Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1868-12-16

them as are indebted to us on their present sub /
scripton, will aid us materially if they will settle
this, and pay US for the coming year.
The Council of CensOrs.
BY the i3d section Of Part Second Of the Con
sHtution, and an act of the last legislature in ac
cordance Herewith, the freemcn Of Vermont are
to elect, on the last Wednesday Of March next,
Council Of Censors, TO consist of thirteen persons
who are not members Of either branch Of the
General Assembly, whose dutyit will be to review
the acts of the Legislature and the conduct Of
all Executive officers for the last seven years and
10 propose such amendments to the Constitution
rs they may deem necessary. The Burlington
Free Press characterizes this election, and the
prospective doings of the Council, as " A Septen-
ary Farce" citing the results OF the Councils of
1855 and 1862 as proof of the propriety Of so
chanctelEizing them. 1t declares that thousands
OF the{more considerate" Of the people desire
the Couthcil to propose its own abolition and
leave AMENDMENTS of the Constitution to be effect
ed by/some Of the simpler methods in use in other
StatJs 1t strikes us that it is hardly just to
attelmpt to whistle down an article of the Consti-
tgyfion because Of the unwise action Of the Coun-
vi Of IS, the remissness charged to that of go
We were decidedly of the opinion that the first
wrong, and was properly rebuked by the
Convention it called; and we were glad that the
last found no occasion for calling Convention
But passing this, let us remember that there have
been many Councils, some of them exceedingly
important, and through this body several valuable
amendments to the Constitution have been made
4. Al.
more in number than half of the sections of the
Plan of Government. The Free Press does not
propose to get rid of one Of these amendments,
and so practically confesses great value in Coun-
ellis of Censors. Again: the instances are hume
rous in which the Councils have suggested errors
legisation-some of them violative of the Con-
stitution,-and in this way good has been done
the Councils have not always been farces
and, if due care is taken to select good men for
the duties of that body, they will be larces
Though it has been the fashion Of perhaps a ma
lority of the Vermont newspapers for thirty years
to decry the Councils it will be difficult to give
any good reason for doing so. In theory, this
mode OF checking encroachments upon the Con-
sttution and proposing amendments to it, is emf
nently conservative, and We think il no insignii-
cant fact in its favor that it had the approval Of
Benjamin Franklin, having been borrowed from
the Constitution of Pennsylvania, which was
largely his work. In other States there certainly
are different modes of proposing amendments; 50
" simple some of them as to make Constitution
tinkering about as easy as ordinary legislation,
yet we know of no State Constitution and no
State government equal TO our own; so we can
admit no superiority in their modes of amend
ment, On the other hand, we have just had an
example of very expensive abortion, under one
Of these other modes, in the case of New York.
Our system leaves to thirteen men the duty of
framing necessary amendments, and a convention
Of two hundred and forty men TO adopt or reject,
which Is done in the inside Of week usually.
Their system requires large body of men to pro-
pose, who take months to do it, and a State cleo
ton to ratify or reject Our system gives the
first work to representatives Of the whole State
with no particular or sectional interest or il
any particular interests they at least those Of
county and theirs to the representatives Of
particular constituencies, some Of them with axe,
10 grind, political or otherwise. In the las
work. our system gives the final decision to a rep
resentatiye body equal to our House of Represen
tatiyes, and theirs to general election. Th,
result in the last case is TO get a negative yot
from most voters who dislike any one proposes
amendment,--the dead fly causes the ointment l.
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