JF 493 .U6 W5 Copy 1 i HE PUBLIC LOUIS F. POST, Editor. A Journal of Fundamental Democracy and a Weekly Narrative of History in the Making. Searching and fearless editorial discus- sion of present affairs in the spirit of that clause of the Declaration of Indepen- dence which declares that "all men are created equal.' 7 SUBSCRIPTIONS $1.00 PER YEAR PRICES OF THIS PAMPHLET: Single copy , 5 cents, postpaid One dozen copies 40 cents, postpaid. 100 copies . $1,50 postpaid. Special price for 1000 or over The Theory of Human Pro- gression, and Natural Prob- ability of a Reign of Justice. By Patrick Edward Dove. 411 pages. Cloth $1.00. Paper, 50 cents. Nothing more remarkable than the history of this book except the book itself, has occurred in literary history. It has been edited, not garbled, by Alexander Harvey, who prefaces the book with a life of th# author and a mention of the remarkable circum- stances that led to its suppression. The volume is complete and unabridged, The Dartmouth College Case Decision, By John Z. White, pam- phlet, postpaid 5 cents. Special prices for larger quantities. H. H. TIMBY, BOOKSELLER AND PUBLISHER CONNEAUT, OHIO. DIRECT LEGISLATION THE INITIATIVE and REFERENDUM BY JOHN Z. WHITE. Reprinted from the PUBLIC, Price 5 Cents. DIRECT LEGISLATION THE INITIATIVE and REFERENDUM BY JOHN Z, WHITE. ReprkKed from the PUBLIC, H. H. TIMBY, Publisher, Bookseller, Importer, CONNEAUT, OHIO, S3. John Z. White. Mr. White will be pleased to hear from any one interested in the discussion of this subject. Address him through the publisher. i^IRECT LEGISLATION. The referendum seems generally to be misun • lerstood. People apparently believe It t© be some- thing strange — a new device, whose merits and demerits are vague and uncertain. In truth it is a plan universally followed in all parliamentary bodies. Without it parliamentary law is impossible. Its absence from legislative assemblies is possible only through the substitution of that meanest and most irritating of all tyrannies, the rule of the gavel. The referendum and initiative are the means by which self-government is secured by any group of men under any conditions whatsoever. Inter t'erence with these is just so much subtracted from the fact Qf self-government. In deliberative bodies a chairman is selected to preside. His duty is upon demand to enforce the rules that may be adopted. If any decision rendered by him is thought to be in violation of these rules any member may appeal from such de- cision to the whole body. This is the referendum. In the absence of this right of appeal the presid- ing officer practically can do what he pleases. If a member wishes action on any matter lie makes a motion to that effect, and this, on receiv- ing the support of a second member, is placed be- fore the body for consideration and adoption or rejection. This is the initiative. In the absence of this right to "move," members are without power to act. If the people of a city, state or the nation, are in truth to be self-governing it seems inevitably to follow that they must have at hand the means of making the government do their bidding. The people of the city of Chicago, for instance, votecf in favor of public ownership of their street car system, but their board of aldermen were able to thwart the popular desire. The people of Phil- adelphia, and many other places, have repeatedly found themselves unable to achieve their wish. To many, self-government has for such reason come to be looked upon as an iridescent dream. This pessimistic view arises from the fact that we are possessed of but part of the necessary ma- chinery of self-government. We are like an engi- neer who has all essentials save the governor. His engine will "go," but its action is beyond orderly control. The initiative and referendum, taken together. are called direct legislation. That is, just as in any deliberative body, if the usual machinery does not produce desired results, the body can act di- rectly. So, if our city or other government does not act rightly, the body of the people, when pos- sessed of the machinery of direct legislation, can act, or legislate, directly. Without this power they are not really self-governing. .The Initiative. It is proposed, therefore, to give to a certain percentage of the qualified voters in any political body the power to prepare and present petitions for proposed laws to the whole body of voters. This is the exact equivalent of a motion in any club or society, save that a considerable number 4 of "seconds" is required. That is, each signer of the petition really "seconds" the motion to adopt the matter proposed in the petition. Such action is the initiative. It is sometimes said that the people need only to elect officials favorable to desired laws, and that thereby all need for the device known as the in- itiative will vanish. The fallacy in this position comes from the fact that our officials have many duties. An officer may be highly esteemed and very satisfactory in nearly all relations, but at tlie same time be quite at variance with the people on some question held by them to be important. Why shall we maintain a system that either deprives us of the efficient officer, or of a measure that we be- lieve to be expedient? An officer was elected by a majority of two to one, although he declared himself opposed to a policy that the same constituency favored by a vote of three to one. The opposing candidate*, meanwhile, had declared in favor of this policy. The explanation is simple. Other issues were, in the opinion of the voters, sufficiently important to force 'this matter into the background. If possessed of the power to initiate legislation, the voters could also secure the adoption of the policy they pre- ferred. They were, in fact, but partly self-govera- ing. The Referendum. It is also proposed that the people shall have power, expressed by petition, as explained in the above reference to the initiative, to promptly pro- pose the defeat of acts of legislation deemed by them to be unwise. If a measure has been enacted by the legislature, a petition may be prepared within % stated time (perhaps 90 days) and signed by the given percentage of qualified voters, whereupon it shall be submitted to the people for adoption or rejection. This is exactly equivalent to "an appeal from the chair." The matter may be placed before the people at a special election or at the next gen- eral election. It is sometimes urged that under such a plan the people would be voting all the time and on all manner of questions. In