The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1919-05-15

condition by which the people shall be
compelled to make him monarch of all
North Dakota by approving the In
dustrial Commission bill or not have
a fair chance to try out a terminal
mill and elevator law, home building
law or rural credit law. Possibly he is
afraid of the nonpartisan election law
which is also initiated.
More than 10000 people have signed
the initiative petition. The governor
certainly does not intend to say that
that all of these people are political
tricksters just because they petitioned
for the initiation of the laws in ques-
ton. North Dakota can have fair
and square trial of state ownership
and operation of mill and elevators, a
home building law or rural credit
law with $1O,OOO,O0O bond issue to
finance it, without approving the in
dustrial commission bill or the state
bank bill. The state bank was not a
part G." 20 original league program.
That il some ing that has been pick
ed up ike & lot Of other stuff for the
purpo:c - c,'c"t;ng more political pap
for TIL hungry ones that are now in
the state az: others that may be i'm
ported with the 100000 immigration
appropriation.
All that the original league pro-
gram has said about state banks was
this, Rural Credit Banks operated at
COST" What the majority of the peo-
pie had in mind when this expression
was used was something similar to
the Raffasen Rural Credit system now
in operation in parts of Europe.
The charge that the mill and eleva-
tor law and other laws are not work.
able has no foundation. The Townley
henchmen has as yet failed to point
out a single instance wherein any Of
the initiated laws are unavoidable.
The governor is also quoted as say
ing, "These bills, both initiated and
referred, would 60 on the ballot by
title only, and it would be impossible
for all DR. ven large per cent Of the
voters, in the short time that remains,
to become so familiar with the COM
plete text of both referred and Initial
ed bills that they can cast an intelli-
gent ballot by voting in each case for
one of the bills, and against the other,
the titles of both as they would ap-
pear on the ballot being so nearly
alike"
In this connection it should be re-
membered that the constitution as now
amended makes the following provis-
ion with reference to getting all ini-
tiated and referred measures before
the pople in such a way that there
shall be ample opportunity to become
familiar with the various measures:
"All measures submitted to the elec-
tors shall be published by the state
as follows: The secretary of state
shall cause to be printed and mailed
to each elector publicity pamphlet,
containing copy of each measure to-
gether with it's ballot title, to be SUBJ
mitted at any election. Any citizen,
or tn officers of any organizations, may
submit to the secretary of state for
publication in such pamphlet, argu-
in, upon first subscribing their names
and addresses thereto and paying the
fee therefor, which, until otherwise
fixed by the legislature; shall be the
sum of two hundred dollars per page"
The law providing for the State Pub
licity Pamphlet recites that copy
of it be sent to every voter in the state
of North Dakota at least 20 days be-
fore the election, and that a copy of
arguments concerning any measures
shall be in the hands of the secretary
of state not later than fifty days be-
fore the election.
Does the governor mean to say that
the voters of the state will know more
about the laws that they are expected
to- live under. if copies Of them are not
printed and placed in their hands with
arguments pro and con, as will be the
case if the initiative and referendum
election is held as has been and will
be petitioned for? If the governor
denies an election on any law or laws
the voters will be deprived Of just that
much more Of an opportunity to be-
cine thoroughly infrmed.
THEO. G. NELSON.