REFERENDUM

switzerland during the period 1910-25 continued freely and frequently to use the referendum, which had been made general and compulsory by its constitu- tion of the year 1848. by means of referenda (a) proportional representation was rejected in 1910 and 10912, but accepted in 1918; (b) measures were carried in favour of sickness and accident insurance (1912), a war tax on fortunes over a certain sum (1915), a special levy to clear off the war debt (1019), restriction of the liquor traffic (1920), entry into the league of nations (1920) and an eight-hour day for government employees (1920), and (c) proposals were rejected which advocated female suffrage (1920), a capital levy (1922), extended state control over the liquor traflic (1923) and modification of the cight-hour day in certain emergencies (1924). in some cantons, among which zurich was pre-eminent, the employment of the referendum for the settlement of such questions as the route of tramways, the construction of bridges, or the site of public buildings, was so regular as to constitute the virtual establishment of a direct democracy. (see n. ornstein-brodsky, das referendum in der praxis, 25 jahre gemeindeabstimmung in ziirich. vienna, 1920.) the united states —the legislative referendum was formally adopted by arkansas and colorado in 1910, by arizona, cuali- fornia and new mexico in torr, by nebraska, idaho, ohio and washington in 1912, by michigan in 1913, by mississippi and north dakota in 1914, by maryland in 1915, and by massa- chusetts in 1918. its chicf adherents still lie west of the miss- issippi river, only five eastern states having adopted it, 7.e., maine, massachusetts, maryland, ohio and michigan,—and 26 states have made no provision for direct legislation. in those states which have incorporated its principle in their legislative machinery, its use has not been commensurate with the claims which its advocates made for it. on the other hand the constitutional referendum, which con- templates only proposed amendments to the state constitutions, is in force in every state with the exception of new hampshire and delaware, and this is the form in which the referendum has been usually resorted to in recent years. the constitutional problems most persistently laid before the electors for decision were female suffrage and prohibition. as a result of referenda, the suffrage was given to women in some states, e.g., washington in rg10 and california in 1911, but refused in others, e.g., okla- homa in roto and south dakota in tort. the subject of pro- hibition was thrashed out over almost the entire united states by means of referenda, until the matter was removed from the cognizance of the state legislatures and electorates by the eight- eenth (prohibition) amendment to the federal constitution. apart from the wider state spheres of action, the referendum has been adopted in local government matters, particularly in the matter of moncy bylaws which in certain circumstances have to be submitted to the taxpayers for their approval, and also in connection with the adoption or otherwise of the commission and cily manager systems of municipal government. british empire —great britain has not adopted the referen- dum, but since the abolition of the lords’ veto in 1911 its adop- tion has been urged by a number of iniluential men. on march 2 1911 lord balfour of burleigh introduced a referendum bill, but, after an interesting debate, the measure was rejected. in australia the referendum, which had been employed only once before 1gto, was used on several important occasions during the subsequent 15 years. in roro itself a referendum authorised the transference of the debts of the various states to the commonwealth government. in 1916, and again in 1917, the vital question of extension to service abroad of the compul- sory enlistment (which was already in use for home defence) was referred to the commonwealth electorate and on each occasion rejected—in 1916 by 1,146,009 to 1,085,000 and in 1917 bv 216 1,181,000 to 1,018,000. in rorr, 1913 and 1919 amendments to the commonwealth constitution of a soctalistic tendency were all rejected. similarly in the separate states of the common- wealth, e.g., victoria 1920 and queensland 1923, proposals in favour of prohibition were defeated by large majorities. there can be no doubt that in australia the referendum has proved to be an obstacle to innovation. new zealand used the machinery of the referendum in ror, igi4, 191g and 1922 in order to discover the will of her people respecting this same vexed question of prohibition. on each occasion, although by dwindling majorities, prohibition was rejected, canuda—the referendum in the legislative sense has, when resorted to, been as a rule the result of special laws, and particu~ larly on the question of prohibition. the suppression of the liquor trafhe was thus carried out mm alberia, rgc5, manitoba, british columbia and saskatchewan in 1916, and ontario in 1919. in 1920, however, british columbia by means of a refer- endum, reversed its decision and adopted a system of govern- ment liquor control,—an example subsequently followed by manitoba, saskatchewan and alberta. under united states influence the referendum has been widely introduced into local government matters, more particularly as regards the submission of bylaws about moncy to the people, and in this restricted sense has operated successfully, though upon occasions it has proved difficult to induce any large number of voters to exercise the franchise. european countries.—tvhree constitutions framed since the war incorporated the referendum as part of the machinery of government. the german constitution of 1919 empowers the president to order a referendum when he sees fit, and provides it also as a means of escape from a contlict between reichsiag and reichsrat. it was used on june 20 1926, to decide the question as to whether or not property of the hohenzollerns or other former ruling houses should be confiscated. over 15,- 909,000 votes were cast for confiscation, but, as less than half the total votes was polled, the proposal failed. (see germany.) the estonian constitution of 1920 uses it as a means of resolving a deadlock between the two houses of legislature. the rejection of a measure passed by the representative assembly involves the dissolution of the assembly and a general election within 75 days. the irish free state constitution, 1922, requires a referendum to be taken on any measure passed by the dail, if a demand is made by either one-fifth of the senate or one-twenticth of the electorate. cae pe ows bibliography.—e. p. oherholtzer, the referendum in america (1900); a. v. dicey, “ the referendum and its critics,"’ quarieriy review, vol. 212 (1gt0); w. f. dodd, revision and amendment of state constitutions (baltimore, 1910); 5. r. honey, the referendum among the english (1912); w. b. munro, the initiative, referendum and recall (1912); r. b. wise, the making of the australian com- monwealth (1913); 1. d, barnett, operation of the initiative, referen- dum, etc., in oregon (1915); a. l. lowell, governments and parties in continental europe (1918); foreign orfiice tlandbooks, no. 159, plebiscite and referendum (1920); e. kimball, state and alunicipal government in u. s. a. (1922); h. l. mcbain and l. rogers, the new constitutions of europe (1922). reformatory schools (see 23.22). great britain.