Initiative and Referendum rmmi
ed H)8..Pec!p e are heret>y further reserv
™ .J*10 le*al 'Oters of each munieipal
uL d ,c°unty as to all local, special
and municipal legislation of everv 'har
acter ln anil for their respective munici
palities and counties
virt ilt esh 0,1168 «'1'1 towns may pro
anrt th®. exeroiB« of the Initiative
ana Referendum as to theii local legis
" Petitions shell be filed with the
I ten (lyn,°r f'Uy clerk- Not more than
<10’) per cent of the >egu.l voters of
|county, city, or town may be re
j®1™. <° order the referendum, nor
JTP‘or® than fifteen 1IB1 per rent of the
jetfal voters of any such county, city or
town, shall he required to pmposcany
measure by initiative petition
, in counties or municipalities the num
n1f •'i,K"atures required on a petition
snail he computed upon the vote cast for
‘ Iue °f county judge or mayor at
the last preceding election
k . "Very extension, enlargement, pur
cl!fSe’ *ranf- or conveyance of a fran
£“18®- or °f any rights, property, ease
.,'7' lease, or occupation of or in any
roau. street, alley or park, or anv part
*nereof in any real property, or Interest
n any real property owned by a munict
pai corporation, whether the same he by
atute ordinance resolution, or other
. , ?• &•* subject to referendum and
enaji not be subject to emergency legis
ation The time for riling a referendum
petition against municipal or local
measures Shull not be fixed at less trial!
thirty days after the passage thei .-of by
municipal or local legislative bodies.
he word "measure. " as used herein,
means any law. hill, resolution ordi
nance. charter, or constitutional amend
ment, or any other legislative measure.
In the case of laws chiefly of he al in
terest. as the creation of new or addi
tional Judges, or other officers or ollices
referendum by petition shall he sub
niltted for approval or rejection to the
people of the district Interested.
All elections on general, local, ifh 1
•pedal measures referred to the peopi)
Of the State or of any locality shall be
held at the regular general election ex
tept when the Governor, County Judge
or .Mayor shall order a - pedal election.
■State, counties, or municipalities may
Provide for special elections on local
legislation.
No limitation shall he placed upon
the number of constitutional amend
nienis or other measures which may »«
proposed and submitted to the people by
either Initiative or Refer ndum peti
tions as provided in this section, nor
shall this section he construed to con
flict in any particular with Article in
section zi, of the Constitution provid
ing for the submission of constitutional
amendments by the legislative Assem
bly and their adoption by the people.
I'hls section shall not he construed to
■epriv any member of the Legislative
Assembly of the right to Introduce any
measure, hut no measure shall be sub
mitted to the people by the Legislative
Assembly except a proposed constitu
tional amendment, or amendment its pro
vided for in Article 111, Section 112 of the
Constitution
Any measure submitted to the people
by petition as herein provided shall lane
effect and became a law when approved
by a majority of the votes cast there
on and not otherwise, and shall not ha
required to receive a majority of the
votes cast for candidates in such elec
tion. Such measure shall be operative
on and after the thirtieth day after the
election at which It Is approved.
The veto power of the Governor or trie
Mayor shall not extend to measures in
.tiated by or referred to the people.
If conflicting measures referred to the
people shall be approved by a majority
of the votes severally cast for anil
against the same the one receiving the
higher number of aftirmutive votes shall
thereby become a law.
No measure approved by a vote of the
people shall he amended or repealed by
the General Assemble or any City
Council except by a yea or tiay vote upon
roll call of three-fourths of ail the mem
bers elected, nor shall any such ineas
jre be set aside. In whole or In part, as
unconstitutional except by a unanimous
decision of all the members of the Su
preme Court of the State
Legal voteis only shall be counted
upon petitions Petitions may bp circu
lated and presented In parts, hut cacti
part of any petition shall have attached
thereto the affidavit of the person clr
culatlng the same, that all the slgna
lures tiiereon were made In the pres
ence of the affiant and that to the best
of the affiant * knowledge and belief
h signature is gei ulne, and that the
aa>
person signing Is a 1 gal voter, and no
other affidavit or veri 'cation shall be re
quired to establish the genuineness of
such signatures
The sufficiency of all Statewide petl
tIons shall be decided In the first In
stance by the Secretary of the State,
and of municipal and local petition* by
the Ctt.v or County Clerk, subject to re
view by the Supreme Court of the State
which shall have exclusive and origin*!
