Pullman herald. [volume] (Pullman, W.T. [Wash.]) 1888-1989, 1914-06-19

construct and run 1t and these gen
tiemen have continued to operate 1t
Tor the benefit of themselves and
their friends and the detriment OF
the taxpayers.
The demand for the adoption OF
the direct Legislation system was
fostered by the brazeh methods used
by this machine to control legislation
and the demand grew SO srong and
lnsistent that finally the bosses were
forced to bow to it and allow the
passage of an act comforting upon the
people the right to initiate laws and
to pass upon those enacted by the
legislature, if they so desire. AS
this act was passed by the votes OF
men who were at heart hostile to 1t,
they naturally tried to load it down
with such stringent regulations as to
make its use extremely difficult.
They succeeded in their purpose, but
despite their precautions the peo-
pie are endeayoring to invoke the
system to initiate some laws which,
if adopted, will greatly weaken the
power of the machine.
Their efforts to secure the number
of petitioners required in order to
lave the proposed laws submitted to
a vote of the people for adoption OF
rejection are being opposed by the
same old crowd of politicians and by
the same old methods devised by the
railroad lobby and handed down to
its successors. They have organized
the Stop-Look-Lis league,
which, under the guise of informing
the voters regarding the proposed
laws, is really trying to induce them
not to sign the petitions. The
league is carrying on its nefariouS
work in open defiance of the spirit or
section 81, chapter 1873, of the SEES
sion laws of 1913, which reads, in
part: or who shall for pay or any
consideration, compensation, gratu-
ity, reward or thing of value or
promise thereof, circulate or solicit,
procure or obtain or attempt to pro-
cure or obtain signatures upon any
initiative or referendum petition, or
who shall pay or offer or promise to
pay, or give or offer or promise to
give any consideration, compensa
rI in of
value to any person to induce him to
sign or not to sign, or to circulate or
solicit, procure or attempt to pro-
cure or obtain signatures upon any
initiative or referendum petition or
to vote for OR AGAINST any initia-
tive or referendum measure,
shall be guilty of a gross misde-
meanor."
The purpose of this provision of
the law is very plain. 1t aims to
prohibit the use of money in employ
ing agents to circulate initiative or
referendum petitions and to solicit
voters to sign such petitions. The
only logical inference is that it also
aims to prohibit the employment OF
agents to solicit or influence voters
not to sign the petitions. Yet it is
an open secret that the Stop-Look-
Listen league is paying salaries to
agents in all parts of the state to
solicit and influence voters not to
sign the petitions. They have an
agent in Whitman county who does
not deny that he is drawing a salary
ed arguments and trying to influence
voters not to sign the petitions. The
people who are circulating petitions
and making arguments for the pro-
posed bills are unpaid volunteers,
the agents of the StOp-LoOk-Lis-
ten league are hired mercenaries
Both they and the men who hire
them are defying the spirit, if not
the letter of the law.
The attorney general of the state
has made a ruling that after the
petitions have been filed and no more
signatures can be secured, any signer
may have his or her name taken off
the petitions by filing a prescribed
form of request with the secretary of
state. This ruling is manifestly I'M
fair and will give the Stop-Look-
Listen league an opportunity to hire
enough voters to take their names
off the petitions to make them of no
effect There is little doubt that
the league has the money and the
disposition to undertake this nefar-
ious scheme of depriying the people
OF the opportunity to vote on the pro-
posed laws. The league has already
prepared and is circulating the re-
quired forms for withdrawal of
names.
There is just one way to ensure the
submission of the Seven Sisters" to
vote of the people, and that is to
secure the signatures on the petitions
90 IN n00 or IN 000 yo+ore r,bo M ',