The Democratic press. [volume] (Ravenna, O. [Ohio]) 1868-1901, 1874-07-02

each, as proposed by a majority
of the apportionment committee,
!. as they were less liable to be gerry
I wandered than single districts, but
local fogyism defeated the plan, this
: can be done by future amendment
f t. the Constitution as soon as the
a friends of reform are strong enough
to carryit But the people of the
, State will not reject the proposed
Constitution, because it prevents the
, large city counties, by consolidating
{ their delegations from debating the
politics of the General Assembly.
New York, Pennsylvania, Mary yland,
: Kentucky and all other States prevent
it.. E saa 8af se st1a-fs863 s ID
The judicial apportionment stands
% TO %, and the election of all the
Judges was provided for this fail in
order that the whole system might go
! into effect at once, as there was no
necessity of retaining, merely for pay,
1.-The sHperhumerary Common Pleas
Judges. 500 sgf31 1854 9d|
Fourth-It has been asserted that
counties and townships have been
made, corporations in order that they
may be sued when in truth tue article
was, on motion of Mr.. Rufus King,
very point By providing that the whole
matter should be regulated by statute,
as decided IN Commissioners of Ham
ilton County VS.. Nfighels, s Ohio st.
lilo, rsgfs b .tsisafr4so4 s3er
Fifth-The cayil that the proposed
i soustituIion retains features of the
present one that ought to have been
| omitted will not be helped by voting
| to retain the the old Constitution in
/ force, because it requires a two-thiRds
4 vote of the General Assent to pro-
! pose any amendment, while three
fifth majority may propose amend
ments under the new one, iflit is
adopted. I uaI.a. f--asss.fse
He then proceeds to give the fol-
lowing as among the merits of the
instrument:
| 1. It expressly settles the question
that the great writ of hd6eds coipUS
shall not be suspended exc ept in such
manner,as shall be prescribed by law
and not at the mere will Of the 81 4eexeea-
tive.
2. In the Legislative article limita-
tiens and restrictions are placed on
the passage of appropriation bills, by
requiring any item to be stricken out
that does not receive a najority of all
the members elect, thus preventing
The Iog-rolling of different claims iain
the same bill, so as to force the good
to carry the bad. 1t viii save thou
sands of dollars to the State.l- gos}
3. Members of the Legislature are
70 be paid by an annual salary instead
Of per diem, to remove all temptations
of Iengthening the session, and laws
shall be passed deducting pay for abb
senteism, and railroad passes are cHt
off, all of which will contribute to
work mueh-needed reforms. f
A. The judicial system has been put
into such working order as to remedy
the interminable delay of the courts if
rightly administered. The judges
have been SO distributed as to facili-
tate the tran saetion of business. Eve
ry Judge is required during the year
to hold two hundred and forty days
of open court, if necessary, to dispose
of the docket, and a Common Pleas
Judge may be assigned to duty any
where in the State. This remedies
the evil of judges working on an aver
age only one hundred and fifty-seven
days per year, as shown by the official
returns to the Convention, and the
difficulty of getting judgeto set out
side of the subdivision for which he is
elected. The provision that 1.-THE
Judges of the Supreme Court shall be
elected by minority or proportional
suffrage at the first elections secures
the opportunity of using the best legal
talent from all political parties. There
is no more reason that the judges
should all be of one politics than the
jury. IL two neighbors agree to arbi-
trate a case, it would be considered an
outrage for one of them to claim the
right to choose all the arbitrators,
Each should select one, and some third
party the umpire. So, under the min
ority system, each grand division of
the electors have an equal voice in the
administration of the courts, and the
majority chooses the umpire. This
mode of election has worked well in
the choice of the Judges. of the Court
of Appeals in New 7 ork since 1867,
when it was adopted by a popular
vote, and was largely petltioned for
during the Convention by leading
men of all parties in the State. Wheth-
er this system shall be made perman-
emily applicable to the election of Su-
preme aud Circuit Judges is submit
ted to separate vote, and ought by
all means to be adopted. sas.e
The Legislature regulates the juris-
diction OF the Common Pleas and Cir
cult Courts, as under the present con-
stitution, so that it can be adapted to
the wants of the future. a56HaaIl
s. The article as to the power of
Municipal corporations to run in debt,
provides that it shall not exceed five
per cent. of the tax duplicate, unless
on vote of three-fourths of all the
electors, and never be more than ten
per cent. a9
6. But the provisions in the 18th ar
ticle as to private corporations, espec-
tally railroads, will commend the in
strument to public appreciation. 1t
embodies the best Safeguards Of the
Illinois and Pennsylvania Constitu-
tions, intended speciality to head the
tricks of the Cameron ring stock job
bers. The small Stockholders are
protected by being allowed to cnmu-
late their votes so as to elect a portion
of the directors to keep them posted.
Officers and agents of railroad COM
panies are prohibited from being in-
terested in contracts with the company,
except as an ordinary shipper, stock
holder or employe, thus breaking up
the combinations by which the agents
and officers of so many railroads have
managed to. eat up ali the earnings,
leaving the stockholders nothing, The
of parallel lines under
the same control is forbidden because
it destroys competition ;also the wa
tering of stock by fictitiious issues
which enormous swindles
have been perpetrated. Local fares
and freights must not exceed in gross
the charge for the same class of freights
or transportation to a more distant
station in the same direction, and the
General Assembly shall enforce these
provisions by adevuate penalties and
The new Constitution of
Ohio thus puts her in the front rank
in opposition TO the abuses which
have grown up under our railroad