Jurisdiction over all such cases
If the sufficiency of any petition t*
challenged the question shall be tried at
once wlhout reference to term time or
vacation, and adjudicated without de
lay. but the failure of the courts to
decide prior to the election, as to the
sufficiency of such petition, shnll not
prevent the question from being placed
upon the ballot at. the election named
In such petition nor militate against
the validity of the measure tf It shall
have been approved by a vote of the peo
ple If the Secretary of State, County
Clerk, or I'ttv Clerk, shall decide any pe
tlon to be Insufficient he shall, without
delay notify the sponsors of the peti
tion and permit at least thirty days
from the date of sueti notification for
correction or amendment. In the event
of legal proceedings to prevent giving
legal effect to any petition upon any
ground*, the burden of proof shall be
upon the person or persons atta> tog
the validity of the petition.
No law shall be passed requiring n
distribution of signatures upon petl
tlons In each of the counties or other
political divisions of the State, nor to
prohibit anv person or persons from giv
ing or receiving compensation for clr
culatlng petitions, nor to prohibit th
clrculaton of petitions, nor in any way
to Interfere with the freedom of tha peo
pie in securing petitions, but laws may
be enacted prohibiting and penalizing
anv fraudulent practice, such as per
1ury. forgery, or any other misdemeanor
In the securing or filing of petitions.
All measures submitted to a vote nr
the people by petitions under the pro
visions of tills section shall he publtsh
ed a» Is now or may hereafter be pro
Ttdeil ny law. _ . .
The style of all fills. Initiated by the
people and submitted under the provis
ions of this section, shall be. "lie It
enacted by the people of the State of
Arkansas" (municipality or county. as
the case may be). In submitting mean
ures to the people, the Secretary of
State and all other officials shall be
Ituided by the general laws until ad
ditional legislation shall be provided
therefor.
The result of the vote upon any
State measure shall be declared by the
State Hoard of- 1'Ileotlon Commissioners
(or the substitute therefor), and the re
silt of a vote for any city or town meas
\e shall be declared by the City Cen
tal Committee or Town Council (or
any substitute therefor).
This amendment shall be self-exe
cuting. but the legislative Assembly
nllt> enact laws to facilitate Uh oper
ation, and no legislation shall be en
acted to restrict, hamper or impair th«
exercise of the rights herein reserved
to the people.
All the provisions of this amendment
■rail be treated as mandatory.
That this amendment to the Consti
tution of the State be. and the same
shall be 111 substitution of the Initia
tive and Referendum Amendment, ap
proved February 19, 1909. as the same
soDears in the Acts of Arkansas for
1909. on pages 1239 and 1240 of the
volume containing the same; and that
the said amendment (and the act of
the General Assembly to carry out the
Lame approved June 30. 1911. so far as
the same Is in C'-r,flirt herewith), be
* nd the same are hereby repealed.
* The above proposed Amendment was
filed in the office of the Secretary of
mate on January 23, 1915
Each elector may vote For <>»
Aaalnat the above proposed Amendment
Witness my official signature this
»6th day of July, 1916
* EARLE W liODUEH.
Secretary of 9tat*
Staid)
Gov. Hays Principal
Speaker at Big Picnic
(Contiued from page 1)
where the matter was presen
ted to them in detail. After a
I conference, the committee re
commended that the warrants
ot the state be accepted at a
discount of eight per cent per
annum, to be redeemable dur
ing the year 1914. This ar
rangement was made and from
.that time on we had no furth
er trouble in securing bids for
the supplying of the institu
tions above referred to at reas
onable prices. This one thing
| saved the state anywhere from
seventy-five to one hundred
thousand dollars.
