AMERICA'S fORTY SIXTH STAR.

Otago Witness, Issue 2808, 8 January 1908, Page 79

AMERICA'S fORTY SIXTH STAR.

THE MAGNA CHARTA OF HER NEW

STATE.

The United States has just admitted the State of Oklahoma into the Union, and in future her flag must bear 46 stars. Each State has its own Constitution — its own Magna Gharta, — and the' Constitution of the new State, Oklahoma, is of the greatest -interest to all interested in social well-being, for it contains many ideals which tvere impossible when the older States came into being. It is Magna Charta up to date, and the etory of the making of that Constitution is one of the romances of history". It has. been told in a most picturesque way by Mr F. Uphain Adlams in the. Saturday Evening Post. — Constitution as Long as a Novel. —

"We of - the older States who are blessedi with --Constitutions written by men who never saw open plumbing or dodged an automobile instinctively feel that we- would have no more respect for ' a brand-new Constitution than we would have for a new railway time-table, and we resent the insolence of the people of Oklahoma in drafting one. They have not only done this, but they have absolutely ignored most of the conventions adhered to in the mouldy documents hidfderr in our various State archives.

" Seventeen years ago there was no Oklahoma. Now the State of that name boasts a population of 1,500,000 and a Constitution about the length of a, popular novel, and fully as interesting. It was about a year ago that Oklahoma was so sure of Statehood that the delegates elected to draft a Constitution' began to gather in Guthrie. It was originally planned that Gutkrie should be the, capital and metropolis of the coming State, but it is beyond the power of men to designate metropolises, andi 40 miles to .the south lies the wonderful city of Oklahoma, far in the lead with her 45,000 population.

— An Historic Scene. —

' Let me contribute one picture for the future school-book historians Scene, Gnth-^ rie ; time, the spring of 1907 ; location, the City Hall, from the tower of which one can look out on a sea of undulating hills and prairies checker-boarded with fields of cotton and corn, and dotted to the horizon -with herds of cattle. Within the hall are met the stalwart farmers who are forming the new Constitution. Hovering about them are the lawyers and lobbyists who are there to represent the corporations and other ' vested interests.' It is only a resetting of the worldw>ld picture of the battle of the masses against fortified power, save that the latter ' has been stripped of tlie -weapons of force. The delegates are gathering. It is the day -when there shall be decided the question of whether the ' initiative and the referendum' be incorporated in the Constitution. There are rumours 'that money i has been used to advantage with delegates J pledged for this Tadiical reform. Excited farmers discuss this possibility, and glare ! at the well-groomed attorneys who are arguing with the delegates. — Convention Opened With a Hymn. —

" Chairman Bill Murray mounts the platform and sweeps the hall with his piercing glance. Down comes his gavel with repeated crashes on his table. The tumult ceases.

" ' The Convention will come to order !' Murray shouts, with a final blow of the gavel. ' Delegates wjll take their seats, loafers and lobbyists will get out! We will begin by singing that j»rand old hymn, " Nearer, my God, to Thee," ' and as every delegate arises to his feet the powerful voice of the chairman rings out with words which all know and sdmz:.

Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee, E'en though it be a cross That raiseth me; Still all my song shall -be, . -• Nearer, my God. to Thee, r •'Nearer, to T&ee!^ ._ *~V~I A J. 1 jfhough like a. ■wanderer, The sun gone down, •* Darkness^ b*e- over '_mft, ' '" . My -est a stone ; - I Yet in my dreams fd be i Nearer, mi -^God, -to Thee, c -'■ 'Nearer^to Thee! " If a>n attempt was made to use money to sway the votes of the men who met in Guthrie, it had as little effect as it would on Cromwell's Covenanters. only human document of which they stood in< awe was the Constitution of the United States, and the only human being who influenced -their decisions was President Roosevelt. "The lobbyist is out of his depth in a place where men open their proceedings with ' Nearer, nay God, to Thee,' and scores of times when the Oklahoma die-le-gates met in that Guthrie hall its walls shook with the chorus of men who attempted to vote as they sang. '—The Men Who Made the Constitution. — "A reading of the names -signed to the Constitution as finally adopted .furnishes convincing proof that, whatever the merits or' demerits of this document, its American parentage cannot be called into questiqi'. Almost all the names are such as are found ou the roster of the Mayflower, and the remaining {our — Ledbetter r JLasater., Liedtke, and Leahy — Jong since became native by adoption. Posterity will find iti the list -such oldi- fashioned New England names as> Cobb, Henshaw, , Jones, Hill, Rice, Littlejohn, Baker, Moore, Newell, Turner, Wood, Harrison, Johnston, Ramsey, Rogers, Williams, King, Banks, Allen, Tracy, Berry, Parker, Norton, and Kane, all of which confirms a theory I have long held — namely, that a community 'b radical and inclined to ipolitical experiments and social innovations just about in proportion to the ascendency of its New England element., "The Convention ■ was organised on November 21, 1906, and- was in almost continuous session -until April 19, 1907, on which date the delegates signed the instrument. . . . — Oklahoma Plays Delighted Dog. — " For a generation New Zealand has been the social and political experimental station of the world, and the sucess of "her innovations has startled the Gonserva-i tives of all the old and staid Governments. Since it is necessary to try new political medicine on the dog, Oklahoma is delighted; to be that canine, and it remains to s be seen what fraction will do the howling when the first allopathic dose begins to take effect. Let Us briefly consider some of the ingredients of the-prescrip-tion. " Th& first section consists of the soothing assurance that v the ' State of Oklahoma is an inseparable port of the (Federal Union, amd the Constitution of the United 1 Sliatcs is the supreme law of the land.' " Polygamous or plural marriages are prohibited, and the State shall never enact any law restricting the right of suffrage on account of race, colour, or previous condition of servitude, but - separate schools must be provided; for' •negro children?-' aSsd'j the first legislature will certainly "'submit 1 I air, amendment, which -"the l - people will ,j ratify, compelling transportation corporations to provide separate t ajCcp^nmodationi, for persons of -negro -Mood..!"* MaitfitAui ' mistake, Oklahoma, is of the ( South, and though the coloured,, brother may \vote-4f' he*cares to — he must^keep his placed" 1 ' — A Prohibition State. — " For 21 years Oklahoma will be prohibition^- . Intoxioatia|?n. liquors . cannot be manufactured, sold, bartered, ot given away, except under rigid control for medicinal purposes, and -any physician who gives a prescription to a^jperson not enr titled to it will go to gaol on conviction. - The clause is too long to quote, but ,a reading of it and a knowledge of the temper of the men in power wdll convince most liquor diealers that they had r "betie,r go elsewhere ; and whisky can be boaght' cheaper in Oklahoma at this writing than anywhere else in the United States. " Imprisonment for debt is prohibited, except for the non-payment of fines im.posed for violation- of the law. - In" passing I will note that Oklahoma is the only' ! State in the Union not provided with a penitentiary or a State-house. In 'all civil cases and \n criminal cases less than felonies, three-fourths of a jury have the power to render a verdict. —The Libel Law. — , ; , t "Here isa provision- which ".will ':intef est owners. - >of ' newsp'apei*' property.- 'id all crtminal/j(ir6secutionsr*for libjsl^'the -^ruth of the matter alleged to be libellous may be given in evidence to the jury, and- If it_ appears to the jury that the jnatter., charged as libellous be true and "was.-'^rit-** ten or published with good! motives and' for justifiable engs, -the party shall acquitted.' "Tajs-j^S" * wid® departure from the commpn-^rule that 'J the 'greater the truth, the greater the^libeL' " Thus far nothing :de6tr«ctaye has; been,* cited, but here. 13'~a.' secti<jB£- HvJtioliS.«OT^ protesting delegations to Washington : ' the records, books, and files of all corporations shall be, at all times, liable and subject to the full visitorial and inquisi- I torial -powers of the State, notwithstand- j ing the immunities and privileges in this j bill of rights.' Keep in mind that these ! are not laws passed by a legislature and subject to jju'lifieation by & pourt, but these clauses gxe^a" part" of the orjanic law of Oklahoma, and cannot be repealed' except <by the hazardous expedient of amendment. It does not require a special legislative committee to probe- into- the suspicious affairs of a corporation ; their re- j cords are open at all -times, to the officials of the Commonwealfh. ' J i

