Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1870-07-06
The Constitution.

AhuNhll anu lut blN NNhNNhNiRh % NN'
the rights and immunties Of the people, or
cease proposing a rising Of the poorle To their
sovereign capacity to undo the work OF the
Council and Convention The two do not
hang well together
As for the W'atcimaHS amendments, 1t
will be ten years before they can BECOME
practical questions, and we reserve our COM
mcnts till then.
The final suggestion in the article lin Ua'el-
NAM is worth noting. The right alluded
to is essential to popular government. 1t
was bv the exercise Of such a right that the
Council of Censors was done away in Penn
sylyana, and we have heretofore had occasion
to warn Councils in Vermont that 1t might
be exercised here in like manner, if they de-
clined to listen TO clear demands Of the peo-
pie. 1t is, in fact, the right of revolution.
But if the Waterman supposes that the staid
and conservative people Of Vermont can now
be- induced to rise in their sovereign capacity
10 undo the work Of the late Convention, it is
woefuly mistaken On all points bat one
the action Of the Convention has the APP
proval Of the mass Of the people How the
people stand on the question Of biennial ses-
sions. no man eau undertake TO say. The
subject was little discussed before the people
in advance Of the meeting Of the Convention,
and what would be the result if referred after
full discussion to the popular vote is alto
rethcr uncertain But it is mt uncertain
| that the people propose to give the change a
| fair trial. There is no evidence, outside Of
Montpelier, of any popular excitement over
the subject The people, if not satisfied, are
clearly disposed to pad, and we advise
| the Waiclmau aM JoUrHai to wait with
! them. - Burlington Free Press.
We are not aware that the Vatctmaa has
been in the habit Of particularly exalting
the Council of Consors for the last fifteen
years but rather it has strongly condemned
two of the Councils out Of the last three, and
the excepted Council was deserving Of praise
only for doing nothing. The Watchman has,
however been careful to distinguish the Coun-
ell as it was originally designed-the thcoreti-
cal Council from modern Councils detacto !
and we think it has justly thrown the respon.
siblity, for the bad behavior Of sundry Coun-
ellis upon the people, who neglected ADLER aud
wiser men in the elections Of that body
Were we disposed to be sharp upon our
friends Of the Free Press, we think share
Of that responsibility could be fastened ever
upon them, in common with other gentlemen
Of the press. And this we do not say by
way Of blaming any body, for we think the
trouble is that The peopic have never beer
dissatisfied with the Constitution Of III
that there has never been a strong popular
desire or clamor for any change-not ever
for the exchange Of the old Governors Coun
ell for the Senate, which the Waterman ad
vocatod and therefore elections Of the Cen
sors have generally gone by default rarely
more than one tenth Of the freeman taking
the trouble to vote. This is measurably true
Of the Constitutional Conventions also, AM
specially of the last one, and the legitimat,
conclusion from these facts is that The peopl
did not desire the amendments that wer,
adopted by that body The previous discuss
ions in the newspapers were almost exclusive
ly devoted to woman suffrage, and the con
dcmnaton of that was so nearly unanimoui
that a contest could not be made upon it a
the polls.
But trhee amendments have Beeu adopted
and we think unwisely; nevertheless we are
not DESTROYS of quarrelng with the Free
Press about it, or stirring up popular discon'
tent That we believe will come legitimate
" when occasion for it arises and we expect
such occasions. The next Legislature will
have to revise almost the entire body of the
statutes, to adapt them to the biennial s. stem
and the laws in respect to the Grand List anC
taxes of all sorts will afford very Difficult
task to say the least. Indeed we have
strong impression that justice cannot possibl.
be done to those subjects on the biennial term
and that unequal and unjust taxation, ant
financial difficulties growing out Of illega
lists standing for two years, will be thorn.
enough to provoke general discomfort withou
any aid from the press. Adding to these tn
occasions when various interests will suiie
two years because of the want Of legislaty
action, or necesstate extra sessions that vii
tell in the taxes, we have very reasonable
grounds for counting uponpopular discomfort
Let the people send their abcst men to tn
Legislature; let these give their best work
let the experiment be fairly tried We ad
wise all this, but we do it without any con
iidence of success in the endeavor.
As the Free Press is unwilling to discus
the sixth amendment further, We will onl
suggest that possibly any body Of men, thir
teen or thirty selected for the special dut,
of considering the Constitution, would be bet
ter than an equal number OF men selected foi
other purposes aud elected as politicians o.
partizans. That is all the answer we care t,
give on that point
We confess to no Inconsistency in defend
ing the old forty.third section, and then fall
ing back to the right Of (peaceaJle) revolution
when the forty-third section had been kile,
and buried The Free Press is not sharper Oh
the matter of its own consistency than on ours
To condemn us for believing in the right ofrevo
luton, and admit in the same breath that tn,
Free Press believes in it also, does not furn
ish very brilliant specimen Of consistency
But the Waterman proposes a rising Of thu
people" No, gentlemen we have proposed
nothing but simply asserted that if the PEG
pie are not disposed to wait ten or more year
for any desired change in the Constitution
they have the power in their own hands, re-
served by themselves, to make an earlier
change, Could we possibly have stated til,
fact in more unexeeptionable terms? The Ere
Press admits that this is fact Why doe
it impugn our motives for suggesting an i'm
uortnnt truth ? Whv doec IL rharga Mont