The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1871-03-30

| 1865 ~ 0C %tAOSC4 D1 bfAEIn u1TcGLlY the Ore
sent year, is necessarily exciting consider
able interest in the public mind, and in tn
Legislature. In view OF the importance o
the subject. L trust you win pardon this not
s0ileltlng your views concerning it. As tn
chief law officer of the State. and az lone. a
the Leaders of the Republican party, deeu
the views you may entertain upon this sub
JecL II you will consent to give them to TIN
pubic, important not only to the people o
tne State at large, but also to the interest
70 TINS note giving your views at large OIL
the subject named, Is respectfully solicited
Respectfully your obt sy't,
/ JOS. BENNETT.
JACKSON. MISS, March q, 1871.
MY DEAR SIR: Ia answer to the notG
| which you did me the honor to write or
yesterday, l proceed at once to state my
views as citizen upon the question of hav.
ing an election this fal1-for that is the
season fixed for it by the Constitution-for
Representatives, county officers, and District
Attorneys. The question Is one in which
every citizen, however small his influence
must in the present anomalous condition
| OF our pubic affairs, feel profound and
| special concern
The Constitution commands that ssthe
| House of Representatives shall consist OF
members chosen every second year," and
that on the assemblage of the Senators after
the first election. thew shall be divided bv
/
first class shall be vacated at the expiration
OF the second year" Shall it be commended
for moment that members of the LegisIa-
ture or Senators of the tirst-class, may con
time themselves in office for third year
without violating these positive provisions
of the organic law? The Constitution pro-
vides that all Senators and Representative
shall be chosen by the qualified electors Of
their respective districts and countless
The present Legislature will have been in
office two nQYt .IAnnaPU. hotr
term of service will then have expired, by
the express words of the Constitution Shall
any person contend that the voices of ..the
qualified electors may be formally dis
pensed with, and the choice made by this
Legislature choosing themselves to be their
own successors?
The Constitution also provides that s'the
Legislature shall provide by law for the
registration of all persons entitled to vote in
any election, that '.Sheriffs, Assessors.
County Treasures &c, shall be elected by
the qualified electors of their respective
counties" and "hOld their offices for two
years, that ''the political year of the State
shall commence on the first Monday in
January of each year, and that the general
election shall be holden ON the first Tues
day succeeding the first Monday in Novem-
Der, biennially." Can the Legislature. by
refusing to provide for registration and an
election, practically strike out of the Con-
stitutiOn the words 1.-TWO years" and insert
three or five years, or any other term? Can
they strike out ''biennially," and insert
occasionally, or some other word which shall
thwart the constitutional provision as it now
stands?
never participated in the choice of county,
district or municipal officers; and 1T has
been nearly twelve years since even the
white people had the full, fair and constitu-
tiOnal enjoyment of this greatest and best
of all the rights of American citizenship. 1t
were a vain thing to speak now of the mel
ancholy causes, that have deprived the one
class, through all the years that are pastand
the other, for many years. of the exercise of
this priceless privilege. The present is not
the time for elimination and recrimination,
however, much room there may be for it
on the one side or the other. Suffice it to
say, that those causes, like many of the
evils to which they give rise, are gone,
at least should be, with the ever-receding
waste of years which covers so much that
was dear and so much that is sorrowful, to
us all. Let them goi Let them rest in the
charnel-house of the Past. And let all the
people, Northern and Southern born, color
ed and white, accept with cheerfulness and
good sense. the new destiny which the flu
ture holds out to US in the era OF our new
constitution.
the people of Mississippi have already
endured, without their consent, and without
being consulted at the ballot box, more than
the pen of the historian shall ever be able to
recount. From the time when the conven-
ton of 1861 invoked the ffends of Civil War,
down to the present mon ent, they have sub
mitted, in some eases perhaps too willingly,
to surrender their own jude ment, and follow
sion or interest led the politicians. But the
people have done this under the fond hope
in which we have all INDUCED, that though
ruin and oppression darkeHed each passing
day, q brief season of endurance would end
all that, and permanent tranquility and
peace, with all their blessings, soon follow.
The war is now passed. The flowers of six
summers have bloomed and faded with ma
lures own impartiality, over the graves of
all the fallen brave of both armies. "The
spear rusts-tpOn the wall.r Our Consti-
tuition, republican in form, was made. rati-
fed and approved. the State admitted, the
fifteenth amendment adopted, and the mill
tary withdrawn~long ago. And yet CUB
ernatoFial-senatorial DespOtism, by and
with the advice and consent of each other,
but without the advice or consent of the
people, appoints the rulers OF the people at
home. This despotism has generally, so far,
been gentle and discreet in Its demands, 1t
is true; but it is none the less despOtism
still. The people pay the taxes, work the
roads, serve on juries. and obey the law
latter fashion,) all at the dictates of Gov
ernor with a secret service. and Senate in
a secret session. The election and appoint
ment of county superintendent of schools.
who are to have in charge, TO great extent
the education of the peoples children, is
committed to the disposal of men who how
ever honest and faithful they might be, are,
in large majority OF instances, strangers
alike to the officers they appoint and the peo-
pie to be served. And yet it is asked with
apparent seriousness shall we have an cleo
toni 8a sH eAI ..H
Is it any wonder that there is discomfort?
Is It any wonder that there is an inefficient
administration of the laws? Can you. find
anv part of the vast free-born population of
America who possess either the capacity or
the heart to suppress disorders or outrages
under the same circumstaneesI Do we not
know that any free community would at
least become impatient of this long continu-
ed and unconstitutional restraint, and, be-
ing denied q IdsCfnE mode of expression to
their Just and sovereign viii, w0uld nEd
wnEd,cfuI modes for manifesttng it9 Bear In
mind that 1 am no apol0gist for the crimes
that day by day blacken our annals. On
the contrary, speak now IN favor OF their
prompt and speedy retFibuti0ns BY the laws.
and iuries, and courts of the State, as now
Organized. But the officers whose duties
are to make arrests. compliments, and the
like. however worthy and fit for their places,
cannot carry with them among the people,
or feel i'm their own breasts one hundredth
mart of the official authority, dignity or in
fiuence, when sappOinted 0y the Governor.
by and with the advice and consent Sc-.,
that the same man would carry and feel II.
s.elected by the qualified electors OF the
county" They cannot in the very nature
of the case, receive one hnndredth part OF
the support, or give one hundredth part OF
the satisfaction, which they would receive
and give, if elected by the people.
Let the people who are TO be protected
and governed, and who in turn are TO sup
mort the government, be fully consulted
let them select the men who are to make
the laws, and punish criminals, levy and
collect taxes, establish the common schools,
execute Judgment, ETC.; and then crime VIII
deerease convictions and punishmeuts VIII
- yo.llfirlied and all classes and conditions