The Lynden tribune. [volume] (Lynden, Wash.) 1908-current, 1914-07-30

Teats asserted that the progressive.
had pulled aside the blindfolds oi
lparty prejudice in the election OF
1912 and made use of the constitu
tional amendment whereby in the
future the house and senate held
executive session and the people
held executive session. He said
that while the ''standpatters" in
executive session in the legislature
enacting laws so full of tricks and
SO cumbersome that even lewyers
were perplexed, the people had
mer and would be until the polls
closed in the November election,
when the progressives would be in
power. Referring to the filing of
| the seven sisters initiative meas
ures, he said:
1--WE find there Ed Sims, Nc
Ardle and Jimmy Davis, ct al, try
| ing to manage our officials. Sec
retary of State Howell and Attorney
General Tanner in their efforts to
checkmate every effort of The peo-
pie. 1t was the same lobby that at
the last session of the legislature
directed absolutely the laws that
were made.
Their tools are employed by
the officials of the state to check
our petitions. ! can name particul-
ar friends of Ed Sims who had
charge of taking over and checking
the petitions and IL it wasn't for
the law making the officers bind
the petitions, We wouldn't have
q h
on the ballot.
so extreme Is the prejudice OF
the standpatters that every techinal
point is taken advantage of in their
effort to cut down the petitions
The prohibition petition with S0,-
600 signatures was filed. and $50
men, girls and boys were employed
to check them over. The names
were copied on cards. and then read
over, and compared, putting the
state to an expense of $50 900, TO
see if few men had signed twice.
when the last legislature was
in session and Jimmy Davis was
chairman of the house appropria-
tions committee. there was appropri-
ated 100000 for direct legislation
purposes, not because that sum
was particularly needed for direct
legislation. but in an effort to sick
en- the public of direct legislation.
Then they said, Now We must spend
that 100000 There was no
serious question of duplicated
names, but when there were suf-
ficient names in the petitions, and
a surplus, the checking and copying
work was only done TO make the
people sick of direct legislation.
when We filed the seven sis
ters' the fact was demonstrated
that the people of Washington un-
derstood themselves, were able 10
work out self government and d.
rect legislation, irrespective OF The
stumbling block of the Stop,
Look and Listen league. We will
have the seven bills on the ballot
and we will have to go into the
courts to do it, because the at
torney general, through the influ-
ence of Sims and others, will check
off sufficient names.
After saying that the people
were going to make the "cseven
sisters amendments so that such
influencing of officials and extra
vagance of public funds could not
occur again, Govnor Teats said:
"It is the same fight. 1t is the
fish and sawdust and other big
interests dominating just AS they
ever did. They say the people do
not know enough to direct their
own legislation, but We will show
them this fall that they know e.
nough to pass on the great. broad
principle of justice and equality to
all -