The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1917-03-08
D0lNCS in THE
LEGISLATURE
Interesting Sidelights on Closing
Days Of the Fifteenth North Da-
kota Assembly at Capitol.
(By 0. M. Thomason.)

(By o. M. Thomason.)
Bismarck, N. D., Feb. 28.-Just
how anxious the standpat senators are
to give the people some progressive
legislation may be gathered from the
majority report Of the committee on
judiciary on Senator Wenstrom's two
bills-119 and 120.
These bills undertook to cure the de-
fects in the present initiative and
referendum law, as was pointed out
by the supreme court in the New
Rockford Capitol removal case.
That the reader may know who
these gentlemen we're, who signed this
majority report their anne are set
down here. Read and reflect. Here
they are: Mcbride, chairman;
Ployer, Ellingson, Hyland, Haggart,
Porter, Heckle, Jacobsen, Gronvold,
Stenmo."
Senate bill 119 cured the defect
with reference to the person-the
state official, the petitions should be
filed with. The present statute did
not designate what official it should
be and the supreme court did not
know but what it might mean the
game warden or the janitor of the
capitol. The fact that all such pc
titions are filed with the Secretary of
State made no impression IN the su-
preme court. It held that the law
must state with what state official
such petitions shall be filed, so the
Wenstrom measure designated the
secretary of state, so that the su-
preme court, hereafter would know.
Another point on which the supreme
court hung up was the present re-
quirement that rs per cent Of the
votes cast at the last election, from
a majority of the counties, shall be
required to initiate such petition. The
present law simply says that 1875 per
cent" and the court held that as it
does not say 1926 per cent or more
that therefore exactly rs per cent, no
more and no less, must be had. As the
New Rockford Removal association
had secured more than 25 per cent,
the court held that the petition had
not complied with the law. Senate
bill 120 cured this defect by saying
*t25 per cent or more"
Again the present law does not
state whether the percentage shall be
based on the last vote for Governor
or on the vote for the prohibition AN
didate for official faster and the
Wenstrom bill cured this by stating
that it must be based on the last vote
for Governor. With defects and
loop holes in this law which was
drawn and passed by a real legisla-
ture, some years ago, the bills men
toned went to the committee on ju-
dietary, and here is what happened
to them:
The majority, whose names are
given above, submitted amendments
which occupy nearly three pages in
the Journal, beginning on page 10 of
the Journal for Monday, Feb. 10.
These amendments are said to be the
honest efforts of the majority of the
committee to make the initiative and
referendum law practical, workable
and self-executing and self-starting,
as you might say. It is as full of
jokers as hell is full of hypocrites.
Here is one: It must contain the
legible- signatures in ink" of twenty
five per cent, etc. Indelible pencils
don't count in this case, even though
they are considered perfectly proper
for signing notes and mortgages
with. AS to the legibility of the sig
natures, this may have been a good
provision for there are very few
bankers, lawyers or other professional
men who do write a legible signature.
These signatures are perfectly plain
when you know what they r but un-
less you have an interpreter you may
conclude that it is a heiroglyphic
from an Egyptian tomb that you are
trying to decipher. And this is no
criticism of the manner in which
many men sign their names. It is
intended to show to what extremes
some men will go when they are try
ing to curb the power Of the people
In section 3 of the proposed amend
ment by the majority committee is
another little colored gentleman
tucked away in the wood pile. "No
petition" it reads, "shall be circu-
lated in more than n county nor con-
tain the names of voters who do not
at the time of signing reside in said
county" There is no particular rea-
son for such requirement except that
it restricts the liberties of the people
and hedges them about with obstruc-
lions and legal difficulties and thus
gives an opportunity for five men and
a lawyer to overthrow the will of half
the people. ,
In section A are a couple o mig
ders," which do not add to the eff
f~ectiveness of the measure but serve
only as difficulties to be surmounted
by the people in their march to great
er political liberty. every such pro-
posed amendment shall be printed in