The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, August 31, 1916, Page 7

3 i3 lation as a regular routine of the program, T THE 1914 general election in Minnesota the people voted 168,004 to 41,577 to -establish the initiative and referendum as . & part of the constitution of the state. The vote was four to one for the right of the people to change their laws on their own initiative, or:to vote on laws passed by the legislature, if they desired to. But the people of Minnesota did not get the initiative and referendum. Those who DID NOT VOTE on the measure - WERE 'COUNTED AS THOUGH THEY VOTED AGAINST IT, and so the initi- .ative and referendum lost by a substan- tial majority. To. those not familiar with Minnesota conditions and politics, this would seem unbelieveable. . How and by what right could those WHO DID NOT VOTE AT ALL on this . constitutional amendment, BE COUNTED AS HAVING CAST A VOTE AGAINST IT? The people who . voted on the question e_xp;essed thém- selves four to one in faver of giving -Minnesota the right of initiative and" referendum, a right that half the states of . the union, some of them backward states in 'general ‘in ' progressive legisla- -tion, have given their people. Every - progressive state has the initiative and referendum. Minnesota wanted it. Four of every five voters who under- 'stood the question and did not overlook it on the ballot voted for it. Yet Min- nesota did not get, the uutlatlve and referendum. HOW BIG CORPORATIONS SLIPPED IT ACROSS " This strange situation, wherein the people, who are supposed to rule but yet do not rule, can not change their con: stitition even 'if they vote four to-one to do it, i the result of a Minnesota constitutional provision put in the con- stitutiorl in 1898 through the influenice of the special 'interests—the powers-that- be, big corporations and others enjoymg specaal privileges. ; They were satisfied away back in 1898 with the constitution Minnesota then had and they decided that THEY DID NOT EVER WANT THE CONSTITUTION CHANGED, THUS HEADING OFF PROGRESSIVE = LEGISLATION -FOR ALL / TIME. = Through - their influence they had written into the constitution a . prvision that the constitution can not be amended UNLESS A MAJORITY OF ALL THE PEOPLE GOING TO THE POLLS AND VOTING VOTE TO HAVE 1T CHANGED. Since large numbers of people who go to the polls to vote do not vote on constitutional amendments at all, néss, it is all but impossible to: amend the‘ _ through ignorance or neglect or careless- - ‘constitution- of = Minnesota. Thousands “of voters, as everyone knows, for ome ‘reason or-another or for no reason at:all, - go to the polis and vote for ‘president, gwemor and state and county officers, but do not vote yn constitutional amend- The sky lme of St. Paul, an., seat of the Minnesota state government. counted a vote against the constitutional amendment on the ballot. R INITIATIVE AND' REFEBENDUM ONLY. ONE OF MANY VICTIMS Thls prov1s10n has been successful in killing almost every progressive constitu- - tional amendment offered to the voters of Minnesota since the restrictive pro- vision was placed in the’ constitution in 1898. It killed ‘the initiative and refer- endum in 1914. Minnesota has made it almost impossible to change ‘its constitu- tion except by the calling of a constitu- tional convention and the changing of this restrictive provisien in that way. The chances are the people could not change this provision by their own vote, for such a measure would have to be in the shape. of a constitutional> amendment The state capiitol, 'where the le can be seen at the left slde of the plctnre agalnst the honzon. TheKeytoReformThrown Away How the People of Minnesota Tied Their Own Hands at_ the Behest of a. Brewery’s Legislative Agent the question squarely up to Mr. Dunn, as follows: “‘Do the forces that are behind this amendment intend to put up the bars so high that no further amendment of the constitution will be possible on any sub- ject, in order to head off the possibility of the .passage of a prohibition amend- ment at some time in the distant future?’ “Mr. Dunn answered: ‘The gentleman from Hennepin is correctly.informed’. “The proposed amendment passed both house and senate and was submitted to “the people at the election of 1898. The brewery interests were united and alert. The word was sent out to every saloon in the state ta, get all the votes possible, in a quiet way, in favor of the brewers’ amendment. “The decent people of the state were ~ Here is another instance of how. the bosses put over: their schemes Whlle the people are napping. They can’t’ change their constitution in anesota ‘even with a four-to-one vote. A far- mghted booze representative put this one across. - and would itself come-under the same restriction. The constitution of Minnesota, like the caught napping and the amendment was carried. If 'the people could have been informed they would probably have constitutions of most states, formerly + voted it down.” = provided that ‘a majority vote of the people at any time could amend the con- stitution. It so provided up until 1898. Before then many needed' changes were made: in - the constitution; since then almost