The Louisiana Democrat. [volume] (Alexandria, La.) 1845-1918, 1877-11-21
THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVEN-
TON,

This question is still being dis
cussed by the newspapers and VIZ
have continued to watch closely the
arguments in favor of the project
We have no desire to reiterate what
we have have already said upon the
subject, as some of the papers are
doing, but we notice that some of the
New Orleans papers have adopted a
new line of argument which seems to
be entirely satisfactory and conefn'
sive to them, which is not new
feature, but was alluded to by US at
the outset, and that is that the men
who made the present Constitution
were not our representatives and
that no fair opportunity was afforded
the real people Of the State to vote
upon its adoption. This is true
beyond doubt, but is not a good
reason in favor of having a new Con-
vention, for the reason that the main
body of the Constitution framed by
them is literel copy of the Consti-
tuition of 1852, with the exception OF
some new features engrafted on it,
and the old Constitution was made
by our own people and adopted by
them after fair vote. 1t is a fact
which we have urged all along and
which the most rabid of the advo-
Gates of the Constitution will discov-
er by giving the subject an intelli-
gent and unprejudiced inspection,
that most Of the abuses of which we
complain, and with good reason, are
the results of Legislative action and
not properly chargeable to the
Constitution.
With the exception of the changes
of the organic law to make it con-
form to the XIVth and XVIII
Amendments to the Constitution of
the United States, which we our
selves are pledged to carry out in
good faith, the changes made by the
State Constitution of 1868 are few
and unimportant and some of them
we would be unwilling to see abro-
gated. AS, for instance, the Parish
Court system under which we are
working very satisfactorily, and
which with proper reorganization
of the judicial Districts, we think is
decidedly beneficial to the people of
the State. That is affords the poor
people who are small suitors an op-
portunity to have their cases tried
at small expense cannot be denied,
and that it promotes the easy and
rapid settlement of SUGGESTIONS, by
separating them from criminal and
other important suits, is equally
true.
The registration system to which
We had before been strangers, was
not advisable and has been the in.
strumsnt in the hands Of the radicals
by which they have done US much
harm in the past, but we doubt if
the most fertile brain amongst all
the advocates Of the Convention
could devise a better system than
that adopted by our last Legislature
in combining the Assessors and
Registrars offices, or one better
adapted than that to the present ne
cessities of our situation.
Other changes may be, and doubt
less are necessary, but they can be
readily made in the shape of amend
ments. AS we owe four-ffths of all
our troubles to the radical Legislature
we look to the present Legislature to
relieve US of them, with every conf
dence in their integrity and patriot
ism; and what we would like to have
is for the advocates of the Constitu.
ton to give us facts and figures, in
the place of glittering generalities,
which may sound well enough, but
only serve to show real ignorance
of the subject. Give us your points
when the Legislature itself can not
afford the desired relief. We would
like to see them.
We strongly suspect that some of
the most eager of the advocates of
the Convention are in profound ig-
norance of the whole subject of Con-
situations and are but blind leaders
of the blind on this important
subject.
MIR. INeERsoLL has been inter
viewed. He thinks that the Presi.
dan ~ IA l. IL