In 1914 1 called a meeting of
all the various interests of the
; state, after the terrible war
l broke out in Europe, when the
i country was almost in despair
and gloom, for the purpose of
discussing a better method of
living at home and feeding
ourselves. As a result of this
I meeting what is known as“The
I Profitable Sarming Campaign”
was inaugurated, and the peo
1 pie o! the state were advised
to diversify their iarming. As a
further result of this fact, the
greatest crops ever raised in
the state of Arkansas were
raised in 1915.
iHiring trie year 11)14,before
; the war broke out in Europe, ]
j we inaugurated a plan to ad
vertise the state’s resources at
the Panama-Pacific Interna
tional Exposition. After the
war came on we were met
with many difficulties.The leg
islature was asked to make an
j appropriation for this great en
terprise and came within one
i vote of so doing, but notwith
standing this failure, with a
! few loyal and patriotic people
of the state we erected a build
ing and exhibited the resour
ces o| the state in a reasonably
intelligent way, receiving more
| awards than any other state in
the Union for the variety we
had at the exposition. Arkan
sas is retarded in its progress,
in many ways. Principally on
account of the lack of capital.
\\ e have millions and millions
ot acres of wild and uncultivat
rich land that would be pro
ductive if put in a state of cul
tivation, to say nothing of her
mineral resources, that would
bring the slate to the front if
properly developed. We have
between a million and a half,
and a million and three-quart
ers population, with an area of
approximately thirty-six mil
lion acres o! land, with only
about live million acres in an
improved state of cultivation.
II this could be tripled orquad
rupled, think of the immense
amount of revenue we would
have, besides the employment,
ot labor which is unemployed
at this time.
At the tune 1 was elected
your Governor, the state, by
reason of extravagant appro
priations, had incurred an in
debtedness of approximately
three-quarters of a million dol
lars. This was a serious condi
tion.State warrants were being;
discounted at an unreasonable1
fate of interest, all of the state
instit utions were hampered and
supplies could not be purchas
ed tor them at less than twen
ty-live to lorty per cent in ex
cess of what should have been
paid. I promised the people
that, il 1 was elected Governor
I would endeavor to. 1 »ri rv^r
about better conditions and re
lieve the state ot this embar
rassment. This 1 have tried to
do and that, too, without rais
ing the rate of taxation or in
creasing in any way the bur
dens ot the people. 1 promised
during the year 1914 that if
the Legislature would stand
b.\ me on economical policies,
we would get the state out of
debt without increasing the
taxes, and that if they failed to
do so, I would fulfill mv prom
ise even if 1 had to resort to
the prerogative vested in the
Governor by the .Constitution
in the exercise of the veto pow
er. -The Legislature of 1915 ap
propriated too much money,
more, than we had any way of
raising, and in my judgment,
more than was necessary, and
in order to save the taxpayers
and redeem the credit of the
state, ,,i applied the “pruning
knife, vetoing more than
$000,000 and put is back in
to the pockets of (he taxpay
ers of flu> state and as a result
the state is out of debt, on a
cash basis and will have plen
ty of revenue to run on until
the first of January, 1917. In
other words, when I came in
the Governor’s office 1 found
your state three-quarters of a
million dollars in debt. When I
no out of the Governo’s office
I will leave your state out of
debt and on a cash basis. In
this 1 feel like I have redeem
ed my promise to the people.
