was practically doubled
to the publisher, and he is forced to
buy Of the house that supplies his
territory, as he could not get them
elsewhere II he chose to do so, as the