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Show I Short Ballot Perils Privilege Crew H Now York, Aug. 9. THE National isoss-uuiiu and tne National Association lor the H Protection oi irivlitge devoted H tho third day of tlioir joint session at H the Gilded iood hotel to discussing H iecent developments in Oregon. H Chairman Bondeawater devoted his HH opening address to a discu3Sion of the mm principle of the separation of powers n in Democratic government "Strong H governments are dangerous to prop- H erty," he declared. "At any moment B n strong government might interfere Hk with great private interests or disturb H; established methods of business and H ' finance for the benefit of its master, B , the mob. To protect vested rights, Bfl therefore, we should endeavor to Keep H'1 the governments of our cities and H states as weak and disjointed as pos- H Bible. Only when popular government is H coherent and unified is it to be feared. HH Elective offices should therefore JHj he multiplied the more the better. H When the administration of govern- H ment is thus cut into separate and H mutually independent bits, we get more H chances to block the popular wish H when it goes contrary to our great B interests. If the people want a tax H levied on our franchises for instance, H! we can, through our friends and poll- H ticians, try to block it in the lower H house of the legislature; if we fall H there, we have another chance In the H upper house., if that fails we try to get H the governor, though it is harder to H make governors ignore popular clamor. H Then suppose the tax is legalized in H spite of us we can easily nominate H and elect state comptrollers who will H wink at its non-enforcement, and at- H torneys-gonoral who will mix it up H further and judges who will call parts H of it unconstitutional or grant long H delays till we can unload our stock. H To block the operation of a law we IH need only to capture one position in the long line. The people, however, to force the full execution of the law, M must capture all and hold them. The K people are big and slow and clumsy; HL we are little, but nimble and adroit. jB The more complex politics is, the bet- BH', ter for us. We therefore demand that H this groat nation shall adhere to its V glorious multiplicity of elective offi- H'j ces, the subdivision and disjointing of H its forces and a system of politics so B complex that nobody but expert poll- H tieians can work It." H: Chairman Bondedwater then intro- ' duced Mr. Buylaw, a prominent cor- B poration attorney of Oregon. K Mr. Buylaw reviewed the history of Hj representative government in the va- 1 rious states undor which orops had B' prospered and population increased so 'V marvellously. H "But what are those upstart reform- H ers of Oregon trying now to do?" he B , asked. "Why, have they taken up tho B I' Short Ballot idea and why are they M I, going to revolutionize the system of Hu state politics? The present Oregon B- ballot ha3 about thirty offices on it, H' to which in recent years a dozen or T ' more referendum questions are usual- ly added. Naturally with such a ballot bal-lot property was well protected against invasion by the people. If we couldn't control the governor we could at least control the legislature, or if a troublesome statute did pass we could slip through our own judges or sheriffs or prosecuting attorneys any of whom could soften the effect of the law when notified to do so by our friends among the politicians. "Now this cursed People's Power League led by Mr. U'Ren of initiative and referendum fame has cooked up an initiative proposal which will make the Oregon ballots so simple that every dunderheaded farmer and clerk will be a politician and will go butting but-ting Into the game and maKing his own ticket for himself instead of voting vot-ing the ticket the bosses give him. You know how we are" accustomed to kill popular bills by having the politicians poli-ticians arrange for a disagreement over details between the two houses and leave both houses on record in apparent favor of the measure. Well, they're going to abolish the state senate sen-ate and have only one legislature. Then they're going to give the governor a seat In this one-house legislature. That closes another loop-hole for it will be more difficult to get the governor and legislature pulling in opposite directions direc-tions when they are sitting side by side thrashing matters out. More than that, this measure renders appointive, ap-pointive, instead of elective, all the state administrative officers and the sheriffs and attorneys in the counties. That will leave only three offices on the state ballot, governor, auditor and member of the legislature. Now, gentlemen, gen-tlemen, I ask you what can the politicians poli-ticians do for us when the ballot is as shbrt as that. How can we send our own men to the legislature when there is no shelter, no obscurity, on the ballot? How can we put over a game on the people in such a blaze of light? Why, the people will be getting get-ting their own kind of men every time and they will bo likely to have a people's peo-ple's legislature, doing just whatever the people say. A legislator who did as we told him under those conditions would be a shining mark, because the people have only three men to watch. On election day they will know every man they vote for even the busiest citizen will know a most unheard-of, un-American condition, utterly at variance vari-ance with the long-ballot traditions of this great and glorious republic since the days of Andrew Jackson. "Now, gentlemen, for our purpo3e, long ballots are vital. We can't blame our friends here, the bosses., for inefficient in-efficient service unless politics is kept so complex that none but politicians can keep track of it. If politics gets simplified apd the Short Ballot idea gets adoptod, we will have the citizens citi-zens running tho government all the time." At the conclusion of Mr. Buylaw's speech, there was considerable oratory ora-tory upholding the American custom of making politics a jungle with the citizens on the outside looking in. The Short Ballot movement was sternly denounced as liable to make government govern-ment so sensitive and obedient to popular pop-ular will as to result in mob rule. |
