The Lincoln County herald., 1872-12-18
THE HER A Id.
TROY. NO.. DECEMBER IS, 1917.
Constitutional Convention.

AuV uSAs sSS'''" Ss s"s S.''
convention for the purpose Of drawing up
. new constitution for the state to be
ssbmitted to the people. The desire
arises in . majority Of cases out Of the
registration features of our present con-
stitution, the advocates Of the move desir.
ing to return to 6rst principles and do
away with the formalities nov required
Of voters. This 10 the general lever that
propcls the move; but the st. Louis Dis.
patch thinks there arc others, and refers
to those sections Of the instrument that
relate to the city and county ofSt. Louis,
believing that if there were some other
system provided for the election Of rep
fesentatives 10 the districts comprising
that county, more abe delegation would
result.
The arguments used by the former
may be summed up 10 tho csst Of regis
trstiou to the state, and the incooveni'
ence to voters occasioned by it, while the
protection sgaiust fraud is not materially
enhanced that the cost Of the conven-
ton would not greatly exceed the cost
Of q single registration, and would
thereby save a large sum to the state 10
q very few years. The argument of the
latter, as We have before said, is that
better system Of electing representatives
in the city and county Of St. Louis may
be secured.
Now 10 object to a constitutional con.
ven,ion on the grounds of economy, the
argument that some of eur contempora.
ries advance for holding it, as we'll as for
other reasons, which have before been
submitted and should be carefully con.
sldsred by the Democracy. Tho econ
ouy Of our plan consists 10 the legisla-
tars submitting to the people we'll con.
sidered amendments rsmedying the OBJ
jeotloaal features complained of. The
cost Of this it will be seen at a glance
will not amount to one half the expense
that o convention would entail. The
convention could not assemble at a less
cost than two hundred thousand dollars,
aud it would probably amount to more,
besides involving one, it mi ght be two,
special, and one general election. At the
general election of course the registration
system would have to be carried out, at a
cost Of at least one hundred thousand dol.
lars. BY the amendments, aud VIC have
not yet seen good reason why the do.
fccts cannot be as well remedied by this
course as by convention, We will only
have the cost Of the registration at the
next general election to meet.
AS to superiority of ability that might
compose the convention, there is nothing
but surmise. The same scramble would
take place among the politicians for the
honor Of being delegate, as occurs every
election among asplrants for the general
assembly, and about the same ratio oi
ability would compose the convention
and we are certain that at no special elec
ton would the masses flock to the polls
as on q general election day. We are
borne out in this belief by the fact tina,
the Democrats are not unit 10 the move
and We have yet to hear Of the first Re
publican who favors it.
And here comes in another reasol
why q constitutional convention at thi
time would be impoIitic ss we'll as expsn
sive. 1t has always been a feature O
Democratic principles to respect tn
minority Of the body politio. That mi
nority now looks upon the move as th
result Of party prejudice. eugendersd b
the obnoxious features incorporated int
the constitution by it when Radicalis'
ruled with its iron sceptsr asd th
Suspicion is not at all quieted by the hu
and cry against that instrument bscaus
G. d. Drake was one of the prineir'
originators. Believing thus, and haviu
the sympathy Of a largo number Of Den
ocrats who believe that all that is nece
sary may be remodisa by tho inexpe
sivs mode of amending provided by Il
constitution, aud opposed to the ussle
sxtravagancs Of a convention, a polite
excitement will ensue. and breaches
the Democratic party m,y be, one of t
last things to be desired by the peoE
Of Missouri at this time.
Our legislature Is largely Democrat
and it rs hoped that spirit of econou
and federation may possess it; not th
economy that cuts down the wages
clerks, pages. Sc., but that broader eco
omy that refuses to expsnd the pub