Direct Legislation by the Citizenship through the Initiative and ReferendumSullivan, J. W. (James William)
General
Direct Legislation by the Citizenship through the Initiative and Referendum
Sullivan, J. W. (James William)
Referendum
The average business man, too, of the city of our illustration, himself
a producer--that is, a help to the consumer--would under the better
conditions reap new opportunities. Far less than now would he fear
failure through bad debts and hard times; through the wage-workers'
larger earnings, he would obtain a larger volume of trade; he would
otherwise naturally share in the generally increased production; and he
would participate in the common benefits from the better local
government.
But the disappearance of the local monopolist would be predestined. The
owner of local franchises would already have gone. The local land
monopolist would have seen his land values diminished. In every such
case, the monopolist's loss would be the producer's gain. The aggregate
annual earnings of all the city's producers (the wage-workers, the
land-workers, and the men in productive business) would rise toward
their natural just aggregate--all production. As between the various
classes within the city, a condition approximating to justice in
political and economic arrangements would now prevail.
What would thus be likely to happen in our typical city of 50,000
inhabitants would also, in greater or less degree, be possible in all
industrial towns and cities. In every such place, self-government and
direct legislation could solve the more pressing immediate phases of the
labor question and create the local conditions favorable to remodeling,
and as far as possible abolishing, the superstructure of government.
_Wider Applications of These Principles and Methods._
The political and economic arrangements extending beyond the control of
the municipalities would now, if they had not done so before, challenge
attention. In taking up with reform in this wider field, the industrial
wage-workers would come in contact with those farmers who are demanding
radical reforms in state and nation. As the sure instrument for the
citizenship of a state, direct legislation could again with confidence
be employed. No serious opposition, in fact or reason, could be brought
against it. That the mass of voters might prove too unwieldy for the
method would be an assertion to be instantly refuted by Swiss
statistics. In Zurich, the most radically democratic canton of
Switzerland, the people number 339,000; the voters, 80,000. In Berne,
which has the obligatory Referendum, the population is 539,000. And it
must not be overlooked that the entire Swiss Confederation, with 600,000
voters, now has both Initiative and Referendum. Hence, in any state of
the Union, direct legislation on general affairs may be regarded as
immediately practicable, while in many of the smaller states the
obligatory Referendum may be applied to particulars. And even in the
most populous states, when special legislation should be cast aside, and
local legislation left to the localities affected, complete direct
legislation need be no more unmanageable than in the smallest.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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