The Barre daily times. (Barre, Vt.) 1897-1959, 1914-05-13

twenty-five were proposed through the
initiative independent of the legislature;
! the remaining seven We're acts OF the
| legislature referred to the people; but
of these seven only one legislative act
was referred by the legislature itself.
| OF the twenty-five measures proposed by
the initiative and passed upon without
any action of the legislature, seventeen
were rejected, eight approved. 1t is thus
seen that the people so far as Oregon's
experience shows reject more than they
approve. The great fault with the Ore
| gon system is that it permits any per-
son to start petition and put the state
1 to the expense and the voters to the
trouble of passing upon their hobbies.
The wags say that by paying a can
yasser five cents for each name obtained,
you car compel vote upon law to
/ send all the bachelors to the peniten-
tiary or to harg every red headed man
| in Oregon.
/ Il have not seen the list of the meas
ures submitted in Oregon in 1912, but
| it is said that thirty measures were
submitted to the people on the initia-
tive and referendum and that it cost the
state twenty-five thousand dollars
Livery INV pIoposeu ny tnlS mtbnou is
] printed in full with a brief argument
for and against it and mailed to every
voter i'll the state four months before
the election. It is intended to give every
voter an opportunity to inform himself
so that he may vote intelligently.
THE legislature in Oregon is still the
source of the great mass of laws. In
1912 the Oregon legislature considered
seven hundred and twenty-five bills and
enacted two hundred and seventy-five,
while the people adopted four constitu-
tional amendments and enacted five bills.
1t is evident from cursory examina-
ton Of the subject that the initiative
and referendum can have only a
limited use. The laws to be en-
acted thereby must. be of general
character in order to interest the ordi-
nary voter. But even in this class of
laws there are usually important exclu-
sions OF acts relating to the public
health, safety and revenues. Besides,
this method of legislation is, at its best,
cumbersome, slow and expensive. It's
benefits can rarely be compensatory.
''That the new method has produced
some good laws and constitutional
amendments may be true. As much
may be said of the old method. Some
good may always come out OF Nazareth.
The passport to immortality Of Justinian
is the pandeets; of Napoleon is the code.
The reign Of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus
was benediction. There is some truth
in the old couplet,
For forms of government let
fools contest;
Whate'er is best administered is
best
But the experience Of mankind down to
the close of the eighteenth century con-
WINGED our forefathers that the repre-
sentative form of government was best.
If in the wide range of history in any
quarter of the globe you can find four
generations of men that have ever en-
joyed larger measure of prosperity
and freedom than the four generations
OF Americans since 1889, pull down the
old flag and fly new one. If you can
not, tread new path with the fear of
angels, not with the temerity of fools.
Senator Bourne of Oregon claims that
the people cannot, under the initiative
and referendum, enact laws against the
general welfare nor in favor of any self
ish interest nor will they select any
public servant who in their opinion will
be dominated by any selfish interest. |
He seems to think that if there is
power of the people to initiate legisla
ton that nothing wrong win ever be
enacted and no unfit man will be elected
to office. We confess that we cannot |
accept his conclusion. We believe the |
sum of good in legislation through the |
direct action of the people will not differ |
greatly from the sum OF good through |
the representative action of the people.
A people that will not select good leg !
islators will not enact good laws. The |
factor in war is the man be-
hind the gun; the ultimate factor i'll leg |
islation is the man behind the ballot. 1t |
is admitted by the advocates of the in
itiative and referendum that the theorYl
of representative legislation is perfect: |
but claim that the practice is bad. 1t |
is true that the practice is bad in many |
Instances, but we believe that hundred |
wears hence one surveying the values
of direct and indirect legislation will be
to admit that the general well
fare can be conserved under either meth
cd.
but however this may be, the ques
ton is whether there is common
ground in regard to the initiative and
on which the members of
great historic party should be able to
meet and act together. A careful ex-
will show that the fears of
Danger that the new method of legisla-
ton has excited are as little justified as
the hopes of benefit. You cannot,
through the initiative and referendum
make new heaven or new earth.
Laws, however enacted, are but instru-
nentalities in fallible hands. Change
hem by whatever method you will, you
will still have the problem of their adj
modification and substitu-
ion. These problems have never been
perfectly solved and never will be UNI
ess human nature can be turned into an
llgehraic equation. But that equation
will not be reached through too frequent
hanges and too great multiplicity of
avs. Give every citizen the privilege
# writing statute and compelling you
o vote upon it at the polls as often as
lis within may dictate and you may
ind that you have simply multiplied
until you cry out in despair,
OF the making of laws there is no end
nd much voting is a WEAKNESS of the
esh; vantas yanitatis.'
'Iycurgus reformed the laws of
'parta, made the citizens swear not to
hange them until he returned, then de-