The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1878-05-26
THE AMENDM ENTs.
why the Country Press Opposes Them
and Wants Them Defeated.
|NatchItoches indicator

and Wants Them Defeated.
Natchitoches vindcator.l
The abortive efforts of the Legislature OF
1878, in the shape of constitutional amend
mepts, have few, il any, defenders. 1t seems
their advocacy Is left to few impacable
fossils who have rioted beyond their day and
generation and are a terror to all people be-
cause of their interminable, idiOtic talk Pub
lie sentiment has crystalized in Democratic
quarters on the amendments, and their defeat
is fOregOne conclusion.
Nor is it proposed to vote them down sim
ply without cause.
Something in their nature lies deeper
than the surface. That they are patchwork
upon an infamous garment, every one admits.
That they are the birth of a combination of
Radicals, thieves, monopolists and weak men,
no one denies. That they are an insOlent
answer to the just demands Of an outraged
people. all acknowledge. But there is some
thing beyond them which demands that we
should promptly and emphatically vote them
down.
phaticaIy, that the present constitution of
Louisiana was a centralized organic law. We
repeat that expression with renewed en-
phasis.
the many officials and their high salaries
which it orders, but they suffer more In prin-
ciple from the fact that that infamous instru-
ment curtails, restricts and strikes down
their power 1t invades their inherent rights
ai im aarnSsss tba nnwar Of an amtoarat while
t ttse I Iaoislatiye branch Of fhe UoveTnmant
ui.o .s ~" ,.a,,, oindar az tho noonlas r;nh4s
usurpS inc Ielnalnueh y, 'ne peup,e, rlgniIss
~ VIII VIII, taa co " hora that wa ara not ooi;nu
W MenI " sly i,..t thn ao'hi ~ TOO nS
oV f ~ tho en honet ~ ~ o, to -, , md
W W. m,,anabIa asses Who DOM know The Mn
cipies Of their own government and vet pre-
| tend to edit newspapers. We are now speak
|
of the Executive.
Are there any words In these amendments
which strike at this, the greatest evil which
the bayonet constitution infiicts2 Not one!
| Here then Is the greatest most potent rea-
son WHY we should defeat the amendments.
A people are not always right, but we are one
of those who believe that they will rectify
their errors, while rulers will never retrace.
| great writer has said: When the people do
wrong 1t Is their error and not their crime,
i'll as much from design as by mistake to
them, therefore, we had rather not trust.
All power not Incompatible with public
safety and individual protection should be
Legislature should legislate away the liber-
ties of a people as can be done under our
present constitution. Vide Returning Board
law" No executive should be allowed, by an
immense patronage In the way Of high sala-
that of his masters. These amendments re-
strict not the one nor curtail the other and
with patchwork, a thing of shreds, we are
left still at the mercy Of mans ambition and
mans cupidity
know the remedy 1t is in defeating all com
promises with their principles and in forcing
their rights from the hands of those who now
retain them under the forms Of law.
[Ouanhita Frelepraph.I
Wa ontio,nata M controversy vban,,yo 40
sert that legislative law should be as clear
and as free from doubt as language can make
1t, and that all Its parts should be consistent:
Its requirements should be just and needful
and give promise OF stability. Changes
should result from experience and a due re-
gard to the wishes of the people ascertained
IN public discussions, popular resolutions and
in general elections Legislation should then
guard and protect existing rights with legal
exactness and provide, for concluding them
without delay or prejudice. DO the proposed
or with constitutional necessities
Article IS of the constitution, which is to be
stricken out reads:
one chief justice and four associate justices
a majority of whom shall constitute quo
rum. The chief justice shall receive salary
Of $500 and each Of the associate justices a
salary of $1,000 annually, payable quarterly
on their own warrants The chief justice
and the associate justices shall be appointed
J by the Governor, with the advice and consent
of the Senate, for the term OF eight years
They shall be citizens OF the United States
and shall have practiced law for five years
the last three thereof next preceding their
appointment In the State. The court shall
appoint Its own clerks and may remove then
da pressure -, - =, ~,
ouota thraa Of the nroposed amendments TX
I and VII.
,,
AMENDMENr IN.
The judicial power shall be vested in Su
preme Court, in district courts and in justices
OF the peace The district courts shall have
orlgnal JuIlsalclioh LOT az CYL vi cases Wler'
interest. IN criminal cases ana ID an pro
6ate matt 4 tnelr jurisdiction shaii be IN
limited lhey shaIl nave aPpellasIe. !uIlsdlc
tloh III clVl sul:s ii3ln uselces ol Il,e peace
II me amount III urIpuGe tAcee,ls 9Ip, eAclu