The Farmers’ Union, a rapidly growing organization (described in Watson’s Magazine for February) has adopted the initiative for use within the association. The National American Woman’s Suffrage Association declared last year for the initiative and referendum, and this year’s convention has urgently requested action by the state associations. Last year in Ohio the Woman’s Suffrage Association questioned candidates as to the initiative and referendum, and this year it is likely that the suffrage association in every state will apply the system. The Referendum Leagues are also questioning candidates.
All these organizations have learned or are learning that the questioning of candidates immediately terminates the machine’s power to sidetrack the live issues, provided there is an organization to take the case to the voters. One individual in a state can easily co-ordinate the forces for the questioning of candidates, and thereby secure the immediate termination of the machine’s power to evade the live issues. One person in a state has repeatedly secured this result; in fact, every reform within a state is largely due to the engineering tact and skill of some one individual. Today, as never before, it is easy and practically costless to terminate machine rule by establishing the initiative and referendum.
A NEW THIRD PARTY
Heretofore the essential element in questioning candidates as to people’s sovereignty has been a State Referendum League, in order that the business and professional interests shall be represented. But in January a new departure occurred in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Referendum League changed its form of organization to the Referendum Party of Pennsylvania. The platform is as follows:
The Referendum Party urges the following legislative action as the only certain peaceable means of forever eradicating the gigantic evils that have gradually crept into our system of government:
1. The calling of a constitutional convention to revise the state constitution.
2. Granting to the people the right to veto unjust laws or ordinances by direct vote; this right to be exercised only if a vote is demanded on any law or ordinance, by petition signed by two percentum of the voters of the state or locality affected.
3. Granting to the people the right to enact, by direct majority vote, needed laws which their Legislature fails or refuses to enact.
This is known as the Referendum System. Wherever it has been in operation it has effectually stamped out bribery, graft, bossism and ring rule, and has made “government by the people and for the people” a practical reality instead of a mere theory.
The Referendum Party invites the co-operation of all who favor this action.