New-York tribune., 1873-05-27
PROHIBITION OF SPECIAL LEGISLATION

| PROHIBIIION UT DfEOiAL LEUiOLdIfON'
| The feature of the proposed new Constitu-
| ton which meets most nearly the require
ments of the existing situation, offering the
only remedy that has yet been suggested for
| the serious evils that have grown up around
| our system of government, is that which pro-
hibits to some extent special legislation. 1t
is out of this that the great peril which
thoughtful men foresee as impending over free
government has grown. The best and most
intelligent minds in all the States agree that
the great and alarming growth of corruption,
of venality in the Legislatures, and of bribery
in all its forms, can only be stopped by such
an absolute prohibition of special legislation
as shall virtually set up over the doors of
every State House in the country and of the
Capitol at Washington the sign, "No priv
"ileges for sale here" Perhaps it is not pos
sible to prohibit absolutely all legislation of a
private. local, or special character; it
does not seem practicable now, at least.
But it is possible we may grow up
to it, certainly we may and ought to make
constant efforts in that direction, for that way,
from all present appearances, lies safety. 1t
was the specially marked and commendable
feature in the Illinois Constitution Of 1870 that
it made very sweeping and thorough work of
prohibiting special legislation, there being in
that instrument twenty-three subjects specified
| upon which local or special laws were for
bidden, and a concluding clause which forbade
| in general terms the enactment Of special
laws Gin all other cases where a general law
"can be made applicable" The Illinois Con-
stitution has hardly been in force long enough
to determine the effect of the operation Of all
these prohibitions in detail, but we do not
learn that any serious ground of complaint
| has arisen in the two years and more that
have elapsed since its ratification.
| In the Constitutional Convention now in
session in Pennsylvania, the subject of special
| legislation has engrOssed more time than any
other, and the best thought of the ablest men
| in the State, of whom, fortunately, that body
ia composed, has been directed to its cOnsid-
GRAFTON. The same causes-pnncipally, however,
the consolidation of capital and the growth
of power in great corporations, which threaten
to override the people and rule the State
have operated there, as here, to draw attention
to the magnitude of the danger and the
necessity for devising some practical means
of escape. The Convention is still in session,
and the results of their discussion have not
vet been digested, but there is no doubt
that in Pennsylvania. as in Illinois, the pro-
hibition of special legislation will be the most
marked feature of the proposed new COnsti-
tuition. There is danger, of course, that, in
the multitude Of propositions made to meet
evils that are so apparent and so diversified,
too much may be attempted, and the organic
act be made a mere collection of statutory
specifics, instead of condensed expression of
principles and doctrines Indeed, in the
present state of public sentiment toward great
corporations in Pennsylvania, there is more
likelihood of attempting too much than of doing
too little in that direction.
In the new proposed Constitution now un-
der consideration at Albany the sections relat-
ing to this subject are carefully. drawn, and
without being dffuse OF needlessly specific
seem 20 meet the exigencies of the occasion
and to offer q reasonable remedy for much of
the corruption which has made the Legislature
Of the STATE an annually increasing burden
and shame. The prohibitions are not of so
sweeping character as those in the Illinois
instrument and the number Of subjects upon