Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1868-12-23
Tho Constitutional onestlnn.

The Burlington Free Press replies to our arti-
Gle on the Council Of CeusJrs, intimating that we
like the old Vermont way Of doing things u little
too much, and are possibly though unconsciously
influenced by the interest Of Montpelier in having
as many councils and conventions as possible. We
are much attached to Vermont, and Vermont ways
ofgDyemment but not unreasonably. The bridge
that clIries one safely over, the horse that never
balks tie servant who is always laithful, and the
friend ever true, are not to be cast Of without
strong reasons, but rather to be respected and
cherished. Still we know the bridge will wear
out, the old horse must die at his appointed time
associates and friends will make the returnless
voyage one by one, and we must fill their place,
as well as we may. We are ready, then, 10 give
mn the Council Of Censors if new and letter
way cnn ne ucyiSeu.
The Free Press asserts that the Council is
" expensive, awkward, inefficient and unpJpu-
lar, and suggests as a substitute the proposal Of
amendments to the Constitution by two success
siye Legislatures, and ratification bya popular
vote. We object that this will be very much more
expensive, Worse than awkward and probably
no more usefully efficient than tine pres mt way
Ii degrades the Constitution to the level Of stat
ute to be tinkerel at the will Of every legislator
who has fancy for experiments. Instead of
propositions for amendment once in seven years
we may have them possibly every year and in
stead OF a single body of thirteen men to discuss
them, we shall have thirty Senators and two hun
bred and forty Representatives. Do our friends Of
the Free Press imagine that amendments to the
Constitution will receive less consideration than
railroad charter, or II new county proecty If
any thing is worthy ola weeks or a months de-
bate, will it not be the Constitutional question =?
Thus the argument Of expense is turned against
the plan of the Free Press, counting the expense
Of two hundred and forty town meetings as moth
ing and the suggested interest of Montpelier
will be found in prolonged sessions Of tie Legis-
lature.
Again we think the proposed plan worse than
awkward it is sipshod,-it is too easy 1t is
an annual invitation to our legislators to quit the
ordinary fields of legislation for constitutional ex-
periments. II perchance the powers of legisla-
ton are esteemed too limited, then the legisat rs
themselves are invited to propose amendments so
as to enlarge their powers. II the judiciary at
tempt to restrain the Legislature within constitu-
to remove the obstruction by restraining the Judi
cial power or magniying its own. But, quite
as likely as either if popular sentiment demands
changes, the representatives Of that sentiment
cannot safely refuse to respond even though il he
against their judgment What don t You think
popular sentiment ought to rule? Do YOU not
respect the sentiments and wishes of majority
of the people2 Ordinarily, yes always YES,
when the public mind has been thoroughly in.
structed, the public interests carefully weighed,
and public opinion matured But as the indiyd-
ual man has his ieyers, 50 do masses of men, and
we think there are some things that ought not to
be quite so mutable as the public opinion of a
day, or year, or two years. Public ,opiussn has
its Gibbs and flows like the tides Of the ocean. an
swering 10 the magnetism of lnoonstruok minds
sometimes as the tides respond to the moon itself
Public opinion has its moods, and these are
changelul as the fashions of lady's bonnet or
the cut Of genteman's coat. For instance A
new fashion never endorsed its predecessor Quick
er than did Know Nothingism when it grasped
nag, whip and spur, and ran all over New Eng
land, What constitutional restrictions on natu-
alization, suffrage and Office holding would pom
ular opinion have given us then it is easy to imar
Inc, while now popular opinion is tending strongly
in the other direction, for universal and unre-
stricted suffrage, male and female Anti-masourv
was once the fayorite of popular sentiment in
Vermont anon il was abolition; and we can
conceive that popular sentiment in those eras
might have desired to embalm itself in Constitu-
tonal provisions Letus consider, then, whether
It is better to have our constitution dancing per
petnal jigs to the popular tunes of the hour. than
to have something Of the stability and majesty of
the mountains among which we dwell We hive
got MS good Constitution as any other State
the Free Press will not deny thot Let us not
make it an easy task to disfgure it, Let that be an
awkward work, yea very troublesome work.
Too great efficiency of amendment does not com.
mend itself to our Judgment so long as we have a
good Constitution ready made lift were bad
one; it the rights of the people were not guarded
and the executive, legislative and judicial powers
properly distributed; then, if Council Of Censors
would not help us to better Constitution. II
would be proper time to seek some other mode
Of amendment,
We think the Free Press wrong in accusing
the Council OF Censors of inehciency There
have been twelve Councils of Censors and eight
OF them proposed amendments to the Constitu-