We pay too much taxes. Our
burdens are too heavy. The on
ly people who complain about
Governors vetoing appropria
tions are those who are the
beneficiaries of the public rev
enue of the state. The tax-pav
ers do not complain because
their interest is being protect
ed. but only those who try to
extort every penny from the
pockets of the people. It has
been said that by October 1st
the state would be six hundred
thousand dollars in debt. I say
to you that the state is out of
debt with a few thousand dol
lars outstanding warrants in
the hands of the collectors
who have not made them set
tlements. When all of the col
lectors have made their settle
ments in full and the corpora
tion tax is collected, we will
have something like one half
million dollars in cash in the
state treasury to the credit of
t he General Kevenuefund.With
proper economy, this condition
can be continued and that, too,,
without raising the rate of tax
ation or without increasing the
assessment,because if you raise
the rate or increase the assess
ment, you have raised yourtax
es regardless of what you call
it. I he approximate income of
the state is a million and a half
dollars annually, or three mil
ion dollars for the biennial per
iod. I his is haf a million more
than the amount of the appro
priations left intact in 1915
and, it the next legislature will
go on an economical basis in
making appropriations, you
v ill have plenty of revenue to
adequately provide for all of
tin state's institutions and the
state government. It will not
be necessary to issue bonds m
interest-bearing evidences of
indebtedness or to borrow mon
ey unless you permit your
hands to be held up. This I
trust the people of this com
mon-wealth will never stand
for. The revenue of the state is
not entirely dependent upon
the taxes collected. One third
of our revenue is derived from
other sources and is paid in all
during the year. 1 do not think
it would be good business to
force the people of the state,
many of whom have to borrow
money to pay their taxes at a
high rate of interest, to pay an
amount in to the state treasury
on the first of July to run on
until the next July and then
loan the money back to the
banks oi the state at three or
four per cent interest, to be
loaned to the men who have
already paid it to the State
I reaswr.v at an additional high
rate of interest, when the rev
enue is coming into the state
all during the year. If per
chance, we shall have a lapse
of one or two months for ade
quate revenue to meet the run
ning expenses of the state, if
this should be met within a
short while, it would be much
better for the people than to
increase meir taxes to such an
extent as would almost double
liu m to get by a proposition of
this kind. One other thing I
wish to warn you against and
that » this: When you once is
sue -bonds or borrow money,
you had just as well as say
h a resell to the credit of your
state, for the longer you run
the mere you will have to have
m this way. 1 do not object to
every generation bearing its
part of the burdens of the gov
ernment but I say to you that,
i! the tendency continues with
Reference to the financial af
fairs of the country,the unborn
will have thrust upon them
burdens which they had no
sh\ nor vote in fixing. You talk
about taxation without repre
sentation. What would you call
a proposition of this kind?This
world, in all probabilities, will
roll on for many centuries, and
in view of this fact, as we hand
’he affairs of the state and na
tion over to those who are to
follow, lei !,s hand them over
lo them as free and unhamper
ed as we possibly can.
Since 1 have been in tin- gov
ernor’s office 1 have had a
pretty rough and rugged road
to travel. Any man will have
unless he permits a little co
terie of people to throw a chain
around his neck and lead him
up to the altar of sacrifice.This
1 have declined to do and will
as long as 1 am in the Gover
nor’s office.
The mothers, wives, daugh
ters and men have been work
ing, pleading and praying for
years and years for state-wide
prohibition. Many people of
the state have clamoured for
this law. During my adminis
tration 1 have given it to you.
I trust that you will use it to
the advantage of the entireciti
zenship ot the state. I preven
ted from becoming a law the
infamous race horse gambling
bill. I have been criticised a
great deal in many ways. Was
criticised on account of veto
ing this bill. 1 did what I
thought was right. It has been
charged that I hesitated. That
is true. I am glad that I did. A
man who cannot afford to hesi
tate about the grave and im
portant affairs of life should
not be entrusted to publicduty.
\v hile I was criticised for the
method adopted, that does not
amount to anything so the re
sults were obtained. The meth
od makes no difference. You
haven’t got it. Would those
who have criticised me have
vetoed the bill? If so, would
that have achieved any more
lor the people than I did and,
it not, while they criticise me, i
why do they not state they
would haw* approved it? This
would have placed them in a
better attitude.
I am in favor of better
schools. 1 believe in an edu
cated citizenship. I believe in
those things which will en
lighten our people and give
them a better conception of
life, but at this time I am bit
terly opposed to the proposed
amendment to the Constitution,
which provides for an increase
oi the school tax from seven
to twelve mills. 1 have the
greatest admiration and sym
pathy for the school teachers.
They are doing a great work
in trying to teach and train the
children for citizens, but while
that is true. I have the greatest
sympathy for the one and three
quarters million more people
who are called opon to pay the
taxes. Do you people knowwho
are advocating the adoption of
this amendment? If you do not
1 will tell you. ft is a few of
the school teachers backed by
thi* American Rook Company.
