Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-11-02

the vote in opposition to these proposed laws tallies
quite closely with the vote cast for Governor Fra,
zier. This is true of every county from which re-
ports have been received, and there is no reason to
suppose that conditions will. differ in the remaining
lew counties. The vote cast against the laws is a.
little lower than the vote cast for Mr.. Frazier, but
only a little the supporters Of Governor Frazier,
with a very few exceptions, have. therefore followed
voted for. the administration candidates, and then
have voted no on all the initrateo proposals.
The difference comes in the failure Of the at
firmative vote. Mr.. Nestos has carried the state
by some 1000 votes, but the votes cast in favor Of
the initiated laws are less by many thousands than
the votes cast for Mr.. Nestos. 1t appears, therefore,
that some thousands of voters have gone to the
polls and voted for the independent candidates and
for nothing else.
No person who has given thoughtful considera-
ton to the issues involved in the election could
have followed this course. The proposed laws and
the candidates. of the three Independents were
parts of the same program. The candidates approx
cd Of the laws and desired their adoption in order
that the work of administration might be carried
out in the manner in which they advocated. The
instance, could not have been opposed, on principle,
to the initiated laws, because those laws represent
ed the policies advocated by Mr.. Nestos in the plat
form, and to which he was thoroughly committed.
The situation is then that some thousands of voters
have simply neglected to carry out their own pur-
HOo>s W. ~ AAAo hAAlAAAk Ioo MI llS
state with a lot Of illogical laws on the statute books,
and with several institutions which they have de-
sired to abolish, and which ought to be abolished,
but which nevertheless must be retained in some
form or other. ~
It does not appear at this moment that this
condition is likely to cause any great embarrass-
ment. The Bank of North Dakota, which was to
have been abolished, must be continued. The In
dustrial Commission, which was to have had its
operations limited to the mill and elevator business,
will remain with its authority as great as it has been
in the past. The Home Building association will
remain a legally constituted institution, but while
these state institutions which should have been re-
moved from our system are to continue as legal en-
titles, the Industrial Commission. by virtue of the
authority which it possesses, will be able to limit
the functions of these institutions as it may deem
wise, and in any event will be able to cause a thor
ough examination of them so that their condition
may be known, and to bring such changes in man
;agement as will prevent waste and insure efficient
operation insofar as it is deemed proper to operate,
naturally the commission can not afford to take
over institutions of this character and to assume the
responsibility of operating them without first max
ing the people. of the state acquainted with all the
details of their condition. This is a matter which
will require some time, and until that work is per-
formed we may expect that the activities Of these
departments of our government will be very linn
tied.