Page:The Wisconsin idea (IA cu31924032449252).pdf/244

 unskilled in law, are often declared unconstitutional by the courts.

Here then, is the situation. We see the farmer, the groceryman, the country lawyer, the successful manufacturer, the man of business, all grappling entirely unprepared, with the problem of making laws that represent every phase of industrial life. A few years ago the simple legislation could be easily handled by these men but now the great problems of the railroads, the telegraph, the telephone, insurance, and the many complex things of our modern life, make it simply impossible for one man however bright or educated he may be, to act intelligently upon one-tenth of the subjects which come before the legislature. When some new invention comes into being, legislation must deal with it; when some new situation arises through the growth of new industries, some new law must be made restraining, encouraging or in some way regulating these new conditions. It all goes to show how unfitted is our old representative government to meet the conditions to-day and how utterly helpless any one man is to meet these intricate problems.

Besides all these difficulties, there are others previously mentioned, one of which is worthy of special attention, namely the great abundance and complexity of judge-made laws. The increasing distrust of the legislatures by our citizens has resulted in state constitutions