The Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1849-1855, 1850-12-12
For fl,e rinneer.

! FOR Tue lloneer.
! The Legislature will soon assemble, and
] public at,eiItion is naturally directedto the
I, duties they will haze 10 perform. The pub
lie good will be tlieif object, and what will
best promote that good is proper subject
Of free discussion.
great fault in legislation consists in do
= ing too much. Better leave un,lone many
things which ought to he done, than do a
/ few things which out not to be done. 1t is
exceedingly difficult to get out of bad sys-
tenn of legislation, but easy to get into good
one. When bad laws are once passed, and
the people become accustomed to them, they
first tolerate them patiently, next become
satisfied, and finally pleased with them:
they know what they are and how to obey
them. They rather shear the ills they have
than fly to Others they know not OFF, Fear
/ ing they may do worse, they will not try to
do better. When Ivy passing no laws in the
beginning but those that are absolutely in
Idispeusable, the statute hook is left open
for the passage of such as from experience
are shown 10 be necessary--then, there will
be no necessity to repeal them, no complaint
against them; they will become known to
all, respected by all, and cheerlulIy obeyed
by all.
Neither should laws, when the intent and
and purpose of them are determined upon,
be passed in hurry. Time should be
taken, and skill used, to draw them up in
as few and simple words as possible, and
express their intent as clearly as possible.
Laws ought to he, and good laws will he,
familiar TO every right thinking mind,
whether educated in the law or not. They
60 hand in hand with good sense, and just
ideas of right and wrong. 1t is not the law
that makes lawyers and Courts necessary,
but the justification Of the law, and lis i'm
projections. Make the law perfect, and the
babe will learn it, as he learns tho Lords
prayer from his mothers lips; and (as any
thing perfect is perhaps impossible IN affairs
human) the nearer perfect, it is, the better
will it be understood The oil adage
''look before you leap'' is no where more
] applicable than 10 the Legislature of new
country.
The last Legislature did well, but they
would have done better, If they had done
less; and if they had originated more and
1 copied less, they would have done still bet
ter. In legIslatng upon general principles
the experience and wisdom of other states
embodied 10 their laws are safe guides; but in
acting upon matters peculiar to Minnesota,
: laws, however good elsewhere, which are
not applicable here, should be studiouslY
avoided. i will mention two laws nf the
last session which think need amendment:
first. the election law: it makes six months
residence necessary to vote, but person
must be here from eleven to seventeen
months before he can vote. Immigrants
can only come here in The navigation sea-
son of the year. Navigation opens in
April; the elections are held in September;
so that the earliest corners cannot vote the
year they come--tbey cannot vote until
September in the following year, when they
will have been here from eleven to seven
teen months Thus it is clear that this six
months residence is a restriction in disguise
upon the right Of suffrage. Whether so in
tended vi not, such is its effect.
And is it the policy Of this new Territory
to restrict this right; 1t is not. 1t is the
policy, not only OF the new states and Ter
rltories, but Of the old states--it is in accor-
dance with the genius of representative
government, and especially with our own
. political system TO enlarge it, and pass lib
cral laws in its favor.
The idea that some few here have of inn
posing restraint upon new Corners, either in
respect to social, business, or political af-
fairs, is certainly the most Liberal, nari ow-
minded, and suicidal that ever was con-
ceived by n respectable number of rational
beings. New corners! who are the new
comers' or rather who are not the new
corners? All here are new Corners. And
shall the man who comes here to-day, take
possession and. control Of every thing, and
treat the conner Of tomorrow as stranger!
or rs a ne,c conner, having no right 10 in
terferc with the affairs, of the old setiters2
Those who make such pretensions would
be Contemplate, if they were not p.tful. A
food Of immigrants are pouring in here ev
cry year, and if the few who happened to
be here few months before any body else,
set up to be sole rulers, and attempt to COP
troll affairs for their own benefit, they will,
fancy, soon find themselves in lean mi
nority-corresponding in its influence with
their own littleness Of soul. Another OBJ
lection to the election law is tbis-the cleo
ton is held at time when the territory is
full of strangers, who never intended to set
tie in It, and the ballot box is liable to be
defrauded by them.
These objections can be remedied thus
Pass law to hold the elections in Novem-
ber-by that time transient vIsiters will have
returned to their homes. Those who are
here then, will. generally, be here with the
resolution of becoming permanent citizens.
And besides, all those who come early in
the season, will be qualified to vote, with
out having to wait nearly year and half,
before they can exercise the privilege of n
six months resident. If precinct is estab-
lished at Pembina, an exception to the gen
eral law can he made in its favor, if the
member should not have time to reach here
after the election day in November. But
further amendment to the law might be
made, which would even obviate the re-
cessity of that exception. Let the Lcgisla-
ture meet in the spring. January is an i'm
proper time for it to meet-it is too cold for
comfort and men cannot pass good laws if
they are not comfortable. And the print
ing too, car be done much letter and much
cheaper in the spring when the weather is
mild than in the winter when it is severly
cold. For these reasons it would he bet
ter, think, for the legislature in future to
meet in the spring-if so, the election can
be held at any convenient time during the
winter. Second, the other law which in
tend to refer to, as needing amendment, is
the act regulating grocery licences. But
have said enough tor the present, and will
remark upon that next week. 2.