every preposed change has been defeated; no -matter -how - badly needed or wanted. The: history of how this reactionary “barrier to popular. govern- ment came to be a part of Minnesota’s constitution is told by-C. J. Buell of St. Paul, a student of Minnesota political conditions, who is the author of a hand- ‘book .on the: Minnesota questxons. Mr. -Buell says: . : © “It was durmg the legmlatlve session of 1897 that the change was made. W. - “W. Dunn was' at that-time attorney for the Hamm' Brewing company- of St. Paul and was their representative in the legis- lature, having been: elected ‘on the Republican ticket by the voters of that part of the city near the plant of the - brewmg company.., - %Mr. Dunn brought in a bill proposmg to 80 ai..ond the constitution that there~ - “after > those present and voting at the election . ‘to favor an ameéndment before it could: “become a pm ot the fnndameutnl lew. 'BREWERY AGENT ADMITS PURPOSE OFYAKENDMENT ~'s’hould"mquiranmuontyoffll. M' SPECIAL INTEREST KEPT DISCUSSION FROM PAPERS In those pafts of the: state where the amendment was made an issue by legis-- lative candidates the vote was heavily agamst it and: leglslatlve candidates opposing it were elected, in some cases - Democrats who fought the amendment . - being elected Jn normally strong Repub- lican districts. But the people as a. whole were asleep and the special .inter- eéts encouraged-this by keeping discus- sion out of the papers as to the true - meaning of the amendment and ins t— ing: their henchmen to go down the for the measure. Mr.:Buell, who is a steadfast foe of the liquor traflic, lays speclal stress on the hand the breweries~had in putting. this constitutional restriction over, but many others familiar with politics in those days say that.all the stalwarts, reaction- /.aries and foes of progressive legxslahon _of all kinds, urged on by the big inter- “ests, also ‘had; a hand in getting this ‘restriction.. on the right of the people- to amend theiz constitution: “put: across.”: “.Their work -back in those _days still . Btands’as a g'rea.t barrier to progressive " * legislation in Minnesota. . ‘Equal * suf- gislature meets every two years to turn down farmers’ legils-I » can never be adopted in Minnesota under the present system of constitutional amendment in the state, according to students of the situation. No matter ® how badly needed, how necessary or how much the people want them, constitu-. tional changes stand little chance in Minnesota with this provision in the constltutxon AMENDMENTS WITH NO ENEMIES DEFEATED IN MINNESOTA Besides the defeat of the initiative and referendum in 1914 under the present way of counting votes, an amendment to the constitution providing for the recall of public officials was also defeated, ‘although 139,801 people voted for it and only 44,906 voted against it. That same election another. constitu= tional amendment was before the _people, to enable the state to build roads, ditches and firebreaks in, through and around unsold school and swamp lands in the state. . Under the present constitutior. this can not be done. There was no ef- fective . argument against this amend- ment, as shown by the vote, which was - 162,951 for and 47,906 against. - But all those not voting were countec as against this measure and it failed, by this system of counting votes, to get a majority. The state finds itself helpless by the failure of this amendment, to . properly conserve its public lands by pro- tecting the standing timber and neigh- boring settlers from the ravages of fire. Commenting on this constitutional restriction, Mr. Buell in his book entitled “The Minnesota Legislature of 1915" - says: “Should the fundamental law of the - state put a premium on ignorance and.: carelessness? Is it fair that men wheo are too ignorant of the merits of a ques- tion to vote on it at all should have their votes counted -either way" Is it right that the voter who is so careless or indifferent that he-neglects his opportun- 1ty to vote should be counted as voting no? . “There would seem t6 be but one answer to these questions. It would seem that- constitutions should be made and amended by the-votes of those who have enough interest in such matters to cqst a ballot, and not by those who fail to_do so. By what' process of logic do we persist in counting the votes of those who'voluntarily disfranchise themselves? Why should we. presume that everyone wh?’does not vote at all intends toyota lno ”, » THOSE FREIGHT RATES : . The Nonpartisan Leader ' gave an . article on the railroads last week- that “was'an eye-opener to the people of North -:Dakota.. - It - plainly showed the freight rates in: North Dakota as com- pared with rates in other states. That ‘a‘difference in tions exists, and that freight shipped :from Minnesota into ' . frage, ‘constitutional prohibition, initia~ western North Dakota is cheaper than tive and ' referendum, recall, or basic - qhanges in any of the fundamental laws governing taxation, form of government Mother Jmportant questwns ptobably . shipped from Fargo to the same point. - Guess there_ should be a change made - ‘somewhere. Explain, Courier-Newsm NAPOLEON HOMESTEAD. 1 i 13 TS e