The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1871-07-03
For the Conservative.l
The Convention

, AS q measure of reform there can be
no objection to o Convention. 1t is con-
ceeded by all honest and intelligent
men that our present State government
IL ill.adapted to our condition territori-
ally and in point Of population To say
nothing about the origin of the present
Constitution and the irregular manner
of its adoption it is marred by defects
Radical in their character, and that
can be remedied only through the
medium OF Convention.-The State is
but sparcely peopled and many portions
of it are WIDELY unfit to sustain a
dense population, and will forever re-
main thinly settled. Unlike New Eng
land, where people are crowded together
like bees in a hive, and where none can
boast Of more than q square foot OF
soil, West Virginia needs a government
al machinery adapted to her present
condition. In New England the town
shin system with its numerous petty
officers, paid an unpaid, is perhaps a
convenient system of local government.
In this State the same system is oner-
Gus and expensive, and is incapable Of
being less SO under our present system
as a cheap and convenient form OF
local government the experience ofseven
wears condemns it. 1t is neither cheap
nor convenient. 1t is not adapted to
the condition of our State with its
sparse population. A similar form OF
government is what we need and what
we must have before we can hope for
relief to any great extent from the bur-
dens of taxation. The whole State
machinery is too complex and too large,
We have too many officers and by far
90 many Offices.
AGAIN we have too much legislation.
To get rid Of this evil we need change
and must 90 back to the old system and
have biennial sessions Of the Leglsla-
ture. Once in two years is often enough
to have our Solons convened in solemn
assembly to legislate for the public
veal. Had such been the requirement
OF the present Constitution we should IN
all probability have escaped the intiic-
ton of many of the disgraceful statues
enacted by corrupt and incompetent
men in the past.
Not content to enact bad laws, form
er legislators have disfgured the Con-
stitution, if such a thing were possible,
still more by altering and amending 1t
to suit their partisan or manevolent
purposes. 1t would be as well to wipe
out that provision which gives the Legis-
lature the power to propose or make
amendments to the Constitution and
leave it to the people to determine when,
how and by whom their organic law
shall be framed. We hope a Conven-
ton will be called. If the people irres-
pective of party will consider the ques-
ton in the proper light we think that
they will find it to their interest to
remodel their Constitution and pare
down the government machine to some
thing like proper dimensions. We
don't regard the questions as strictly a
party question and regret that many Of
our contemporaries are seeking to make
it such. 1t is a question upon which
men may honestly differ, though we
don't see how any one who desires a
change can reasonably oppose It,,
Republicans and Democrats are alike
interested in what rebounds to the pros
perity of the State, and we hope to see
our opponents lay aside all party feel
ing in the matter and unite with us in
sustaining the call for a Convention.
We cannot forbear to express our regret
that in some localities it is deemed
advisable to discuss the merits Of candl-
dates for the Convention in advance OF
its being called, and to load the measure
with the weight Of names that may and
doubtless will excite hostility to it.