Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-03-12
CONTEMPORARY OPINION
Unfortunate,

Unfortunate.
Grand Forks Herald: As these
lines are written 1t seems likely thar
the legislative session Of TINS year
will close without any action being
taken with reference to the submits
sion of initiative and referendum
measures to the people. That result
will be unfortunate For years there
has been demand in this state for
the initiative and referendum. That
demand has been growing. and both
political parties are committed to the
principle. Amendments Of several
kinds were proposed at the last ses-
sion OF the legislature and submitted
according to rule, to the present body
If the present legislature adjourns
without having taken any action on
that subject the, result will be a con-
firmatiOn in the minds OF many people
of the belief that legislatures are not
run in the interest of the people and
that there is some deep and dark rea-
son why members of that body do not
desire the voters to have chance to
act directl. on matters Of legislation.
That will be the result. a confirmation
of suspicion. and We have too much
suspicion already.
Evidence of the Interpretation
which a very considerable number of
people will place on the disposition
Of this subject is found in the treat.
ment Of it given by the Fargo Courier
News. The Ployhar Blakemore bill
was house bill. and was passed in
that body. On Thursday it came be.
fore the senate for final action, and
was passed by vote of rs to 20. The
vote on the motion to apply the
"clincher' making reconsideration i'm
possible was a tie, "a to "a. The lieu
tenant governor, Mr. kraabel, broke
the tie by voting in the negative. The
clincher was not applied and later a
vote to reconsider passed. and the
bill was lost, although the possibility
Of reconsideration still remained. Had
Mr.. kraabel voted for the clincher in
stead of against it, the thing would
have been settled. On the next morn
ing the Fargo Courier-NeWs publish
ed large portrait of Mr.. kraabel
with the caption, THE Man Behind
Underneath was the statement that
Mr.. Kraabel had voted against the
bill. and that he was elected as a pro
gressive republican.
The Inference Is plain. Mr. Kraa-
bel, because of his vote on the bill. is
held up before the state as malign
influence against legislation that is
desired by the people. and the infer
ence is equally plain that while he
was elected DIS a progressive repub
lican, in reality he is not progressive.
but the revense. No other interpreta-
tion of the meaning Of the paper is
possible. All this may be entirely ull-
just to Mr. Kraabel What his rea-
sons were for voting against The bill
we do not know, but he may have had
some excellent, ones If the bill as
presented to the senate was defective,
as pointed out in another article,
there were abu2dant reasons for vot-
ing against it., and it ought to have
been killed. = 'e..',.-1.
Eut, if this bill was defective, and
if all the other bills were defective,
lit was not necessary for :he legisla-
ture to adjourn without taking any
action at all. At least it should have
been possible to prepare another bill
or set Of bills which would be free
from the objections of the others, and
while this would .haYe postponed ac-
ton, it would not have left the sub
ject to be begun all over again two
years hence.
Because of this failure. regardless
of the good faith of memoirs of either
house, if the people are deprived OF
the opportunity of declaring them
selves on this question at the next
election, or at the following one at
the latest. we are going to hear all
sorts of charges against the men who
opposed these bills, and a very unfor-
tunate situation will have been Gre
atcd.
Han!ey Was Right.
Tn, ~