. — The State in Business. — "Here is a. provision Tdrich enables

the people of Oklahoma to become So cialistic in all affairs save agriculture : — " ' The right of "the State to engage in .any. occupation or business for public purposes shall not be denied or prohibited, *xodpt that the State shall not engage in agriculture for 'any other than educational and scientific purposes and for ''the, support : of its' penal, arift--esWfeational * institutions.' - -_- " \ " The Courts of Kansas prevented^ that Statfr. from erecting aiitP conducting "a refinery in competition with\ the " Standard O'l Company. Oklahonia; enjoins v Ker > courts fron> any such i^tSsferencer^ ■ "^he* can build, own, xnd ctoerate railroads, telegraphs, packing- houses, -gEactories of all kinds, and can go into any 1 mercantile business, wholesale or retail ; can own , and operate hotels, theatres, or 'perform any function except " agriculture. T,he ' Socialist awakes from his dream, "'and finds Oklahoma armed with the power to cairy his fondest visions into effect.—Legislation by the' People.-S-r " Having decreed that no power shall stop them from trying. the experiment oi public ownership, the, ' Constitution proceeds to" make it easy for the majority of the people to carry into effect any scheme which appeals to them. This they may do -through »the initiative and the referen- , -dum, the cherished weapons which all j radical reformers have tried to grasp,. and j which <isjjiow in ihe~ hands of tfoe people of Oklahoma. This is the innovation ■ which aroused the bitter opposition of the financial interests of Oklahoma, and which "led "to' the "rather amusing contention that, tho power of bhe people tp pass or repeal laws was in conflict with a- ' Republican form of Government.' The initiative and referendum are in force in Oregon, and have long been used for specific purposes in most States, bijt no part of the world, save Switzerland and New Zealand" has ever bee,n invested) with the stupendous democratic power bequeathed to Oklahoma in these lines copied from her new Constitution : " ' The legislative authority of the State 6hall be vested in a Legislature, consisting of a Senate .and a House, of Itepresenta-t-ivesi;' but the people reserve to ihemeelves the power to propose laws and amendments to the Constitution end to enact or reject the same at the polls independent of the Legislature, and also re--serve power at their own option to apj prove or-jeject at the polls any" ict of the Legislature.' — Initiation and Referendum.— 1 4' %big ie ;a crushing blow delivered -straight at representative government, md most Tadical reformers, agree ,that all .our . national woes flow from the. fact thafe-tho people have had no pqwer over their elected representatives. Their slogan has ," been : ' Representative government is a "failure! Democracy is possible only with' direct -legislatSon through the initiative^and! the referendum.' And at last their, turn has come, and I do not hesitate to v pr;edict- J;hat the fate of representative government in the United States, will depend ron the result of the experimentswhich Oklahoma is now certain to make.. , The details : t Nj " 'Tie first power reserved by the people is"' the 'initiative, and 8 per. centum of the I legal voters shall have the right to pro- | pose any legislative nieasure, and 15 per ''^centutri of the legal voters shall have the "I "right to propose amendments to the Con- • . etitution by petition, and every such petition shall include the fuH text of the I so proposed.' 'j ' 'The secondi power is the referendum, . and it may be ordered either by petitioD <*aoer centum of the legal voters 6* "by the Legislature as other bills are enactedr^ "The ratio and" per "centum of' legal voters shall be based upon the total numjaer^.^', votes cast %t the last general election for the State office receiving the i highest number of -votes at .such election.' "In other words, 15,000 voteVs dan take any.j-bill out of the jurisdiction of the Legislature, and demand and be accorded) a decision by the majority -vote ■of th« peSple. '"The veto power of the Governor shall not extend to measures Voted >n by the people. . . . The' referendum may be demanded 1 by the people against one or more items of any/act -of the Legislature in the same manner in which such power may be exercised against a . 4 complete act,, . . Any measure by the "people cannot, again be propose^ - -within three years thereafter by less than 25 per jentum of the legal voters.' " Such are some of the features of thid . new Magna Charta.