Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-05-12

DCOplS VI 4NNOl dSho HCCu have
uo cause for worrying over the at
tempt of Fred c. Ayers, promoter
of the democratic propaganda to
bring about the referendum on the
code bill for Mr.. Ayers is only car
rying out a democratic principle, in
fact fundamental principle of that
party to view with alarm any at
tempt at progressive legislation on
the part of republicans.
Ever since Father Adam looked
with CONSERVATION upon the efforts
of the serpintine tempter to con-
vince Mother Eve that she should
partake of the forbidden fruit, the
viewing with alarm" proposition
has been a very important part of
the democratic makeup. Just be-
cause the world started out wrong
in the particular instance of the
episide in the Garden of Eden, it
has been democratic belief that
everything since must naturally be
wrong, unless sanctioned with
democratic backing, which in the
mind of the average democrat
makes it right whether it is right or
not.
Democrats Alarmists.
Democrats Viewed with alarm"
the attempt of Abraham Lincoln to
preserve the union and even went
so far as ito take up arms against
the republican effort to keep the
government a one and inseperable
galaxy of states. They viewed
with alarm the principle of the
republican party that American in
dustries should be protected. They
viewed with alarm" the opposi-
ton of the republican party to
free an unlimited coinage Of silver
at a ratio of l6 to one" They
viewed with alarm the idea of
Theodore Roosevelt, republican
president, that the United States
should be better prepared for war
should it come, and yet every at
tempt of the democrats to view
with alarm" has been shown to be
foolish and the action of a re-,
publican administration in putting
across progressive legislation, the
right thing to do
The attempt of Promoter Ayers
to make the people believe that the
passage of the administrative code
bill is step along the line of back
wardness, instead of progress, is
simply along the historic line which
democrats have followed for the
past 90 years. Every attempt of a
republican administration, whether
in state or nation, to pass progress
i've legislat ton has been fought by
the representatives of the democrat
ic party. Mr.. Ayers poses as pro-
gressive democrat, yet he is at
tempting by the invoking of the
referendum on the code law to keep
the people of Nebraska from secur-
ing the very best knowledge they
can secure, that of trial of the law.
Ayers Argument.
Should Mr.. Ayers be able to find
enough Nebraska voters who will
place their names upon the referen-
dunn petitions to secure the referen-
dunn on the code law, it will mean
that the law passed by the legisla-
ture will be held up for two years
and the people will be deprived of
any knowledge of the law whatever
except that which they may gather
by secondhand information.
Promoter Ayers sets out in his
argument why the referendum
should be had on the code bill that
it is a very long and complicated at
fair and for that reason the people
will not be able to understand its
provisions. Yet he is asking the
people to sign petition to hold up
the operation of the law, when by
his own admission they do not know
whether the law is good one or
not. If the law is hard one to un-
derstand, the best way the people
can find out just exactly what the
law will do is to try it out, and then
if there are things about 1t which
ought not to be, the coming legisla-
lures can remedy the defects and in
this way make the law satisfactory
Surely, if the people do not fully
understand just what the law does,
they will not be made any more to
understand it by holding it up so it
never can be tried.
The writer is frank to state that
there are some things about the