Do you find the taxpayers of
the state opening up headquar
ters at Little Rock for the pur
pose of waging a campaign to
secure the adoption of this
amendment? I say no. It has
been only a few months ago
since the Teachers’ Association
—not the taxpayers’ associa
tion of the state—pledged to
one man One Thousand Dol
lars to go out and campaign
for the adoption of this amend
ment. Can you find where the
taxpayers of the state have
pledged one penny towards
the expenses of any man to ad
vocate its adoption? Let me
give you a little history right
here. In ID 14 just before the
petitions for this amendment
were being circulated a call
was made from some depart
ment in Little Rock for a meet
ing of the school directors of
the state. This hail never been
heard of before and they suc
ceeded in getting a few of the
directors from some of the dis
tricts and and this proposed
amendment was promulgated.
That was the last of the meet
ing of the School Directors of
the State until just before the
State Democratic Convention
convened in Little Rock in 1916
and then another meeting was
called and a few directors
came again. Out of the thou
sands of directors in the state,
one small room would have
accomodated all who were
present. This meeting was
called for the purpose of in
ducing a few men composing
the platform committee of the
Democratic Convention to rec
ommend the adoption of the
proposed amendment. The
school taxes paid by the peo
ple of the state amounts to ap
proximately five million dol
lars annually, and in addition
to this, out of he general reve
nue fund, the University, the
State Normal and the four ag
ricultural schools are maintain
ed, making a total of approxi
mately six million dollars a
year contributed to school pur
poses. If, you adopt the pro
posed amendment, this will
amount to an additional bur
den upon the people of two
and one-quarter million dollars
annually on a valuation assess
ment of four hundred and fif
ty million dollars. This bur
den the people are unable to
bear.
I have letters now in my of
fice from the sheriffs and tax
collectors of nearly every coun
ty in the state asking me to
extend the time fur the pay
ment of taxes.
This request has come from
over one half of the collectors
of the state every year since I
have been in the Governor’s
office, which shows the condi
tion of the taxpayers. During
the session of the General As
sembly of a bill was introduc
ed anti it was urged that the
time for paying taxes should
be changed. Members of the
legislature in discussing the
matter with me stated that
many of their constituents had
gone through the winter seas
on of the year deprived of
shoes and proper clothing for
themselves and family and
that they were unable to pay
their taxes, and then to think
ot placing an additional bur
den ot two and one-quarter
million dollars per year upon
those who are already steeped
because of the burdens of tax
ation, simply to gratify the few
who would be benefitted by it.
1 know that it is a popular
thing tor a man to get up and
talk about educating the boys
and girls and how it is needed,
but when you get to yourselves
and think soberly and dispa
tionaly and realiez the bur
dens you are placing upon;
yourselves, you will decide
that this is not the time and
the way revenue should be
raised. You tell me you are
going to increase your earning
capacity, either by increasing
your assessment or by raising
the rate of your taxes. A blind
man can work out a problem
ol this kind. It is contended
that the average amount paid
to school teachers is only $:><50
per year. Do you realize that
the average amount earned by
the men who present their
backs to the burning sun and
tills the soil is less than $200
per year, and we may talk
about education—we may talk
about preparation—but as sure
as you are born, some of our
people have got to stay on old
Mother Earth, among the trees
where God whispers to his
children and where the birds
l sing sweetly.
You may adopt this propos
ed amendment. I would glad
ly contribute more than the
amount of taxes I will have to
pay on account of it to any
charitable purpose, but 1 know
that it will affect the people of
the state, and whether in pub
lic or private life, when I see
your interests involved, I am
going to do my very best to
point out the defects to you.
I want to venture the assertion
here that if you adopt this
amendment because the teach
ers are for it and because a
few directors from special dis
tricts, where they have become
involved, are for it, it will not
be the children who will be
benefitted by it. The teachers
may get a small amount of this
increase but the American
Kook Company will get at
least two million out of the two
and one-quarter millions and
the only thing you will have to
show for this amount of expen
diture will be a few charts, a
few globes, a few desks, a few
black-boards and a little more
chalk, where they can talk the
directors of the districts into
buying them, and they are the
people who are behind this
proposition, instead of the tax
payers. If 1 had it within my
power, when the Legislature
of 1917 convenes 1 would put
the American Hook Trust out
of business in Arkansas by en
acting such laws as will make
them fair competitors with
other concerns.