—re- formatory and industrial schools (sce also children’s courts; propation) in great britain are institutions for the reception of neglected children and young offenders under the provisions of the children act 1908, as amended in 1921. they are conducted by voluntary bodies of managers, or in a few cases py local authorities, and are under the general supervision in england and wales of the home secretary and in scotland of the secretary for scotland. their net cost is shared equally between local authorities and the state. the position of the schools was fully re- viewed by a departmental committee which reported in 1913.5 as a result of their recommendations, a number of important changes wete made in the organisation and management of the schools, and in the character of the education and training given in them, 1 report of the departmental committee on reformatory and in- dustrial schools, cd. 6838 (1913). reformatory schools one of the most striking features in the history of the schools has been the fluctuation, during and after che war, in the annual number of committals to them. the number had maintained a fairly steady level in the years prececling the war; but it was symptomatic of the disruptive effect of the war on family life that between 1913 and 1916 the annual commuttals of boys to reformatory schools increased by nearly 70% and of boys to industrial schools by over 15%. the number of committals fell sharply in 1919 to a point far below the pre-war fevel, and has continued to decrease, though the experience of 1924 and the two preceding years suggest that a period of stability may have again set in. as a result of the decrease it became necessary to close a considerable number of schools. during later years the so-called “short term schools" for truants have been merged with the ordinary industrial schools {¢.7.), and the day industrial school has largely disappeared. the general trend of progress in the remaining schools has carried them far towards the realisation of the high ideals by which the enlightened founders of the movement were inspired. while the faw preserves a distinction between the two classes of schools, the reformatory being a training institution exclusively for young delinquents and the industrial school having the pri- mary purpose of a home for children who by reason of the crimt- naj, immoral or neglectful habits of their parents are in danger of falling into delinquency, the problems with which the two classes of schools have to deal are in the main similar, particularly since under the children act 1908 young offenders under 12 years of age may not be sent to reformatories, but are eligible for in- dustrial schools, which may also receive first offenclers up to 14 years of age. the distinction, therefore, is tending in practice to <lisappear. [un the reformatory school of to-day nothing remains of the old idea of retributive punishment, so long perpetuated in the prison- like uniform, the cropped head and the routine of monotonous labour. in an increasing degree, the methods of repression have given way to a regime of freedom and encouragement combined with a wise discipline. corporal punishment becomes less and less necessary; al:sconders are coniparatively infrequent. in many industrial schools boys and girls are able to attend the ordinary elementary or secondary schools in the district. in both classes of schools special encouragement has been given to early release on ficense, and to the development of an effective system of after-care. every pupil is released on license as s500n as his prog- ress and the seal circumstances justify it, and he then re- mains under supervision—actively exercised and including power to recall him, if necessary, to the school—until the age of 1g if the school is a reformatory or 18 if it is an industrial school. in all schools boys and girls are given, by a system of rewards and privileges, by the grant of home leave and not jeast by par- ticipation in organised games and healthy recreations, every incentive to develop for themselyes those qualities of self-respect and self-reliance which will best equip them for an after-life of good citizenship. bretrocrarity.—m., a. spielman, the romance of child reclama- tion (1920); reports on the work of the children’s branch of the home office, stationery office, london (1923, etc.); w. clarke vall, children's corts (1926). (3; we-fl.) united states —the reformatory system of the united states, as distinguished from the penitentiary or prison system, may be considered under two heads: («) reform schools and industrial schools for youths under 16 or 18 committed for violations of the criminal law or for the want of proper guardianship, and ()) re- formatories for older adolescents between the ages of 16 or 18 and 30 convicted of criminal acts; the former is an outgrowth of the houses of refuge, which developed in the early part of the 19th century, under private and charitable organisations, beginning with the last quarter of the roth century, a number of states established industrial schools or state homes for ihe correction and training of their dclinquent youths. the re- formatory for older adolescents had its birth in the united states in 1869, when the new york state legislature enacted legisla- tion and appropriated funds to build the new york state re- formatory at elmira. this legislation was brought about largely through the efforts and influence of dr. e, c. wines, dr. theo- dore dwight, and mr. z. r. brockway, who became the first superintendent and was responsible for the development of the elmira reformaiory system of academic and trade training, which is still regarded as the best of its kind in the united states. almost every state in the american union has at least one re- formatory. in practically all cases the system of discipline, training and rclease established at elmira has been more or less followed. the indeterminate sentence is an integral part of refrigeration the american reformatory system; the principles of this system of release were embodied in the first legislation establishing the procedure for operating the reformatory in 1877. the u.s. govt. opened its first federal reformatory for adolescent male offenders in march 1926, at chillicothe, ohio. prior to this time, male offenders of all types over 16 years of age were received at the federal penitentiaries. in 1926 there was under construction in west virginia a federal reformatory for adolescent females; this will be in operation before the close of the year. the federal govt. follows the practice of boarding many of its offenders in state reformatories and county workhouses. bibliography.—f. h. wines, punishment and reformation; z. r. brockway, fifty years of prison service; annual reports of the american prison association; c, r. henderson, afodern prison sys- fem; o. f. lewis, the development of american prison system and customs; journal of prison discipline and philanthropy, vol. 1. (c. de).