The Hillsborough recorder. [volume] (Hillsborough, N.C.) 1820-1879, 1851-04-02
ou,Iy Affected d No doe oflhs people u,


Zoe deprived Of their rights,
4 We have boz ahe precedent N he bis
tory az oar Sale. in regard 10 smsndirgths
ConsiiIusian-I lllnde 10 The Convention
IN lsss. Ahhopgh our original coasli-
tHiisn. whirh had never been altered be-
fare 1855. ennlsined no provision ss ID
The manner in which il ~ss iahe smended,
OF II rrgstd 10 he ealing convention,
vel me Iseri-lainre. ss he law-msking
power: a. The only authority illss enald
legalfrs 5 vote II he people IN lessid "a
a change In Iheir Constitution. submisb q
IN ihe qualified voters az lhs State. ne
proposition. whether Ihey wonld <zli q
convention. limited 10 eerssin specified al
irrasioas of he snasisialsn. Arcordine
10 il.e prnsisinas az li,e Law he people hy
the sery same ari. esiscd the Convention.
and get rrsirrird lie arlion IN tile eonsid-
Grafton az de subjects proposed. So lhai
IL was. 10 fact. ihe people and not ihe ie-
gislaiure that imposed The Limitation.
Lei gen,lemen Examine the debates af the
caasrnlioh sf i635. and ihry xill find
that nn the day Of The assembling Of the
contention. tie QUESTION Has mored. as
+. 10 ahsiher he mfmhers. were bound 70
take lie oalh. limiting their action, which
hsd hern sIsbmiiied 10 ll.e rnnsidrrslion
nf HE people by The law and raiiiied by
The people Al The polls. And on discus
sion many q The shlrsl and most prom
ineni men Of The body coneuned in The
opinion. thai hy ihe decision Of The people
a The brlloi:hox. until The members had
taken tie naih prescribed. they could moi
be organized rs legal convention. The
body with great pnaniniiy adopted this
view Of lie question. and tho members
were qualified accordingly. But suppose
they had mol taken the cath, and had pro.
cteded 10 amend-i The constitution. Then
their acts would have had no validity. be-
cause il would mol have been such a Con-
rr:.;,on as The people had called. So Ear
then rs precedent goes. we have but one
precedent in mr. history: and that prece-
dent thoroughly sus aims my position.
thai The Legislature. in taking The in,iialn-
~ Steps awards lrgalizing The assemhlage
Of a convention. may consult The people
10 regard 10 a convention either limited
or unlimited; and If The people decide 10
impose limitations. ilrjr tlfrisinn musi be
binding npon those whom they elect,
Tile question IS not whether il appears
ahsnid and Inconsistent for The people 10
impose limitations on their oun power.
but The queslinn is. can they lawfully do
il. II they cuuld do j, in 1885. under al
constitution which had no provision for
the railing convention. through The
ini;iaiory aeiinn of The Legislature. Of
course they can do so now, under COM
sliinlion which expressly provides for
the calling convention by The General
Assembly. Ifihere be any truth in The
logical iruism that The major proposition
includes the minDr-two thirds &c The
Legislature having the power 10 call an
unlimited convention without The sanriien
oil the people, Of course two-lbires cans
call limited convention with the sane,
linn nf The people. H,. IN
But ! am willing 10 10 lake issue pilIi1
ilinse who ronientl Thai il is absurd and
fnr The people TO imposed
restrictions on their own aclion. The very
idea Of a Constitution prcsuppnses resiric-
lions upon those who are The Repositories
of powcr--ahe her IL he one man or mil. |
lion. .Know myself" was a cardinal
maxim Of an ancient philosopher Of
Greece. This knowledge Of human
frailiy Is as necessary to The statesman. |
~ providing for The welfare &c nation. |
as To The inlivi nal in regulating his PR
vaie life. The more wisdom and virtue
that exist among pcnple.-,he more are
their Institutions launded upon The dis
trust that their trainers ha Of the wild /
impulses and unchecked exci,enents Of
The human mind. Popular governments
are sometimes as iyrannical as those
swayed by single ,lespot. In order 10
secure liberty. The oppression Of maiorilies
must be provided against. Look al all our
Constitutions. both Stale and Federal
what are they but barriers agains, The en-.
croarhmenis Of majorilies. or those repre-.
sen,lng majorilies! The wise men. who
framed them. knew well The infirmily of
human .nalure-iha even'with the best in.
ienlnns. The people might be induced
either through bad cnunseIs or excited
feelings, 10 sacrifice their own ,leares,
rights and iberiies-and thanks 10 our
failers in the rurer and earlier days of The
republic. they resolved 10 save their pos
'eriy. i possible. from the folly Of injur-
ing themselves. And where is the man,
even in this carnival dry of ,lemagnges.
That has any respect Tor the opinions of
slrinous and good men. that will say that
,hesc restrictions tlusimpuse,l upon popn-
lar action. are absurt! anil anti-repnhlican!
And where is The difference between i'm,
posing these restrictions in the FIRST in
stance, and limiting The power OF abolish
ing these Restrictions. Here il The great
beauty. and in this cnnsis,slhe harmonious
action Of our Anglo Saxon Institutions.
Here is the secret DC Constitutional gov.
eminent, which the Celtic and Scandlna-
vian races cannot understand. Our insti-