The Commoner.
JULY 29, 1910
- DIRECT LEGISLATION IN ARKANSAS
Direct legislation will bo voted upon in Ar
kansas September 12. George Judson King is
In Little Rock managing the campaign for the
proposed amendment. In a' letter addressed to
Mr. Bryan, Mr. King says:
"I am sure you will agree that this is an im
portant election for the cause of democracy, not
only in Arkansas but throughout the United
States, since this is the only state which votes
upon the question this year, and if we are de
feated it will bo trumpeted by the plutocratic
press that the tide is turning, etc. Your speech
here, I And, had tremendous influenco with the
legislature and was one of the chief causes of
their submitting the question to the people. I
am sure, therefore, you will be glad to give your
personal help and the assistance of The Com
moner in winning the fight here. Our great
danger lies in the fact that the people generally
know very little about the initiative and referen-
dum, it is being fought by the reactionary poli
ticians and lawyers, and since it requires a ma
jority of all votes cast in the election to pass
the amendment, it is very likely to be defeated
unless heroic efforts are made between now and .
September 12 to arouse the people. There has
been no work done in the state outside of a few
hundred circulars issued by the trades unions,
which are very weak here. The press has been
silent on the question ever since the amendment
was submitted on February 9, 1909, and even
the Farmers' Union did nothing until I came
here and started them going. I am speaking
at their county meetings and summer picnics
and just recently I have started a little press
bureau to furnish material to the papers of the
state, and this is taking very well. A large
number of the editors seem willing to publish
stuff but they know very little about the ques
tion themselves. With these general facts in
mind, if you will write me a short letter stating
your views upon the subject of the referendum,
and urging the people of Arkansas to work
heroically for its suqeess, both for their own
good and for an inspiration to democratic demo
crats all over the United Stated, I will send it
out from hero to every newspaper in the state.
This, will give us a1 tremendous boost and we,
. certainly need it, since there are only eight short
Weeks left before the election."
Mr. Bryan replied to Mr. King as follows:
"Mr. George J. King, Little Rock, Ark. My
Dear Mr. King: I 'am glad to know that you
are in Arkansas urging the adoption of the in
itiative and referendum amendment. If I can
spare the time for it, I shall come down for
two or three days just before the .election. I
am very much interested in this reform. It is
the most democratic reform now before the va
rious states. Its purpose is to give the people
control of their own government, and it only
needs to be understood to secure an overwhelm
ing majority. .'Let the people rule' is the essence
of democracy, and direct legislation gives the
best means of insuring the rule of the people.
Success to you. Yours truly,
"W. J. BRYAN."
The following circular is being distributed
throughout Arkansas:
THE INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM
At the general election in Arkansas, to be held
this year, an amendment to the constitution will
be voted for. by the people which, if adopted,
will place the government of the state in the
control of the people.
This proposed amendment is known as joint
resolution No. 1, and passed the senate by a
vote of .27 to 1 against, and passed, the house
by a vote of 78 to 4. As this is an amendment
to the constitution it will have to be voted upon
for adoption or rejection at the next general elec
tion, and on the official ballot will be known as
amendment No. 10. Senator E. R. Arnold, of
Clark county, introduced this resolution in the
senate of 1907, but it was not generally under
fitood, and failed of passage. Shortly after its
defeat William J. Bryan delivered an address
in Little Rock and forcibly presented the ad
vantages of the initiative and referendum and
won for It many supporters who had previously
given it but little consideration. At the last
legislature Senator Arnold again presented the
resolution and championed it In an effective man
ner. It is to be hoped that the people will adopt
this resolution as an amendment to the constitu
tion, as it provides a way for the people to gov
ern themselves. The initiative and referendum
together are called direct legislation because,
If the government does not act rightly the people
jkan interfere and set it right. With this law the
people aro self-governing; without it they are
not.
The Initiative If the people always olectcd
representatives who would carry out their wishes
the initiative would not bo needed. But some
times men are elected who do not agree with
the majority of the people and, to have their
own way, oven refuso to consider the wishes of
the people. Without the initiative the peoplo
can not help themselves, but with it, if a sufil
cient number petition the legislature to present
a certain bill the legislature must do so.
The Referendum Sometimes legislative
bodies pass bills the peoplo do not approvo of.
Without the referendum the peoplo have no re
course but submit. With the referendum
they can compel the submission of the
law to the peoplo, to bo approved by
them before it becomes operative, just like
an appeal from tho decision of a chairman
to the house. The matter can bo placed beforo
the peoplo at a special election, or at tho next
general election. This would not require many
special elections, for legislatures would not pass
many laws not favored by the people, with tho
knowledge that the people would have the power
to veto them. This will -curtail legislative ras
cality, for corporations are not apt to spend mon
ey to corrupt a legislative body into passing a
law when they know it can not deliver the goods,
because the people will have a chance to veto
the law. Sometimes committees who are op
posed to a bill pigeon-hole it or place it so far
down the list that the day of adjournment ar
rives before it can be reached. Sometimes ene
mies add so many amendments to a bill as to
render it useless for tho purpose designed. If a
bill gets through one house it then has to run
the gauntlet of the other. Failure of tho two
houses to agree leads to a conference that adds
to the delay. Even if the bill passes both houses
it may be vetoed by the governor, as were the
four agricultural school and semi-monthly pay
day bills three years ago. If a bill the people
favors becomes a law, then it may be knocked out
by a decision of tho courts.
