376 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



tension of the ballot to women recently in Illinois was done by the legis- 

 lature and not by a referendum. The gaining of " votes for women " 

 may render the electorate still more cautious going. The historic func- 

 tion of women has been to conserve the old rather than to initiate the 

 new. In any event, some opponents of woman suffrage favor submit- 

 ting the question to the women of the several states as the most effective 

 way to defeat it. 



It is possible that the advocates rather than the opponents of the 

 referendum will find more cause for disappointment at the result. The 

 people of Oregon in 1910 and 1912 as compared with 1906 and 1908 

 showed a disposition to go somewhat slower in assenting to measures 

 submitted for their approval. Out of thirty-two measures submitted in 

 1910, twenty-three failed to secure popular approval. 11 In 1912, 

 twenty-six out of the thirty-seven measures submitted failed of adop- 

 tion. Of the thirty-seven measures submitted, fourteen were proposed 

 amendments to the constitution, only four of which were adopted. As 

 the number of measures submitted has increased, the percentage adopted 

 has fallen. 12 Of one hundred and sixteen constitutional amendments 

 submitted to the voters of the several states during 1886-1891, sixty-two 

 were rejected. 13 Of ninety-nine amendments submitted during 1894-'96, 

 fifty-three were rejected. 14 Of eighty-eight constitutional questions 

 submitted to the voters of Michigan during 1835-1908, thirty-nine 

 failed of adoption. 15 In Massachusetts affirmative action has been more 

 common. Of sixty amendments submitted since 1780, only nineteen 

 have been rejected. 16 The experience in Switzerland has been that 

 many progressive measures when submitted to the people have been 

 defeated. 17 Its effects have not been radical or socialistic, neither has 

 its tendency been progressive. 18 



Few writers eminent in the world of letters during the closing years 

 of the nineteenth century were so impressed with the evils of democracy 

 as Lecky. To his mind a wide suffrage meant government by the more 

 ignorant portion of the community, political instability, successful 

 appeals to class jealousies and antipathies by the demagogue, the spolia- 

 tion of the rich by the poor. And yet Lecky was inclined to view the 



ii Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer, ' ' The Eef erendum, Initiative and Recall in 

 America," pp. 397^12. 



i 2 George H. Haynes, Political Science Quarterly, March, 1913, pp. 19 and 32. 



is A. Lawrence Lowell, op. cit., p. 170. 



i* Ellis Paxson Oberholtzer, op. cit., p. 163. 



is John A. Fairlie, "The Referendum and Initiative in Michigan," The 

 Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Vol. 43, 1912, 

 pp. 155-158. 



is A. Lawrence Lowell, op. cit., p. 171. 



17 Jeremiah W. Jenks, "Governmental Action for Social Welfare," p. 58. 



is A. Lawrence Lowell, op. cit., p. 168. 



