Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1856-03-07

bly, preserved, or that al, the proposed altera-
tons are REQulRfD' for any good purpose.
II. The righi Of Torn Representation III
rioiabe wiihom their consent.
BY the terms Of the original as well as Of
the existing constitution, the right Of repre-
sontation in the House By ioious, and the
time and mode Of election, are uHdiierdble-
certainly, without their consent ina conven-
ton composed of totem delegates, or with
out decree Of a majority OF all the people
"The House Of Representatives of the
Freemen Of this State shall consist of per-
sons most noted for wisdom and virtue, to be
chosen by the frocmon Of euery iotcn IN This
State. respechueiyn--.N,c. Z, first Constitution,
and sec. { QfHe present.
"The members Of the House of Repre-
senlatpes shall be chosen annually by bal
lot, by the irecmen of this state, on the first
Tuesday Of September, former Sec 3,
first Constitution, anil sec. Of The present.
Section Of the old Constitution Il Of the
present. provided that for the first septen-
airy, towns having eighty taxable inhabitants
might have two representatives, end oil other
towns one during the sand septenary or
seven years and after that, each inhabited
town may, In like manner, hold such cleo
ton, and choose each, one representative,
Jorerer hereq0er.7 There was a comprom-
Use, it will be seen, between the small towns
aud the large towns--a town OF 50 taxable
inhabitants being then large town.
Thus the sacred instrument, which gave
the Council Of Ccnsors all its powers, by
these explicit terms ereiudcd the power to all
ter the right ofeqpai torn representation, and
also the time and mode Of election. The
Council proposes to change the ,rhoiei We
submit that it has exceeded is powers let
us observe here, that 1t may be suggested
that previous Councils have recommended
change as to town representations This is
true but 1t Is also true, that they proposed
to do this only ioiih The consent Of The ioirns,
expressed through a Convention 10 which OH
The towHs we're equally represented. The
present Council proposes to strip the towns
Of the right of representation, cihom such
consent by Convention arbitrarily consti~
tuted by the Council itself, in which the
towns are not to be represented at all. Fit
be desirable to reduce he number of repre-
seniatvcs, let it be done either with the con-
sent of the towns, or by reducing the NUM-
Der of towns, which the Legislature can do
Ill. The Convention proposed By the Coun-
ell is unioarranted By The Constitution.
1t will be seen that the Council have con-
stituted a Convention of ninety persons
have allotted it OF their own discretion a.
mong the Counties, and require that it shall
be elected by general ticket-thus bioHing
out the totpns. We hold this to be utterly
without authority The totoas were the
creators Of the Constitution, and were
thus fathers of this and Of all other Councils
of Censors. The toions made section 43,
from which this Council derived all its pow
ers The Council has lifted its hand against
its venerable father. But we have somewhat
the argument on this point
Section 40 declares "The said Council Of
Censors shall have power to call Conuen-
hon"-und this is all the power of the Coun-
ell in the matter. We suppose the Council
inferred that the power so CALI implies
the power to prescribe the kind Of Conyen-
ton - the number Of MEMBERSHIP disuibu-
All these powers it has exercised; but, we
are constrained to think, entireiy iciihont an
horiiy. We again remind the reader That
Section AZ of the present Constitution was
only an exposition of the Pieamble TO the
original Constitution, which has already
been quoted as far as it relates to the power
of proposing amendments. Tho concluding
words relate to the mode Of adopting amend
ments, and we quote them. Please exam
inc them IN connection with the words quo
ted before;
sand which ARTICLES of the Constitution
shall, by the sumo authority Of The people,
furiy deiegaied, MS thus frame of government
directs, be amended or improped, Tor he NOR,
eileciual obtaining and securing the grca
end and design OF all governments herein
before MENTIONED Preamble TO the origin
al Constitution,
Now It will be seen that the preamble
prescnbes the kind of Convention which Tia,
Council was empowered to Scalp m Sector
A of the same nstrument-43 of the pres
ent. The Constitution was to be dmcnde
by the same authority of The people" whc
adopted IL. What authority was that w
answer: Convention composed of dele
gates 81 The str.r1i iolons or, most strict
speaking, by a Convention Of tolons cpii
for It is fact that some Of the towns wer
represented By letter simply. Let us 90 int
bit of history,
Previous to the adoption of the Constltu
ton there was nothing like a Goyernmef
having jurisdiction over The State. GOV
Wentworth of New Hampshire was to Yer
mont very much what Wilson Shannon
now TO the people OF hanzis and Ne'
York stood very much in the present positio
OF Missouri pouring in her spectators t
steel our lands, and her "Bordor Rufians
to hang the Green Mountain Boys for trer
son. Vermont indeed had Councils
Safety whose main business was to loo
after Workers and Tories; but they had e.
power to make laws. The to,oas were III
law makers 80 each being an ndepen@el
sovereignty, governed by nothing but II
u charter aud the will Of the town meeting
which was purely democratic body, .
March meetings are TO this day. The tow
} meetings Of the ffeemen were the Legisll
-. tures-the people the Legislators, every ina
(. having an equal voice aud vote in the du
u cusslon and decision Of public Matters
G Hence the equality Of the people, irrespe,
tive Of all artificial distinctions aud all di
/, ferences Of condition hence their indom