When a convention punts to the people, is that wisdom or failure?

The Convention couldn’t pass it — 120 to 126, six votes short. So they built Amendment 37, a referendum mechanism. Five years later, a Path to Citizenship passed 61 to 39 through that mechanism. Ray reportedly said nothing for a long moment and then said: “That’s what it was for.” Was he right? Is a mechanism that outlasts the room a success or a concession?