I am in lavor of removing
the State University to some
central location inthestate.The
State University has been a
complete lailure located where
it is, principally because of its
geographical situation. It was
instituted forty-five years ago,
long enough to have been a
great institution, but instead
ol that it has made practically
no advancement whatever and
with an expenditure of over a
quarter of a million dollars a
year, with an average atten
dnce of much less than six
hundred, is sufficient to con
vince any thinking man that it
has been a failure. If it was
placed in some central location
in the state where the people
could come in contact with it
and where it would not cost
the boys and girls who desire
to attend the University almost
as much to get to it as a year’s
tuition in some other institu
tion, we could make it a great
University.
You wll find in some of the
states of this nation universi
ties instituted since the Univer
j sity of Arkansas with an aver
age attendance of from five to
I ten thousand. The University
las it stands today is not acces
sible. It could be and should
be made a great educational
institution but it never will be,
located where it is and mana
ged as it is. The University to
day is controlled exclusively
almost by one man. I did my
best last June a year ago to
prevent the Board from vest
ing this extraordinary power
land authority in the hands of
the President but it was done
over my protest, and recently
gentlemen, his salary has been
raised to Five Thousand Dol
lars a year, more than the sal
ary of the Governor of your
state and more than any of the
other state officers. The Presi
dent of this institution, where
five hundred to six hundred
boys and girls £<> for then
training, receives a salary in
excess of the amount paid in
many districts where just as
many children are being edu
cated as at the University, to
say nothing of the eighty-odd
teachers employed for this five
to six hundred boys and girls.
1 believe the University can be
removed without any addition
al expense to the state, and I
have had the assurance that if
it was placed inthe proper loca
tion in the state some of the
Educational Boards of the Na
tion would contribute large
sums towards its maintenance.
1 have been criticised agreat
deal on account of what was
called the “Penitentiary Row”
and the “State Hospital Row.”
It was claimed by some of the
newspapers of the state and
some of the citizenship that it
was all politics. Strange to say
that none of this came up be
fore the primary election, at
which l was not a candidate
and at a time after the elec
tion,when I am going out of of
fice, and still it is claimed that
it was politics. I do not know
what you men think of this
proposition. The Penitentiary
was $150,000 in debt. It has
been going in debt since the
f,Commission was created and I
felt that something was absolu
tely necessary to change condi
tions. Today they have the
greatest crops they have ever
raised on the farm, and in my
judgment, unless some great
unforeseen disaster befalls the
crop, the Penitentiary will this
year pay every dollar of its ii.
debtedness except the purchase
of a new farm. If it does this,
will not many people concede
that a little “shake-up,” as
some see fit to call it, help con
ditions? If the Penitentiary can
pay out of debt this year, and
I can leave the state out of
debt when I go out of office,
with the other good whole
some, moral legislation we
have had, I will feel that my
services have not entirely been
a failure.
The same thinwas said
about the “Hospital Row.”
Ladies and gentlemen, I might
make the same argument. 1
must concede to you that it
was through my influence
largely that secured the elec
tion of the present Superinten
dent and for this I feel that l
am due you and every citizen
of the state an apology. It was
said that it was politics that
brought about this investiga
tion. They refer to certain peo
ple who were discharged. We
had discussed the removal of
these employees, with the ex
ception of one or two, even be
fore the present Superinten
dent was employed, and be
cause some of them were not
discharged Dr. Greene absolu
tely declined to accept the ap
pointment as Superintendent
because this was not done.
Since that time the Board has
discharged these same people
and it is highly probable when
the courts get through with the
case Dr. Greene, who in my
opinion is one of the greatest
and ablest doctors in the coun
try, will be reemployed as Su
perintendent. The first time 1
registered any serious objec
tion to the present Superinten
dent was when I learned that
the bodies of the poor, penni
less and the friendless were be
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