The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1872-12-06
JjUy ard the Right of Suffrage.

4 IiiIV d!tU dfdc 3's0'S6 ~ tS"D '"0S.
That there are several men of both polit-
cal parties occupying seats in the Consti-
tutional Convention who are not fit for the
position is fact which was made painful
ly apparent at the very commencement OF
its proceedings. Some of the delegates of
this lower grade were not selected by the
usual tricks and appliances SO well under
stood in district and county conventions,
but were deliberately nominated by the
Philadelphia Radical Convention and the
Reading Democratic Convention as dele
gates at large, method which 1t was sup
posed would result in the nomination of
the best men in the State of each party.
Conspicuous among that class Of delegates
to which we have alluded,~ is WILLIAM
LILLY. of Carbon county, one of the four
teen Radical delegates at large. About
wenty years ago Lilly represented Car
bon county in the lower branch of the Leg
islature He WAS then a Democrat of the
first water and was distinguished for his
egregious vanity and selfimportance. On
the 21st of November he offered two reso-
lutions in the convention which very.piain-
" show what manner of man he is and how
lameutably he is out Of his natural and
proper sphere of action. LILLY's first res
olution is rs follows:
ResOIued, That the committee on suffr2-
ges, election and representation I've requested
to inquire into the eNpedienCy o. altering me
constitution in such way as to require the
holding of u certificate OF naturalization at
least six months before the right OF suffrage
can be exercised. Laid on the table.
Can Lilly or any other man give SIN
gle valid reason why a certificate of natu-
ralization six months afterits date possess
es more legal force and validity than it
would even one day thereafter? Perhaps in
his estimation document Of that dcscrip-
ton, like wine and other stronger stlmu-
lants. is made better by its age. Why did
not LILLY give expression to his Know
Nothing proclivities by extending tie pc
riod to twenty-one years? That could have
been made limitation i'll point of time
with just the same propriety as six months,
or even six days. The proposition is abused
and unjust in all its aspects and VIII be
treated with the contempt it SO richly de
serves.
LILLE's second resolution, whiih is even
more startling than the first, reads thus:
M Lilly offered resolution iustructiAG 9
the committees on suffrage 10 report an
amendment compelling each legal voter 10
exercise the power of suffrage al ali state and
municipal elections in this commonwealth.
Laid on the table.
IF any man could possibly conceive Of ?
more silly provision to be Incorporated in
the new constitution than this, we would
Ike TO hear of it. A homely adage declares
that although you may ride ahoIse to the
water, you cannct make him drink, " where
as Lilly in the matter of suffrage would
reverse this ancient and accepted saying.
There IS hut one step further, and Lilly
ought TO have amended his resolution so a
to compel every clector TO vote the Radical
ticket. LOUIS NAPOLEON conferred uniycT-
sal suffrage on the French people, but lac
gave it TO be distinctly understood, that he
expected every man 10 vote for him rs en-
peror. Has LILLY forgotten that man is a
free agent and that he is not a mere pupTet
in the hands of the State to be moved, and
manipulated at its will ; that the elec i've
franchise is privilege and not Alright, the
islative penalties. 1t would seem So, bat
LILLY viii be d wiser man before the Con-
yentiOn adjOuTls.