=Their Progress in America.=—It is only about a quarter of a century since the initiative and referendum, in this form, made their appearance in America, the first state to establish them being South Dakota in 1898.[30] Other states soon took up the idea and today nearly half the entire number of states have made provision for direct legislation in one form or another.[31] [Sidenote: Spread of direct legislation.] From the states the movement spread to the cities, a large number of which now have provisions for the initiative and referendum inserted in their charters. The extension of the system to the national government, by means of an amendment to the constitution, is now being urged by some organizations, including the American Federation of Labor. [Sidenote: Reasons for this rapid extension.] How is the rapid spread of this movement for direct legislation in the United States to be accounted for? Two reasons for it, at least, may be given. One is the decline of popular confidence in lawmaking by legislators. The work of the legislatures in many of the states, and of the city councils in most of the cities, has been unsatisfactory to the people on a good many occasions. It has given vogue to the idea that the people themselves could not do much worse and might do a great deal better. The second reason may be found in the habit of waiving responsibility which many legislatures and city councils have acquired in recent years. When difficult questions come before legislatures, the legislators frequently find an easy solution, so far as they themselves are concerned, by “putting the matter directly up to the people”. In other words they agree to place the questions on the ballot at the next election. In many states this practice of passing measures with a “referendum clause” has become very common. It has paved the way for direct legislation on a wider scale. =The Initiative and Referendum in Practice.=—In actual practice the initiative and referendum do not provide a simple and easy means of making laws. Their use is hedged about by all sorts of formalities and conditions. In no two states are these conditions exactly alike, but in a general way the practical workings of direct legislation are somewhat as follows: [Sidenote: The petition.]