St. Landry democrat., 1878-03-02

| i1iI W. ~. OfttS@S, Nv"
Parish of St. john he Baptist, one
delegate.
Parish of St. Landry, four delegates.
Parish of St. Martin, one delegate.
Parish of st. Mary, two delegates.
| Parish OF st. Iainmhny, one delegate.
Parish of IangipaiiUa, Que delegate.
Parish ot IenSaS. tvs" delegates.
Parish of rtrr-honne. two delegates.
Parish of Union, one delegate.
| Parish of Velmillion, enc delegate.
Parish of Vernon, one delegate.
| Parish of Washington, one delegate.
| Parish of Webster, one delegate.
| Parish of Winn, one delegate.
Total, Dinety-six delegates.
SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, etc., That
in the event of the sickness OF absence
| of the Secretary of State the Assistant
Secretary of State shall perform the
duties above required of the Secretary
ot State, and in the event of the at'
>rnce OF both Secretary and Assistant
Secretary of State said duties shall iN
performed by the Auditor of Public
Accounts.
SEC. Z. Be it further enacted, etc., That
this act shall take effect from and after
its passage.
The foregoing bill was introduced
int" the House of Representatives,
hort time since by Hon. E. E. Kidd ot
Jackson. Speaking of it the N. o. Dem
nrrat says: The proposition embodied
| in this bill, seems to I've intended as IL
| compromise between the advocates ot
The pending amendments, and those
| members who favor q convention. II
the advocates of the speedy adoption oi
the amendments, will agree to the pas
sage of Mr.. Kidds bill, it is prolabl.
| that the members who favor the imme
hiate calling ut a convention, would
foregD further opposition to the amend
ments submitted by the joint committee
aud thus let the whole matter be re-
ferred to the people for their decision.
This matter of amending the Com
Ititution OF 1868, or abrogating it ell
tirely by peoples convention, has been
the all engrossing theme Of discussion;
and comment since the assembling "'
The present Legislature. In the Lrgis-
lature everything else has been subor-
'linated to it. In the early days of the
session Il joint committee was appointed
10y the two houses, to propose the nee
essary amendments. The committee
was undoubtedly an able one, being con
stituted of some of the ablest lawyers i
the State. This committee had th'
matter under advisement for nearly Il
month, and submitted its report on thu
9Th of February. As stated in our last.
rhe proposed amendments were at once
adopted by the Senate, almost without
addition or discussion.
They were then sent to the House and
in the main were adopted AS they came
from the Senate, some few of them be-
ing changed, and one or two new amend
ments added. These amer ,tments were
reached by compromise between mem
hers, having concurring convictions
upon the dangers of convention and
concurring opinions upon most, hui
divergent opinions upon some Of the
amendments. The consequence il, they
will be usllered into the world; will go
before the people under Il very deter
mined opposition to prevent their rati-
ticatien at the polls next November
Whilst We have advocated this mode
of changing the organic law, believing
that it presented the reatiest and cheap
est pathway to the relief so anxiously
yearnel for by the people, yet there are
others as vitality interested as we, who
have advocated throughout the calling
of peoples convention, to wipe out,
and forever, the Constitution of 1868
In the city, Judging fron the tone oi
the press and the votes of members o1
the Legislature, the project of amend
ing the Constitution has by far th'
largest number of advocates. In th'
country however the great majorty "i
the prrss favors the convention scl,enr.
IA the N. 0. Democrat says, this plan
uf Mr.. Kidd in Intermediate between
the other two. 1t refers the matter to
that power, which in this country is
supreme, and whose heIiests must al
ways govern 1. e. to the people. We
see NO objection to doing this. BY that
time the proposed amendments will have
been thoroughly ventilated; the people
will understand them, in all their bear
ings; all the arguments for and against
them will be familiar to the voter, and
when he goes to the poll ON election
day, if he finds the amendments do not
come up to the wants and requirements
of the hour, all he will have to do will
be to vote against them, and in favor
os convention, at the same time des
ignating in his ballot the men whom he
desires to take part in framing a new
Constitution. This to say the least of
it is Democratic. It leaves the whole
matter in the hands Of the people, who
nine hundred and ninety-niiie times
out Of a thousand take correct views
of their wants and the way to attain
them. The only regret is that this bill
was not introduced and forced through |
in the early days of the session. 1t GER
tainly is far more conformable to our |
ideas of Democracy, than either the |
calling of convention; or
the submitting of amendments, because
it does not dictate to, but ON the con-
traEy expressly calls for an expression |
of the will of the people. The mode |
indicated in this bill effecturlly avoids |
what We always most dreaded in the |
call of Il convention, yiZs a |