Page:Address of Frederick V. Holman at Oregon Bar Association annual meeting.djvu/9

 Courts in relation thereto. To consider the whole initiative and referendum scheme of government in Oregon would require a book with copious notes.

By initiative vote, June 2, 1902, Section 1 of Article IV of the Constitution of Oregon was amended by which legislative "measures" or amendments to the Constitution could be adopted under an initiative petition. It will be noted that the number of voters necessary to sign an initiative petition is not prescribed, but is left uncertain, and expressed in the negative, by the words, "not more than eight per cent of the legal voters shall be required to propose any measure by such petition," while the number of legal voters to sign a referendum petition is fixed, viz.: "Five per cent of the legal voters." Nor did the act of February 24, 1903, provide the number or percentage of voters necessary to sign an initiative petition.

I shall presently show that the Legislative Act of February 25, 1907, which repealed said act of 1903, does not provide the number or percentage of voters necessary to sign an initiative petition, although it does provide the percentage of voters necessary to sign a referendum petition against any municipal measure.

It is further provided by said amendment of the original Section 1 of Article IV of the Constitution, that "The whole number of votes cast for Justice of the Supreme Court at the regular election last preceding the filing of any petition for the initiative or for the referendum shall be the basis on which the number of legal voters necessary to sign such petition shall be counted." This last clause applies only to said Section 1, and does not apply to Section 1a of said Article IV, adopted in 1907, relating to initiative and referendum petitions concerning municipal legislation.

Under initiative petition the people of the State of Oregon on June 4, 1906, amended said Article IV of the State