Herald of the times, and Rhode Islander. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1846-1849, 1848-02-10
HERALD AND THURSDAY MORNING. FEBRUARY 84S


another at Providence which over six thousand
attended; at which resolutions were passed
which were here offered. Then he offered to
prove the election ofdelegates-the of meeting Of
the Convention in October 1874 ;, and the draft
inc ofa Constitution the re-assembling IN 49,
Al, the completion of the draft, It's submission
10 the people, their voting upon II, It's adoption
and the proclamation on the 18th OF January,
1912, that the Constitution so adopted was the
law of the land.
That is the substance of what was here aver
red. The plaintiff next offered to prove that
the Constitution was adopted by large major
ty of the qualified voters of the State that the
officers were elected under II in April, 1912 !;
that the new government assembled on the Sd
of May, and he offered copy of its proceed
lngs.
lie set forth that the Court refused to admit
testimony upon these subjects, and ruled that
the government and law of the State were in
full force, and that they justified the action Of
the defendants.
| will give few references to other proceed
ngs of this new government. The new Con-
stitution was proclaimed on the 18th of Janu-
arv, 1912. On the 18th of April officers were
appointed under it, and Mr.. Dorr was chosen
| Governor On Tuesday the Sd OF May the
new legislature met, was Organlzed, and then,
! il is insisted, the new Constitution became the
lnv of the land-on that Sd day of May
Tn, legislature sat through that whole day,
mornino ,.ud evening; adjourned; met the
nnxtd,y. AMI sat through all that day, morn
inc and evening. a.,d did a great deal of paper
business. Ii Went through the forms Of choos-
ING Supreme Court, &c, ana on .he eve
ming of the lih of May it ai"tfnco' !" noe'
again on the lst Monday of JuV III rro''-
dence
And never word spakc more
Il never re-assembled. This Government, tinn,
whatever it was, came into existence on the
hird dav of MAY, aud went out OF existence on
the Jo,uih day of May.
| will now give some references concerning
the new Constitution authorized by the gov
ernment The present Constitution was framed
i'm Nov. 1912. 1t was voted upon by the peo-
pie on the 2lst, 22d, and 23d days of Novem-
! Der, was then accepted, and became by It's own
provisions the Constitution of Rhode Island on
the first Tuesday of May, 1913.
Now what, in the meantime, had become OF
| Mr.. DORIS government! According 10 their
own principle they say that they are forced to
admit that it was superseded by the new gov
ernment. because the people had accepted the
new government But they had no new gov
ernment iii! May, 1913. According to them,
then, there was an nterregnum o! whole
year. lfthey had government, what became
of it, fit ever came in, what put 1t out OF
existence! Why did itnot meet on the day to
which i; had adjourned! Ii was then displaced
bv the new Constitution, because that had not
been agreed upon in Convention ill November,
it was not adopted by the people till the last OF
November, and it did not go into operation I'LL
MAY. What became of it
| think it is important TO note that the new
Constitution established according to the pre-
scribed FORMS came thus into operaiionin May,
1913. and was admitted by all to be the Con-
stitution Of the State what then happened IN
the State of Rhode Island | do not mean TO
90 through all the trials that were had after this
cphemeral government had disappeared; but
will ask attention to the report of the trial of
Dorr for treason, which took place in 1914 be-
fore the whole court He was indicted in
August, 1912, and the trial came on in March,
1914. The indictment was found while the
charter government was in force, and the trial
was had under the new Constitution of the
State. lie was found guilty of treason. And
| turn to the report of the trial now, to call
attention to the language of the Court in its
charge, as delivered by Chief Justice Durfee
in that casc-l present the following extract
from that charge:
at may be, gentlemen, that he really bclev-
ed himself to be the Governor of the State
and that he acted throughout under this delus-
ion. However this may 90 to eXtenuate the
offence, it does not take from it its legal guilt
1t is no defence to an indictment for the viola
tion of any law, for the defendant to come into
Court and say, | thought that ! was but eXer-
cising a constitutional right, and ] claim an
acquttal on the ground of mistake Were il
so there would be an end to all law and all gov
ernment Courts and Juries would have moth
ing to do but to sit in Judgment upon indictments
in order to acqut or excuse. The accused has
only to prove that he has been systematic in
committing crime, and that he thought tha, he
had a right to commit 1t, and, according Ia
this doctrine you must acquit. The main
ground upon which the prisoner sought for a
justification was, that a constitution had been
! adopted by a majority of the male adult popula-
| ton of this State, voting in their primary OF
natural capacity or condition, and that he was
subsequently, elected and did the acts charged
as Governor under it. lie offered the votes
themselves to prove IFS adoption, which were
also to be followed by proof of his election
This evidence we have ruled out Courts and
iurles gentlemen do not count votes to determine
whether "A constitution has been adopted or
governor elected. or not. Courts take notice
without proof offered from the bar, what the
Constitution is or was and who is or was the
|, Governor of their own State. 1t belongs To
\ he Legislature TO exercise this high duty. j,
is the Legislature which in the exercise of its
delegated sovereignty counts the votes and
declares whether a constitution be adopted or a
Governor elected or not, and we cannot revise
and reverse their acts, in this particular withou,
usurping their power Were the votes on the
adoption of our present constitution now offered
here To prove that II was or was not adopted
or those given for the governor under it, Ia
prove that he was or was not elected, we could
not receive the evidence ourselves, we could
not permit to pass to the jury. And why
not Because five did so. we should cease to
be mere judicial, and became political tribun-
al, with the whole sovereignty in our hands.
Neither the people nor the Legislature would
be sovereign. We should be sovereign or you
would be sovereign ; and we should deal out to
parties itgant, here at our bar sovereignty to
to this or that according to rules OF laws OF
our own making, and heretofore unknown
in courts. In what condition would this coun-
try be, ifappeals could be thus taken to courts