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Show FREAK LEGISLATION. While the governor made no specific recommendations In his iiiohsbkc to the legislature and confined himself mainly to a report of the financial condition con-dition of the state and the actlvtiea of the various Institutions, lie did in his Inaugural address expresa the hope that the Utah legislature would pass nj freak legislation. Hy this he meant any of the progressive measures demanded de-manded by the people and that are law In many progressive states. He spoke especially of the Initiative and referendum refer-endum and referred to the defeat of the constitutional amendments as proof that the people were Indifferent or Incapable of judging of the mer'ts of a law If It was submitted. We believe this Is. no proof whatever. what-ever. The amendments were couched In legal phraseology, and few people could get a clear Idea of the purpose or Import of these amendments. In Oregon Ore-gon where the Initiative and referendum referen-dum has been longest In operation, and where cunning but unsuccessful efforts have been made to make It Ineffective, every voter Is sent a copy of any pro posed amendment or law wi'.li the arguments ar-guments In Its favor, while those who oppoHe It are given an opportunity to present their arguments. This provision provis-ion has also been added to the la In Colorado, and was also made to the bill for the Initiative and referendum presented to the Ulan legislature two years ago. Hy this means every voter 1 4 fully informed about any proposed amendment or bill submitted., and the results show that the voters are Just aa good Judges of the merit of them as 'any legislature. Probably 80 per cent of all bills that will be Introduced In the present legls lature will be amendments to existing laws, which shows that legislatures cannot enact perfect lawa. In Oregon none of the 60 and more bills passed uHn by the people under the Initiative and referendum have been repealed or amended. In fact such bills are never presented to the people until they have been carefully studied- over and prepared. pre-pared. They receive much more attention atten-tion than any bill prepared by the legls. lature. Another piece of so-called "freak legislation" leg-islation" the present legislature should pass Is a law providing for direct primaries. prim-aries. Our present convention system" must go. It gives the power of making mak-ing nominations into the hands of a political machine, controlled by those Interested In securing office for themselves them-selves and their friends. While direct primary laws In some states are defective de-fective many states have laws that are effective in giving the people power to make their own nomlnitlons, and absolutely ab-solutely preventing a few men from dictating the nominations. We believe there are men In our legislature fully capable of framing such a law. We see that a long bill ha been Introduced In-troduced making some changes Sit tb.3 law relating to the commission lorm of government In cities. We think the only addition needed Is to provide for the Initiative and referendum. The law has proved a great success In Salt take and until a further trial shall show some defects In it we think It unwise un-wise to tamper with It. We hope the legislature will make some provision by which the Agrlcui tural College may have farm demonstrators demon-strators at the disposal of the farmers In different parts of the state. A farm demonstrator In Miltard county would be of Immense benefit. We have many new settlers here who are grappling with untried problems of Irrigation and cultivation. If an expert In these questions ques-tions could be on the ground it would mean more abundant crops and greater prosperity to the farmer. We know of no Investment that would give a larger return. The I'tah Federation of Women's Clubs Is making an effort to secure a woman's dormitory for the University of Utah. The universities In the ad homing states have them and the boys at the Utah University are to have one. With such a dormitory for the girls It would greatly reduce the cost of their living and relieve parents of some of the high cost of higher education. edu-cation. We hope the legislature will make provision for such an Institution. |