Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1913-01-07

candidates for this office at the primary
election that such candidate should
thereupon be declared elected, and be
issued forthwith a certificate of cleo
ton; and that the name of no candi-
date fer such office shall then appear
upon the ballot at the general election.
| The present requirements as to reg
istration sho1id be changed. Entirely
too much money is now spent In this
way and some method should be form
ed fer eliminating all unnecessary reg
| istlation.
Corrupt Practices Act.
For the purpose of improving the
conditions under which elections are
held in this state. ] advocate the pas
sage by you Of a corrupt practices acc
which will govern the holding of both
| primary and general elections through
| out the state.
Stringent provisions should be made
against all acts and practices which
| tend to prevent the securing of free,
untrammeled and unbiased expression.
on the part of voters, on any question
that may be before them for decision.
Extending Term Of Office.
1t is apparent. l believe, to every
thinking person that our state officers
| are elected more frequently than is
necessary This will be more than ever
the case in the future If we give working
\ force and effect to the system Of recall
1 of public officers now authorized by
| our state constitution. In the past Il
has taken each new state officer large
| part of his first year in office to be-
! come thoroughly familiar with all the
details and duties thereof, and no
sooner has he acquired working
/ knowledge and proficiency than he
has been compelled If he has any de-
sire to succeed himself, to begin 10
think of being reelected. With a
properly guarded system of recall there
seems to be no good reason why the
4 term of office of state officers should
not be made four years instead of two.
and | urge that you consider the con-
| stitutional amendments which would
have to be submitted and adopted oy
| the people in order to bring this change
about
| Initiative, Referendum and Recall.
| The Eleventh Legislature passed
among others, three proposed amend
ments to our state constitution which
were adopted at the recent general
election and which provide for what vs.
known as the initiative, the referen-
dun and the recall, under such rules
and regulations as may be provided by
acts of the Legislature. I advise that
your honorable bodies should consider
at this time the rules and regulations
which should be adopted for the pur-
pose of giving force and effect to these
constitutional amendments. As a gem
eral rule it may be said that the evils
which have grown out of these powers
| of popular government wherever they
! have been tried. have resulted from
the attempted indiscriminate and reck-
less use of such powers by small bodies
| of dissatisfied or disgruntled citizens
who have wished to use this power as
a means of retaliation against those
who have been more fortunate than
themselves in elections, or whose Of
fetal acts have not pleased their
whims or fancies.
To provide against the improper use
of these powers il should be provided
that the petition, which must be signed
as means OF placing these powers in
operation, should be sufficiently large
that the labor and expenses involved IN
procuring the necessary signatures
would serve as a reasonable precauton
against hasty and ill-considered action.
1t is a very common experience, also,
that those who circulate petitions have
specious arguments with which they
induce voters to sign them, frequently
against their better judgment. To pro-
vide against mistakes of this kind. and
against the work of professional agita-
tors, 1t should be prescribed that Pc
tition providing for the initiative, the
referendum or the recall must DE
placed, during The stated hours of each
business day during q prescribed
period, at one or more places in each
polling precinct, where those who de-
sire to de so may sign the same. 1t
should be provided that where possible
this should be done in the presence Of
the person who acted as registrar IF
the precinct at the preceding election,
and that no one not registered at the
said election shall be permitted to sign
any such petition. The circulation of
these petitions for the purpose of OBJ
tanning signatures should be expressly
prohibited. 1t Is believed that limita
tions Of this kind would give these
provisions a practical working effec.
and would serve to prevent their I'M
just or arbitrary use. l suggest that
1t be provided that the recall shall not
apply to officers whose term of offise
does not exceed two years, and con-
stitutional amendment should be pro-
posed, as before indicated. extending
the term of office of state officers To-
four years.
In fixing the percentages of voters
Il
signed TO put any of these powers in
operation, you should bear in mind
that general state elections are veey
costly An election for the recall of
a state official. for instance, would
cost the taxpayers of the state not
less than $4,000, at low estimate.
Only a considerable percentage of our
voters in all parts of the state should
be given authority to initiate action
which will SO materially add to our tax
hurdpps In general the poSSesSion Of |