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Restrict Use of Money in Campaigns Senator A. W. Sanborn march 20, 1909 The qualiWcations of two men being equal, the power of one with a large amount of money to spend should be no greater, in securing votes, than the one without money. The amount of money the one has to spend does not add one iota to his qualiWcations to hold that oªce. Wherein lies the power of the man with money? He can bribe. He can inXuence votes with money. He can buy newspapers. He can indirectly buy the editorial columns of newspapers for the campaign. He can hire a large number of people to work for him, which implies that they will vote for him for the same consideration. He can prevent others from being candidates for the same oªce. He can hire others to become candidates in aid of his candidacy. He can make himself feared and dreaded by the force of power his money gives him. He can practically purchase the oªce. —A. W. Sanborn was a Wisconsin state senator. Initiative, Referendum, and Recall Robert M. La Follette december 10, 1910 The initiative and referendum will place in the hands of the people the power to protect themselves against the mistakes or indi¤erence of their representatives in the legislature. Then it will always be possible for the people to demand a direct vote and to repeal a bad law which the legislature has enacted, or to enact by direct vote a good measure which the legislature has refused to consider. The recall will enable the people to dismiss from the public service a representative whenever he shall cease to serve the public interest. Then no jackpot politician can hold his oªce in deWance of the will of a constituency whose commission he has dishonored. Wherever representative government fails, it fails because the representative proves incompetent or false to his trust. Entrenched in oªce for his full term, his constituency is powerless and must submit to misrepresentation. There is no way to correct his blunders, or to protect against his betrayal. At the expiration of his service he may 319 be replaced by another who will prove equally unworthy. The citizen is entitled to some check, some appeal, some relief, some method of halting and correcting the evils of misrepresentation and betrayal. The initiative, referendum, and recall will insure real representative government and will prove so e¤ective as a check that it will rarely be found necessary to invoke the powers conferred against unworthy representatives in any enlightened and progressive commonwealth. When Wnally invested through constitutional amendment with this supreme power, the electorate can always enact such laws as the ever-changing industrial and political conditions require for the common good. Election of National Delegates and the Nomination of President by Direct Vote Robert M. La Follette january 7, 1911 To Wisconsin belongs the honor of enacting the Wrst primary law for the election of delegates to a national convention by direct vote of the people. The Wisconsin delegates to the Republican National Convention of 1908 were elected under the law. They stood in that convention, a little band of fearless men Wghting to the last ditch for platform pledges vital to the public interest. Their contest in the Chicago convention Wxed the attention of the country and forced the candidate nominated for the President to broaden the platform by declarations in his speech of acceptance in favor of several of the important Wisconsin propositions which the convention had impatiently rejected. The lesson is obvious. Every state in the Union should adopt a primary law for providing for the election of delegates to the National Conventions of 1912 by direct vote of the people. With such a law in each state, the delegates will be chosen by the voters instead of by the machine managers, and the national platforms of both political parties will represent the interests of the people rather than the interests of the system. Wall Street has already selected the Presidential candidates of both political parties. There is just time to defeat the Wall Street plan. The Great Issue Robert M. La Follette february 17, 1912 The great issue before the American people today is the control of their own government . In the midst of political struggle, it is not easy to see the historical relation of 320 part 16 democratizing democracy ...

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