Burlington hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1845-185?, 1845-08-28
The COMstitutiOn..its History.

FOR THE TERMS IN DETAIL, SEE FIRST PAGE.
The COmstitutiOm--its History.
There are several circumstances con.
nected with the late attempt to urge an
out anil out ultra loco foco Constitution
upon the people Of Iowa which demand
ahe serious attention Of all classes of our
citizens. We propose to review brief.
~ the history Of this measure which
has just been condemned second time
by the people. In this review we shall
not notice. except colla,crally, the sev-
ersl abossive attempts to secure the call.
ing OF Convention previous to the las,
year. They all were spiced more or
less with the same par.izan spiri, which
characterized the late partially success.
ful efforts Of the leading demagogues;
but as they worked no mischief we
pass them by on accoun, of their HARM
aessness.
The success which eventually mark
ed the effort was effected through the
agency Of both parties. Many wings
felt that the time had come IN which
steps should be taken to throw off our
Territorial habilimen,s, preparatory to
the adoption Of State uniform. They
therefore voted for Convention. They
did this in good faith, believing that no
undue advantage would be taken of
their action. They supposed in the
vitality serious business of framing a
Constitution for the government of the
people Of Iowa. men would be selected
on the ground Of qualification and no,
on parsizan grounds merely. But they
were mistaken. The sole end and aim
Of our opponents was to secure ma
jori,y in the Convention whose only
and principal recommendation was at
iachment to party. This created an
emulation on the par, of the wings and
the consequence was that partzan tick
cts on both sides were presented to the
people. This was the beginning Of
trouble. The canvass became sheer
par'izan scramble-our opponents Sc
cured decided majority-and. as was
to have been expected under the cir
cimstances. they gave US an ultra par.
'izan Constitution, SO odious in some
Of its leading features as 10 create in the
minds Of some Of the best men in the
Territory fearful forebodings for the fu-
aure prosperity Of our Commonwealth.
The action Of those who composed
the Convention was of such charac.
ter Is TO show their utter incapaci,y for
the business which had called them to.
gether. Some there may have been,
whose qualifications might have ena-
bled them to have understood the bear.
ings and results Of their action on the
present and future generations. and
who might have appreciated their true
position; but so blind were they TO the
claims Of the minority and possible
future majority, in consequence Of po-
Iisical bias. that they permitted their
party predictions to predominant over
every other consideration. They SEEM
ed only conscious Of possessing the
power Of ENGRAVING just such measures
as they chose. and they exercised this
power TO the utmost limit. They ap.
pesred 10 take but one view of every
subject that came before them. Like
the empire who has but one medicine
for every disease, and who knows no.
ching Of the elements Of the medicine
he administers, all their aim seemed to
be TO dose up every paragraph with
what they called Democracy, with the
hope tina. Democracy, and such democ.
racy. would be sufficient an,ido,e for
all the diseases Of the body polite.
They were men of "one iJea."-
The exercise Of this one idealism con-
'racted their minds-narrowed their
perceptions Of righ,-excluded every
enlarged patriotic and magnanimous
Ieeiing-made truth subservient to er.
ror-rlshtto wrong-the good Of the
whole to the benefi. Of par,y-and led
Them 10 view The mos, laudabIe enter.
prises as inimical to the prosperity of
The people. Men Of discernmen. who
looked on the action of the Convention
with the greatest anxiety, anticipated
mat the result Of The deliberations of
NOSE who composed it could not be
otherwise than suicidal to The prospe.
rlty Of Iowa. They were no, mis,ak.
en-. The Constitution was a one sided
doeument-des.i,u,e in its verv
elements cf that democracy about which
its authors prated so much-bindino
the people, however large the majority
- arta "A l.