All of the aboye obstructions to the will of
the people may be avoided by the Initiative and
referendum, for the law proposed is either enact
ed or defeated by the people themselves
Those who oppose direct legislation generally
seem to think that the people are not competent
to manage their own affairs. Such men have
no right in tho plan of our government, which
was intended by its creators to be government of,
for and by the people. The adoption of the in
itiative and referendum would lead our citizens
to take more interest in the laws that govern
them and keep themselves better Informed as
to what is needed, for they will realize that their
government is what they make it. Understand
ing the power that this places in the hands of
the people, let us unite in seeing that the amend
ment .to the constitution of the state of Arkansas
providing for the initiative and referendum is
adopted at the general election, thus giving the
people the power to carry their will into effect
when legislative bodies refuse or fail to act, and
that we may be able to resist legislative action
when contrary to the general will.
In connection with this we quote the following
from Justice David Brewer, who said: "The
two supreme dangers that menace a democratic
state are despotism on one hand and mob rule
on the other. The more constant and universal
the voice of the people makes itself manifest, tho
nearer do we approach to an ideal government.
The initiative and referendum makes public ap
proval the controlling factor of government. The
more promptly and the more fully public officers
carry into effect such public opinion, the more
truly is government of tho people realized."
Tho Initiative and Referendum
The importance of this resolution is so great
that we give it in full. It is designed to place
the controlling governing power of the state,
where it properly belongs in the hands of
the people.
Senate Joint Resolution No. 1
Be it resolved by the senate and house of rep
resentatives of the state of Arkansas, a majority
of both houses agreeing thereto:
That the following is hereby proposed as an
amendment to the constitution of the state of
Arkansas, and the same being submitted to the
electors of the state for approval or rejection at
the next general election for senators and repre
sentatives, if a majority of the electors voting at
such election adopt such amendment, the same
shall become a part of the constitution of the
state of Arkansas, to wit:
That section 1 article 5 of the constitution of
tho Btato of Arkansas bo amonded so as to read
as follows:
Section 1. Tho legislative powors of this stato
shall bo vested in a general assembly, which
shall consist of tho sonato and houso of repre
sentatives, but tho peoplo of each municipality,
each county, and of tho stato, reserve to thoin
selvcs power to proposo lawB and amendments
to tho constitution, and to enact or rojoct tho
same at tho polls as independent of tho legisla
tive assembly, and also resorvo power, at their
own option, to approvo or reject at tho polls any
act of the legislative assembly. Tho first power
reserved by the people is tho initiative, and not
more than 8 per cent of tho legal voters Bhall
bo required to proposo any measuro by such peti
tion, and evory such petition shall Includo tho
wholo text of any moasuro so proposed. Initia
tive petitions shall bo filed with the secretary
of state not less than four months beforo tho
election at which they aro to bo voted upon.
The second power is a referendum, and it may
bo ordered (except as to laws necessary for tho
immediate preservation of tho public poaco,
health of safety), oithor by tho petition signed
by 5 per cent of tho legal voters, or by tho legis
lative assembly, as other bills aro enacted. Ref
erendum petitions shall bo filed with tho secre
tary of stato not more than ninety days after tho
final adjournment of tho session of tho legislative
assembly which passed the bill on which tho
referendum is demanded. Tho veto power of
tho governor shall not oxtond to measures ro
ferred to tho people. All elections of measure,
referred to the people of tho stato shall bo had
at tho biennial regular general elections, except
where the legislative assembly shall order a spe
cial election. Any measure referred to tho peo
ple shall take effect and become a law when It
Is approved by a majority of tho votes cast there
on, and not otherwise. Tho stylo of all bills
shall be "Bo It enacted by tho peoplo of tho Stato
of Arkansas." This section shall not bo con
strued lo deprive any member of tho legislative
assembly of the right to introduce any measuro.
Tho wholo number of votes cast for tho ofllco
of governor at the regular election last preceding
the filing for any petition for tho initiative, pr
for tho referendum, shall be tho basis on which
tho number of legal votes necessary to sign
such petition shall bo counted. Petitions and
orders for the Initiative and for tho referendum
shall bo filed with tho secretary of stato, and
in submitting tho same to the people he and all
other officers shall be guided by tho general laws
and tho acts submitting this amendment, until
legislation shall bo specially provided therefor.
t
THE NEBRASKA 8ENATORSHIP
On July 18 Mr. Bryan gave to Nebraska news
papers the follqwing statement:
"As I expressed gratification when Mr. Hitch
cock and Mr. Thompson entered the senatorial
race, I shall be excused for congratulating tho
paTty and the stato upon Mr. Metcalfe's de
cision to allow his name to go before the voters
at tho primary. For twenty years he has been the
loyal supporter of all of us who have been dem
ocratic candidates, and we are Indebted to him
for yeoman service in many campaigns. He has
never received or even asked reward, and it will
give a host of democrats real pleasure to aid him
at this time. His qualifications for the place
will be admitted by all; ho understands public
questions and the needs of Nebraska; he is fear
less and Incorruptible, and he Is able to present
his views In clear language and with persuasive
eloquence. He will be a credit to the state and
a tower of strength to the entire west.
"But the special advantage of Mr. Met
calfe's candidacy at this time Is that he Is tho
most available man for tho place. Availability
Is largely determined by circumstances. Some
of my friends were kind enough to favor my
nomination, but aside from other reasons given,
I felt that, with the liquor question an issue, bno
could not lead the fight on either side without
arousing antagonism which would weaken him ,
for the senatorial race. While Mr. Metcalfe has
his opinion, as everyone should have, and states
it with candor, I believe he ca.n, under existing
conditions, poll a larger per vat of the demo
cratic vote than any other democrat, and I in
clude myself among the others.
"I believe, too, that he can poll more re
publican votes than any of the rest of us could.
Ho will be as popular with the insurgent repub
licans as with the democrats. He can defeat
Mr. Burkett and give us a reform democrat io
work with the progressive democrats and insur
gent republicans in the senate."
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