Coulee City dispatch. [volume] (Coulee City, Wash.) 19??-19??, 1916-09-08
TO CURE ABUSES IN
THE INITIATIVE LAW
Supreme Court Called Attention
of Legislature to Necessity
For Action.
BY GUY E. KELLY

BY GUY e. KELLY
chairman. House Committee on Priyi-
leges and Elections-1915 SESSION.
Under the constitution only legal
voters are permitted to initiate legls-
lation or to demand the referendum.
The Washington legislature OF 1913
found it was conceded that in those
states where the practice prevailed. OF
employing paid circulators of petitions
that it resulted in gross fraud. To pre-
vent this fraud, the legislature pro-
hibited circulators of petitions from
receiving pay therefor, and provided
that all signatures signed in registra-
ton precincts should be compared
with the signatures upon the regis
tration books, and in non-registration
precincts should be certified by some
official residing in the precinct and
acquainted with the voters thereof
When the initiative petitions OF 1914
were presented to the secretary OF
state for counting, it was found that
there we're thousands of forged and
fraudulent signatures upon them
which had been certified to be the
signatures of legal voters.
This fact was admitted in court by
the attorneys for the measure, but
they contended that since the names
were certified they must be counted,
and five of the nine supreme court
judges held that under the act of 1913,
although the signatures were fraudu-
lent, they must be counted, if certi-
fled. Three of the supreme court
judges filed dissenting opinions,
Judge Chadwick saying: 81 have writ
ten my opinion of the proceedings at
tending the preparation and filing OF
the petitions in these cases so that
when the legislature is convened it
will show that it has been judicially
held that certified fraud is legal fraud;
that it's former act has no gates to
shut out frauds and forgeries and that
the citadel of truth and honesty that
it undertook to build around the con-
stitutional amendment permitting and
encouraging direct legislation is
house of cards."
To remedy this defect in the law,
the 1915 legislature passed the bill
which is now submitted to the people
as Referendum Measure No 8, which
amends the act of 1913, and provides
that all initiative and referendum Pc
titions must be filed with the registra
ton officers of the various precincts,
and that before any persons shall be
permitted to sign such petition it must
be determined that he or she is in fact
a legal voter. The bill provides that
whenever any initiative or referendum
petition is filed in registration Of
flee for signing, the office must be
kept open, not only during the ordin-
airy office hours, but also on each Fri
day and Saturday evening from six
until nine O'Clock, and that whenever
the registration books of any city are
sent out to the precinct such petitions
as are on file must accompany the
books in order that all legal voters
may have an opportunity to sign the
same, if they so desire, in their home
precincts. This provision was insert
ed in the bill at the suggestion of rep
resentatives Of the working classes
for their convenience
The initiative and referendum has
become and will remain, part of
our system of popular government,
and opportunities for fraud should not
be permitted to destroy it.
All friends of this system should
vote for Referendum Measure No. 8.
in order that the true principle of d.
rect legislation by legal voters may be
preserved.
1t is claimed by certain politicians
that many of our citizens are opposed
to the initiative and referendum, but
it is believed that most of this opposi-
ton, If it exists, arises from the fact
that under the existing law there is
opportunity for fraud, as was shown
In 1914.
Those citizens opposed to the sys-
tenn on the ground of fraud should
vote for Referendum Measure No. 3,
which will effectually prevent fraud
and carry out the true intent of the
constitution.
Constipation the Father of Many Ills
Of the numerous ills that affect HUI