The Nonpartisan Leader Newspaper, October 19, 1916, Page 4

T mmnmum“ To get what they: want: the people of flus state must the people what they want: But if the legislature ‘grants it frequ elective and appomtlve officers are willing to'do what the peoplg If Big Business ¢ontrols the courf he can use it as a long: pole UNCONSTITUTIONAL. The Court C.hoeses -a an ONE OR two newspapers in the state have been holding up ‘their ‘was not intended to be; self—executmg, but is dnly a mandate to suweed- hands in horror because of- the criticism of the supreme court\by the Nonpa.rhsan Leader,: -especially the criticism of the actlon o{ the court in the capital removal case. “How disrespectful it is,” they say; “how rough and how crude to speak harshly about our courts. “Soon the people will begm to lose their respect for the courts and to beheve that the judges are just common men.” _ There are some people in this world so u]tra-ladyhke in dlsposmon % that they never can bring themselves to tackle with their t)vo hands a i job that needs doing. ' Their course s to stand to one slde and wail e for help; to wait for seme: common person with horny hands and a flannel shirt to come along and pull them out of the mud.: sl To such persons criticism ‘of a partxcular comt m a pa.rtlcular case seems a shocking thing. ; They prefer to fiddle and fumble thh the sxtuatxon. They wp_nldn?t o i dare to say a. court’s decision was rotten. Oh dear, no! SeaE It simply xsn’t done, you know. & i = % * * fuNE TIME TO SPEAK OUT LOUD Sive WHEN A COURT is' so bold in its defiance of the nghts of the * citizens who make up the state as'to render a decision like that in the capital removal case, it seems to our befuddled mind that the time’ has ' come to speak out loud and in plain-words. = | . - The people of the state of North Dakota demanded from the leg'ls- . lature an amendment to the constitution permitting the peoplé to initiate appeared to guarantee the right of the people to compel the subnuss:on « - voters in each of not less than one-half the counties in the state Mk - 1t .is true that the number: of signatures reqmred was somewha ‘reasonably satxsfacbory e — the mght to amend their constztutxon they didn’t reall S U The people have merel& mstrncted t : PERMIT 'IHE PEOPLE TO INITIATE " FIT. The: leg'xsl"a.ture lsn’t obhged to do ;mve ‘some .assirance that then' orders will be obeyed. 3 that they want a certain thing Big Business has a way o keepmg that thmg beyond their reach. there still remain the courts, o which: to hold what the people. want ALWAYS OUT OF%IR o fl A court” which refuses to let the people vote on a constltutlonal amendment rmght find/xt easy to DE ARE A TERMINAL E R LAW ' the signatures of ALL THE PEOPLE IN THE STATE ON 'mn . constitutional - amendments. They got such an amendment, one that ’ of amendments upon the petition of “at least twenty-five per. cent of the e WHAT IT DOES NOT MEAN IT IS AN ABSURDITY‘ in othei‘ _ higher than that required in many states bnt ‘the amendment appearedv i constitution 1 those bold words asserting that they reserved tg,the;nselves : Some times he gets the Iegrslatme to refuse’ other state officials will refuse. - A lf ‘both the leg'lslature and the stata ’, feg ing legislatures to “provide la“\s wheretmder the constltnhon may be ' ‘ amended‘by lmhgtlve petition PENG o : A i A “MANDATE” TO ANY LEGISLATURE Notice that the court doesn’t say “the next legislature.” No, the i “‘mandate” is to “‘succeeding leg'xslatu@s,” any succeeding leglslature - between now. and eternity. < And how is this mandate 'to be enforced" In nb way at all ‘u‘ the g S Jegislatures don't see fit to. obey it. . : whe , ‘ :',:—:: : \Hére is an amendment that says the constitution “may be. amended” e Sy in'a certain way—and the court says it MAY NOT be amended in that ; 12 5 way.' It MAY NOT BE AMENDED AT ALL BY INITIATIVE UNTIL. =~~~ [ SOME FUTURE LEGISLATURE GETS AROUND TO PROVIDING el | A METHOD. . o ; ‘And even if tlus so-called, "manda b of the people were a mandate : capable of being enforced the leg'lslature could make a joke of the whole oy thing by requiring conditions impossible of fulfillment, It could require ; PETITIONS. -The coutt says so plainly in its decision; ' In other words, the people didn’t GAIN ANY RIGHT AT ALL FOR ) THEMSELVES when they passed this amendment. ,They WASTED s THEIR TIME. They merely PLAYED AT PASSING AN iy AMENDMENT ‘ : e S : SUPREME corm'r vmsns HORSE SENSE As mterpreted by the supreme eourt this oonstxtutlonal endment is. MERE NONSENSE. It is SELF-CONTRADICTORY e Lty