It should be distinctly understood at the outset that the proposed constitution of Indiana is a means, and not an end. The chief cause of its existence was the desire of Democratic leaders of the state to purify the suffrage in Indiana. This was not wholly an altruistic motive. The more intelligent Democratic leaders have been convinced for years that the only safety of the party lay in honest elections. That is why, in 1889, Indiana became a leader in the adoption of the Australian ballot law, and the most stringent and efficacious bribery law that has ever been devised, both of which were adopted as Democratic party measures.

At the legislative session of 1911, the Democratic party, for the first time, in eighteen years, came into full possession of the legislative power of the state. During those eighteen years, every Democratic effort to purify elections had been gracefully and effectively smothered. But, in 1911, the Democrats found their opportunity blocked by a legal complication. The constitution of the state fixes the qualifications of voters, and these can neither be added to nor taken from by statute law. To amend the constitution, the proposed constitutional amendment must be adopted by two successive legislatures, and by a majority vote of the people.