New Orleans daily crescent. [volume] ([New Orleans, La.]) 1851-1866, 1852-09-21

approved specially Of railroads as mos! .i.nira
p,y by aa&pted to the great interests Of LoHi-oi,
lhey would swell the general prosperla. al.
make NewOrleans what she ought to t,. ae
only the metropolis Of Louisiana but the lcnlIop
city Of the South west
bat some action must be had. This rnaeuiii-
cent donation must not be allowed to be..,plt
totally useless. Who doubts that we shall re.
cciFe more The policy at Washington seems
70 be to give away the public domain Well
Iaye our share for schools and other purposes
Let US protect what we have.
The resolutions of the gentleman from Point
Coupee were too limited in their scope. He
,hought that his were much more comprehensive
but he cared not All that he wanted was, that
the subject of this donation should 20 before q
proper committee in framing the Fundamental
law. and such general attention be given to it
as to insure action Of the right kind.
| The resolution was then referred to the Com
mittee On General Provisions.
ORDER OF THE EDAY-QuALIFICATIoNs FOR COVER
| NOR, ETC.
Ihe Convention proceeded to take into con-
sideration Art. 80 Of the Constitution, which
was made the Order Of the Day
1he question stood on the sub amendment Of
iered by Mr.. Jennings, which read as follows
:" No citizen shall be eligible to the office Of
Governor who shall not have attained the age
Of thirty years, ard been resident of this
| . S'sA' AAS--s
Mr.. JENNINGS, in rising, requested the dele
gate from Claiborne to accept, as substitute,
the resolution now offered by himself
lie aslnduced to believe, by the vote Of yes
terday, that the substitute, in its present form,
might receive more favorable consideration OF
the Convention. He had bestowed some atten-
ton upon the examination of the Constitutions
OF the several States Of the Union, and he would
give the result Of his researches as briefly as
| possible
Ihe states OF Virginia, Maine, Arkansas and
Alabama, for the qualifications Of Governor, re-
quire that he should be a native-born citizen of
the United States, and have had residence in
the State from four to five years
Delaware, Illinois, Missouri, Georgia, Florida
and South Carolina, require from fourteen to
ten years citizenship, and residence in the
state varying from ten to five years.
New jersey and Mississippi, in addition to the
residence in the State, the one for seven. the
other tor i've years, require that he should be
citizen Of the United States for twenty years.
Sewiork requires residence in the State for
nVe years, and New Hampshire and Tennessee
for seven years, and Kentucky six years.
All the above-named States have established
the qualification Of age for the Governor at
thlrty years. California is the only State in
the Union where age is mentioned as one of the
qualifications, that fixes it at twenty-five.
Let us look, then, to Maryland and Virginia,
Indiana and Michigan, whose Constitutions
were amended IN 1851, and see what progress
was made by them in removing the restrictions
OF qualifications for the responsible Office of Gov
ernor
BY the old Constitution Of Maryland, which
existed up to 1851, the age of the Governor was
fixed at twenty-five with residence in the
State for five years After the experience of
number of years, the Convention selected to
amend 1t finding such qualifications wholly un-
becoming SO elevated an office, and notwith-
standing the progress of the times in removing
restrictions, changed the age from twenty. five
to thirty years, residence OF five years in the
state, and In addition thereto, farther required
that he should have been citizen Of the United
States for five years
And how was it with Virginia that noble
state, whose eulogy has been the theme af demo-
Gratis as well as wings: In 1929 30, when
Madison and Monroe were members Of her Con.
vention, it was required that the Governor
should be ve-born citizen, and five wears
| resident OF the State In 1851, when u Con.
Ventlon was called to amend her Constitution
after an experience Of twenty years, and af- Ell
making many important changes in her orssanir
law, this article in the Constitution rellai-ie.l
untouched, and the Governor is still required ~
be native born citizen and q resident fi1r five
years in the State
with these examples before the Conven tiop,.
Mr. j. would call upon gentlemen to hesitate
before they adopted the sweeping resolu,ionS
winch had been offered, viz that every quail
he'd elector should be eligible to the Offices ut
Governor and Lieutenant Governor. The ele-
Vated ONCE OF Governor requires that he should
possess that knowledge and Judgment which. in
part, can be acquired only by experience.
Thirty years is the spring time of existence,
when all the faculties, mental and physical, are
III their most vigorous state, When he sends his
messages to the Houses Of Assembly, they ought
to show that he understands we'll the laws and
history OF the State, its agriculture and COM
meree, and all the various interests in great
State and country. Can such knowledge be ac-
quired at the early age of twenty one or twenty
five?
The debates on the old Constitution of 1916,
which we have assembled here to remodel, con-
tain some powerful arguments upon many SUBJ
jects, and especially upon the one which we are
now discussing. When the delegate offered his
resolution yesterday, &c that every qualified
voter should be eligible to the Office of Cover
nor, it appeared to Mr. j. that it would be car
ried almost by acclamation. Several important
articles in the old Constitution as to the age of
Senators, which had occupied many days Of de- |
bate during the Convention held in lS45 have
been altered; and when the resolution under
discussion was presented, and none of those who
had labored i'll that very Convention came to
the support of the 39th article, which they had
Q oGSho' So ehiutStiy tphuopt, ne was reminded |
OF part of John Randolph's speech in the Vir-
glnla Convention, when, in his efforts to sustain
the old Constitution, and finding that neither
Madison nor Monroe were disposed to support it,
he said that Shakespeare. the great master of the
human heart, in representing King Lear de-
serted by his offspring, presents the picture of
our old Constitution deserted by her sons. In
deed the sin,ile would seem to apply to our
Constitution of 1S45, until my colleague from
lrIRDnS. vl,o
part in that body, most eloquently
and powerfully came to the support of this re-
solution. There was now some hope of success,
and he trusted that the experience of other
States would not be lost upon this Convention.
BE it as it might, he could never give his vote
that any qualified eleetor of the State should be
eligible to the high office of Governor.
Mr. CoLLENs said that while it was the pre-
rogative of majorities to govern, proper guaran-
tees of the rights of minorities should always be
given. The people should be protected by full
guarantees that those who govern them shall, in
all cases, have full capacity to do what is right
and proper in the administration of affairs
that they are men who have gained experience
from years, and acquired a thorough knowledge
of the country and its wants. Let us then, not
establish in this Constitution, the tyranny of a
us provide that the men who may
be put forward for the office of Governor shall
always be men Of experience and safety. He
hoped that delegates would remember that the
many restrictions in the Constitution are only
guarantees to the minority.