the "initiative." There was nothing about the "referendum," and U'Ren had never heard of either. But he had noticed that all the political evils of all the cities and states, where he had idly watched men defeat themselves, culminated in the betrayal of the people by their representatives. And this leaflet showed how the people themselves, outside of and over the heads of their elected representatives, might initiate and pass laws. Here was a tool for democracy; here was a means to achieve the reforms Henry George indicated. U'Ren determined then and there to hammer this leaflet into a bill and pass it—somewhere.
U'Ren didn't care where. The need of it was universal in the United States. He thought how useful it would be in Denver, in Iowa, in Wisconsin; it was needed right there in California. But he happened to be going to Oregon and—that's how U'Ren came to be the lawgiver "of Oregon."
The initiative—as a tool, remember; as a means to an end; as a first political step toward changing our economic conditions—this idea gave purpose to his life. His health improved. He went to Portland and, mousing around for books and men, came upon E. W. Bingham.
"Ed. Bingham," U'Ren says, "was a law-
