Montana

History

Montana’s Populist governor Robert B. Smith, elected in 1896, and his
successor, Joseph K. Toole, elected in 1900, both called for I&R, but
neither made much headway until December 1903, when the reformer F.
Augustus Heinze organized and “Anti-Trust Democratic Party” and an “Ant-
Trust Republican Party.” These groups, combining their efforts with those of
the very vocal “seven or eight men” from the state’s Direct Legislation
League, were able to push an I&R amendment through the legislature.

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