The Middlebury people's press. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1841-1843, 1842-07-05
8. SWIFT
RIPToN, June l, IS42

DEAR SiR,-I rejoice to learn from your
letter that you feel deep interest in the i'm
portant constitutional question which have
presented for the consideration of the peo-
pie. 1t is really refreshing to find one indi-
vidual who can divest himself of party in
terest and embark in any enterprise for the
promotion of the common interest of the
whole people. And [ am ready to join you
heart and hand, SO far as my hand will serve
me; but it has become so rebelliOus, that it
seldom yields even an imperfect obedience
TO the will. Yet am so impressed with
the importance of changing our mode of a
mending the Constitution, that | will give
all the aid in my power to those who are
better able to write, and can present the
subject in a more extended form. And by
way of giving someg little aid in presenting
the subject to the people, will take the lib
erty to state, in general terms, some further
objections to our mode of amending the Con-
stitution, in addition to those which stated
when wrote upon the subject last winter;
point out legitimate and cheap mode of a
polishing the last article in the Constitution,
and close with a statement of number of
obstao les which We shall meet with, and
which, | fear, will prove insurmountable, if
we undertake to excite the attention Of the
an opinion on the subject. One further OBJ
lection to our mode of amending the Con-
stitution, to which have alluded, is, that
the council of censors are elected by gen.
eral ticket, and, consequently, whatever
party may prevail, are selected from the
dominant party, and the minority are thus,
BY an unnecessary violation of their equal
rights, wholly deprived Of voice in pro-
posing amend to the Constitution.
Now, such is poor human nature, that the
minor party thus wholly excluded from the
council, will naturally feel opposed to all
amendments proposed by such council
This provision deserves a more particular
examination in a separate article.
farther and a still more weighty objec-
ton to our mode of amending the Constitu-
ton, is, that neither the Constitution or our
code of statute laws can ever be at rest, but
must ever be exposed to a septennial change.
For It does not require a very profound
knowledge of human nature to perceive,
that men who are appointed for the express
purpose of examining the Constitution, to
ascertain whether it be defective, and to as
certain whether any acts have been passed
by the Legislature in violation of the Con-
stituIion, will be strongly, though insensibly,
predisposed to discover defects in the Con-
stitution, and to propose amendments which
will greatly improve it, and to discover at
last some act of the Legislature which has
been passed in violation of the Constitution;
for il they do not, they will appear no more
wise than their predecessors. Now, take
all this in connection with the reasons which
formerly gave, why the articles of amend
ment proposed by the several councils of
censors have almost uniformly been rejected
by the conventions, and does it not furnish
a satisfactory reason, why we have had
such an unprecedented numbers of conven-
tons, and most of them mere abortions'
For all the amendments which have been a.