fact, the referendum, where adopted, is seldom resorted to. Legislators are careful when they know the people can reverse their dqings; and, very much more important, lob- byists are not inclined to use their peculiar powers of persuasion on members of legislative bodies when they know there are watchful citizens intent upon the defeat of their nefarious schemes, and with full power to defeat them if the people so will. Legislators are usually elected for two years, and the people, who are the principals, have no control, of their agents save by criminal or im- peachment proceedings — and constitutional guar- anties, which are subject to court interpretation. Would any rational business man give to an agent or agents complete control — equal to an irrevoca- ble power of attorney — of his establishment for two years? If he continued this practice, with no power save to change his attorney every two years, how long would his establishment continue to be his property? The referendum will not only cure legislative rascality, but in even greater degree will operate as a preventive. Would a railroad corporation bribe a legislative body to enact injurious monop- oly laws if it knew the people would in all proba- bility rescind such act within a few weeks or months? It would not pay. The corporation 6 would merely lose the money spent to secure ieg- islative privileges. Legislative Obstruction. With the initiative and referendum the will of the people cannot be thwarted by indirect methods. In the legislature, "pigeonholing" and obscure amendments frequently divert or even reverse the effect of a law as first introduced. A bill, on be- ing presented to the legislature, is referred to a committee. Unless those interested in its adoption are sufficiently powerful to overcome any opposi- tion that may appear, the bill is never heard of again — it is "pigeonholed." If forced from the committee, and its enemies cannot out-vote its friends, it may be placed so far down on the list of bills that the day of adjourn- ment arrives before it is acted upon. Failing to stop the bill by these methods, amendments are proposed, and it often happens that a few mem- bers are (or profess to be) convinced the amend- ments are desirable, when in fact they render the whole bill useless. If the bill finally gets through one house, it must travel the same course in the other. Failure of the two houses to agree often leads to a confer- ence committee from both — with, of course, another opening for clever minds. After all this the bill may still be vetoed. Later still it must run the gauntlet of the courts. All of these indirect methods of obstruction are avoided by the initiative and referendum. A bill properly signed and filed goes to the people without obstruction. The people either adopt or reject. All opportunity to deceive or poison is eliminated. 7 Direct legislation is merely the application to our public affairs of those methods that experience has shown best suited to attain the end desired. That end is self-government. Do we want self- government? It sometimes seems problematical. Capable men who oppose direct legislation can ex- plain their attitude only on the ground that the people, in their judgment, are not capable of man- aging their own affairs. Such men are tories. They have no proper place in the American scheme of government. If it be held that we have in fact conducted this government for above a century without direct legislation and that we may safely continue "in the path our fathers trod," we would call attention to the fact that in nothing else are we satisfied with the ways of our fathers. They used the ox cart — we don't. Just as we have improved on our father's- mechanical appliances, without violence to the principles of mechanics, so it may be possible to improve on governmental machinery without in any way altering the correct principles of govern- ment which we inherit. The principle of the first locomotive is identical with that of the last. The changes have all been in the elimination of defective methods in detail, to the end that the essential principle involved might be more fully realized. Why is it not the part of wisdom to eliminate like defective details in the machinery of our government? Again, when we remember that for the first time in history self-government on a large seal* is attempted in America is it at all surprising that the machinery first installed is defective in detail? Would it not be profoundly astonishing if that ma- chinery were not defective? Two Theories of Representation. There are two theories of representative gov- ernment. One is that we elect superior men to legislative office, whose function is to enact laws, for the regulation of our industrial and police af- fairs. The other theory is that we elect represen- tatives to legislate in obedience to our wishes, to the end that the people shall rule themselves. Each theory has found support in the thought and practice of the people of the United States. In the beginning State constitutions were short, being usually merely a statement of the bill of rights and accepted constitutional principles. Legislative au- thority thus but slightly checked became aggres- sive. Endeavoring to hold the activities of their representatives within proper bounds, the people amended the State constitutions, and quite general- ly called conventions to draft new constitutions. This practice was repeated until these State char- ters have grown from 1,000 or 1,500 words to the latest — that of Oklahoma — which is about 60,000 words in length. This whole procedure is evidence of the persistency with which the people struggle for genuine self-government. For more than one hundred years they have struggled to bring their legislatures into subjection. The means adopted has been a large increase of constitutional limita- tions. But in addition an increasing number of matters have been made to depend directly on the political action of the people themselves. In most States constitutional provisions are referred to pop- ular vote. In many the people vote directly on loaning public credit, expenditure of money, city charters, granting franchises, methods and rates of taxation, subdivision of counties, organization of townships, highway control, public aid to private enterprise, Sunday closing, local option, civil ser- vice, direct primaries, and many other matters. Direct legislation is the principle underlying this latter movement. It is in fact, safe guarding liberty by means of live men, rather than by dea