Litchfield enquirer., 1873-05-15
Extracts from the Coverncf's Mes
 4 sage. ~55

7 | 61&0s
 To the General Assembly of the State of 1 Connecticut: l I am deeply grateful to the people of Connecticut for the manifestation of their confidence which has placed me in this position of trust and honor. l have talk en theoath to discharge its duties to the best of my abilities. In my endeavor to keep this obligation. shall hope for your support m whatever may concern the hon. or of our State or the interests of it's peo- pie.
 It is especially opportune for your &C., ton upon a subject which can only be we'll acted on at rare periods like this. when the subsistence of party spirit shall enable the State to unite the services of it's ablest citizens in work of such para mount imporance. I refer to revision of the State constitution.
 CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION.
 More than a half century has elapsed since the present constitution was writ 1 ten-a half century conspicuous for it's human achievements, and remarkably fruitful in the fields of political and so- cial science.
 In 1918 the population of Connecticut, numbering by the latest census about two hundred and sixty thousand inhabitants, was distributed among one hundred and twenty towns. differing but little in the number of their inhabitants OF the char acter of their pursuits. In thrse-fourths of these towns the population ranged be- ] In no town had 1t reached seven thou sand, or fallen below seven hundred. The representation, therefore, which the constitution maintained in the General Assembly was, even in its House of Rep resentatives, essentially 8 popular repre- sentation. and reasonably uniform. Tine constitution left to the General As sembly almost unlimited powers of sover- eighty. But its actual sphere of legisla- tion was within narrow bounds. There were few or no special interests to call it's large powers into action. The lands had not ceased to be the chief source of the wealth of the State, and the most impor- tant concerns of the people were regulat- ed in their town meetings, where the free holders could readily assemble, and de- liberation was practicable. The judiciary had little to do outside the beaten paths of the common law, and the moderate es. tates of the dead were generally left to the simple distribution of the law through the agency of the local courts of probate, It was' an admirable system of govern ment, and we, in our day, have reaped largely of its benefits. But it is folly to close our eyes against the fact, that the state of society to which it was so admira- bly, adapted has passed away.
 Every member of the convention by which the constitution was framed, it is the freemen who adopted it survive.
 Tho v1np,nloffnn nf kho Cfofo houinnr about doubled in the aggregate since 1918, is now distributed among one hun dred and sixty-six towns, with popula- tions ranging from over fifty thousand to less than Ave hundred. And from this it has resulted, that the system of repre- sentation provided by the Constitution, though intended to be, and for many years actually being, reasonably fair rep resentation of the popular will, has now become so anomalous as to be absurd. Upon any theory of representative govern ment, it is, simply, indefensible.
 Of this population, nearly one-third have city organizations for their local goverpMept-agencies of government, not belonging to the Constitution, and which cannot, under the Constitution, be sub- stituted for the town governments, which that instrument alone recognizes as it's agents. And, therefore, dual system of local government is required to be main- tained over the same territory, sometimes necessitating, especially in the regulation of the elective franchise, legislation of questionable constitutionality.
 Commercial and mechanical industries have become the chief sources of our wealth, and special interests of large re- sources and corresponding power, which were not within even the conception of the framers of the Constitution, have grown up to be the principal subjects of Legislation under the unraStricted powers possessed by the General Assembly. The railroads of Connecticut alone receive yearly revenue which is more than half the entire annual revenue of the United States government in 1918.
 This great increase of personal proper ty and commercial activity hRs brought within the cognizance of the judiciary questions of novel character and large pecuniary consequence, requiring snpe- rior intellectual training for their proper adjudication, while the large estates that go into the probate court for settlement (as in the course of every generation, the entire property of the State must go) are becoming every year more complicated. by testamentary dispositions of intricate and difficult construction.
 In calling your attention to all these structural changes which have occurred in our social organization, since the pres ent Constitution was adopted, it is not my purpose to indicate specially the sub- jects calling for the action of Constitu- tional Convention. But desire simply to make manifest that if, as is generally assumed, the virtue of a written Constl- tuition consists in its adaptation to the actual condition of those who are subject to its government, then the present Con- stitution of Connecticut has served its purpose, and the people of Connecticut in 1873 should do as the people of Con- | necticut did in 1918. replace it with one better suited to their altered circumstan- ces. fA-s -, 5-} ' -.--l---- E- I entertain no such doubt as to the mode of calling such Convention; nor do deem it necessary to discuss it here. In 1918, the Convention was assembled by resolution Of the General Assembly. I recommend the same course now. And I indulge the hope that before the expi- ration of the present official year, such 8 Convention will have assembled and com pleted a work, which the people of Con necticut will approve, and of which the initiative honor will belong to the Gener- | al Assembly of 1SIS. e.4%
 HUMANE INSTITUTIONS.
 It can hardly be necessary for me to commend to your continued favor the various charitable institutions of the State. They appear to me to be faithful ly managed. But criticism in this respect is always very easy, and we should be careful not to be diverted by it from the good work these institutions are accom- plishing. Beyond the ordinary police 1 duty of government, know of no obli- gation devolving upon the State superior to that of providing for those whose mis- fortunes are so exceptional, that indiyid- ual charity cannot reach them with eff ciencv. -- -.1,@- l4-@A.2 TsE
 GENERAL HOSPITAL FOR THE INSANE. so There are at present under treatment at the Hospital for the Insane at Middle