Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1873-12-24
Tho Pennsylvania Con.li,uuon.

Notwithstanding the strenuous eff
forts Of the Philadrlphia Ring to de-
feat tho new State Constitution. II
has been adopted by n popular major
lily of some hundred and fiftv
thousand, and a majority of twenty
six thousand III the city of Philadel-
phia. The vote in that city reported
eight; ~ which mcans that the Ring,
finding itself closely watched and the
baliot-box guarded OF all sides by a
determined force OF citizens, did not
dare to bring in their reserves. nor
resort to their usual tactics OF ''count-
iRg' votes enough to cover all def
c%iencics in the returns. The election is
therefore a splendid popular vic
tory Of reform. The people of q
great state have risen in their majesty
and shaken off the bonds and fetters
which corrupt Combinations had sue
cecded in binding upon it until tho
will of the majority was n~eutralizett
and thieves and demagogucs gorgcd
themselves at will upon the public
plumber.
The constitution which has been
adopted by such On emphatic major
ity embodies important features
which will lead the people Of other
States to watch its operations with
peculiar interest. 1t recognizes the
principle of minority representation.
1t strikes q telling blow ut railroad
monopolies. 1t forbids the CONSOLE
dation of roads, either by purchase
or lease, which naturally compete
wihseach other; and it forbids any
railroad company from purchasing
lands not needed for the uses of its
road, or working mines, or engage
diets discrimination in the tariff OF
freights aud SURPRISES fast frcishts
lines and all similar extortious. In
short,it puts the railroads Of the state
under the state CONTROL, = and deals
with them rs public highways. This
is the most radical treatment the
railroad question has yet received in
any state, and sets an example that
other states will not be slow to
follow andimprove upon. Further
more, the Legislature is forbidden to
pass laws eXempting property from
taxation, creating new corporations,
OF altering or renewing the charter
of u corporation already in existence,
interfering with labor or mining or
manufacturing. All legislation is to
be done openly and with such pub
tlicity that jobbery aud fraud are
practically impossible. Fraud or
d~efalcation on the partsof public Of
licers is to- be visited with 'unusnai
severity, and .tampering with the
the ballot-box or making fraudulent
returns or illegal voting will be pun
ished with perpetual disfranchise-
tment and ineligiblily to ofiic... The
Governor is permitted to veto any
item ORA bill while approving the
! other sections of il, but will be held
to u stricter responsibility than
under the old instrument. Thus it
will be seen that the new Consti-
tuition is 4 marked departure i'll the
direction of increasing the bowers
and functions of government. The
people Of Pennsylvania have found
that the ''let alone" policy simply
means. letting uiIprincipIcd corpora
ton aud theiving demagogucs do
what they please without let or hun
drance. They have found that the
less the people govern themselves the
more they are governed by ire
sponsible monopollcs and their cor
trupt satellites. They have found
that the plausible prctence of leaving
everything free to individual enter
prise means the robbery of the public
by private and corporate hands.
They have decided to ua the ma
,chiHery of the State Government
Hereafter to promote the interest and
welfare of the whole people, and not
allow il to be III for the enrichment
of u~nprincipled individuals and
cliqucs and companies. In this res
pect their action is truly significant,
and shows the manifest tendency of
public sentiment.