Show THE INITIATIVE AND REFERENDUM l By Jy y L. L A. A Hollenbeck There is an Initiative and Referendum Bill introduced into the legislature and it seems to be favored by the Democrats and the Progressives The initiative is where a certain per cent of the people people peo peo- pie can submit a l law w to the people to have it voted upon and m made de a law if a majority of the people vote for it The petition to in initiate initiate in in- is usually about 8 per cent of the voters of a state That is the way it was passed in Oregon and Colorado and other states And the Referendum is where a legislature fails to pass a bill that the people want and on a petition of five per cent of the voters of the tale state the bill hiB is referred to the people at the elections Some of the Utah I legislators want 51 per cent instead of 8 percent per percent percent cent and a corresponding higher per instead of 5 Sper per cent Th probable le fact is that the one is too tae low and the other possibly too high That 8 per c cent nt is too low is a matter that has been convincingly convincingly convincingly con con- demonstrated In 1912 in Colorado there were 32 referred and initiated bills for forthe forthe forthe the people to legislate upon One bill alone on public utilities covered several pages of a newspaper and fine type at that and for fora a person to have voted on that bill intelligently would have taken him a year of close study to fully understand it and he would have needed a college professor to help him out And that that bill and ands s several veral others were technical abstruse and abstract and no man could vote intelligently on them and even if he would study then carefully he would find where he would desire to amend them buthe but buthe buthe he could not do it he would woud have to vote for it all or reject it all and the consequence was that they voted against the most of them and and they were right but hut those bills cost the state the magnificent sum of not less Jess than one hundred housand dollars and the experience ce in Oregon and other states has been similar Therefore the percentage percentage percentage per per- to initiate a bill ought to be very high and almost impossible impossible im im- im- im possible because that bill is indigestible and has not run thru the crucible o of a debate But Rut if a bill has been discussed inthe in inthe inthe the legislature and has had the opportunity to be amended to suit the demands of a community and for could not be passed passed passed pass pass- ed then a referendum may be justifiable Therefore the Democrats Democrats Democrats Demo Demo- and Progressives should take a lesson from experience and not permit or desire saul said hill dill to pass with a small smaIl per cent for such sucha a law is a menace instead of a progression It is using the legislature legislature legislature legisla legisla- ture to go into the field of e exploration p oration which h is not the field of fany any legislature and would be almost inexcusable in the Utah utan legislature legisla legisla- ture for it can draw from the lessons of experience while theother the theother theother t other states could do not nothing ling but experiment and to their heavy expense and bitter experience Utah has a chance to steer clear of many of the pitfalls oJ of other states as it gets into int the field a little later and it started out about right when it got into a legislative tangle While it was quarreling the people were not getting hurt A A. contentious legislature will wiIl not do much and the less the better A Contention is a sign of life Y You u will find a small smaIl quantity of deadheads dead deadheads deadheads heads in a contentious body And while the legislature is quarreling quarreling quarreling quarrel quarrel- ing the state is healthy It makes little difference whether this or that pet measure is passed or not probably it is bett better l to strike out the enacting clause An Anyway w y it is is' isa a good thing to contend over ovel the per cent in the referendum bill If we cant can't have a good safe law bt better have I none 1 0 |