Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1914-05-15
The inquiry is Proper.
Editor Herald:

GultOT flttdlu
notice in the Herald some
advertisements of Stop-Look-
Listen League, and read some
articles in your paper decrying
the initiative and referendum.
Now as you know, l am an old
reader of your paper. and l have
read many reasons in the Herald
for the laws permitting the initia-
tive and referendum, and will be
obliged IL you will give reasons
that your readers may under
stand for this apparent reversal
of position.
There has been absolutely no re-
versal of the mind directing this
paper in the matter of the principle
Of the initiative and referendum, but,
in his widest dreams the writer
never conceived it being made a
vehicle of personal spite on the part
Of some who found following, or a
fad on the part of the most honest
faddist in the world.
That the Initiative is not a natural
growth of our system of government
we are frank to admit, but fungus
sometimes. you will remember, a
fungus kills and evil vegetable growth
grown out of necessity. Its dura-
don depends upon two things: The
wisdom with which it is handled and
the obedience of natural or other
laws to obey.
It is a matter of common know
ledge that in states or other political
subdivisions of our government long
under control of one party-for in
stance, and to show no Partially.
the states of South Carolina and
Washington.-have shown that re-
preventative government was a farce
and existed only, that popular will
was not always organized, but that
interests with powerful privileges
always were.
:, The people. in the effort to regain
the representative government lost,
may and without doubt will make
many and numerous mistakes-but,
the mistakes will be theirs, not those
Of Hinky Dink, Tommy Fingers or
Mickey Murphy.
Our esteemed correspondent mis-
takes utterly the position of the Her
aid. We advocated the initiation of
measures. but nowhere pledged this
paper to the support of any. Our
friend evidently understood that none
but good measures would be so in
troduced. but experience seems to
prove otherwise.
We have any number of laws-or
will be laws. il we vote them-that
not one in ten will understand If
the intelligence of the state can be
reckoned at par, it is safe to assume
they will either be defeated or sue.
coed by very small minority vote
In either event the public is loser,
either by failure of a deserving law,
or the cost of that which should be
defeated.
The Herald would say to it's valued
reader that it has not found fault at
this length without having a remedy
to suggest. In fact, friend, your OBJ
lection and ours lies not with the
principle of the initiative but with
its application. and that application
is up to you and us.
What do you think Of legislator
who admitted when he came home
that he had voted for a law without
having read and understood it? In
the adoption of the initiative, We
have not shunted the responsibility,
only shifted it-upon ourselves.
The Herald objects to the present
initiative law inasmuch as it is con-
ceived for mischief not, as was the
intention, for beneficial legislation.
As constructed. it opens the field
wide for the demegogue and faddist
whom, however so honest in inten-
tlOu, mdy usually NC safely icChoHcu
to be somewhere deficient in equilib.
ium.
Had we our way the present law
would have been differently con.
structed. For one little instance:
And, we believe this would have
filled your idea of such law. AS at
present anybody, without notice to
you or I, can initiate law. Our pro.
vision would have been to make 1t
obligatory-except in cases of well
defined emergencies to have all pro-
posed laws first subr1itted to the