The weekly clarion. [volume] (Jackson, Miss.) 1863-1882, 1879-12-17
Shall We Have a Constitutional
Conventions

will, think. be equally apparent TO the car
fnl observer who examines the matter
the tghtfuliy and dispassionately.
Five changes only inttod ueed by the new
Constitution can possibly be considered n
bad. Three of these are matters Of no impor-
lance, and opinions may we'll differ as 10 then
meFiIs while the remaining two, whtle bad IL
themselves. have been rendered harmless bN
legislation. The three which are Of doubtful
utility. bui of minor Importance. are the Gre
alton of the office of Lieutenant Governor,
the creation of the Office OF Commissioner o.
lmmi grafton, and the provision requiring ali
lands sold al judicial sales TO be subdIyIded
INTO tracts of hundred and sky acres. The
two which are positively bad, and l believe
them 10 be the only two new provisions now IN
our Constitution which can be so-calied are
the failure 10 provide that each county shall
have one Representative IN the Legislature,
and the section directing the designation OF
loyal newspapers for legal advertising. Both
If these have been remedled by legislation
Each county has been given Representative
and the loyal newspaper law has been re-
pealed, and certainly VIII never be re-enaeted
Now, l unhesitatingly assert that all other
changes wrought by the Constitution OF 1909,
are excellent in view OF the altered character
of our voting population Ofcourse. exclude
from his statement the wholesale enfranchlse-
ment of the negroes that Pandora ; Box from
which all our woes have issued and in which
hope is scarce left 10 dwell, because this was
accomplished by the fifteenth amendment to
the Constitution OF the United States. Let
Constitution of such excellence that nobody
will dispute or gainsay them
All taxation has been made equal. uniform
and according to value. The property OF
corporations is required to be taxed like that
of individuals. The credit of The State is
forbidden to be pledged or loaned TO any cor
poration whatever. Counties and towns are
prohibited from lending their credit TO any
the registered voters. The same principles OF
construction are required to be given TO tax
deeds or to Sheritf's deeds and the State there
by enabled 10 collect its taxes Lotteries are
prohibited and the establishment OF them
made crime
These provisions are all new, and they are
so excellent, that | am simply amazed that
our late Radical rulers should have adopted
them. They have saved the State thousands.
if not millions of dollars, aud will l venture to
say remain perpetual in Mississippi coasti-
tutional law. Certain other organic changes
wrought by the Constitution of 1869,
which may admit of more discussion, but
which reflection viii show, | think, to be
equally sound. The Probate Court was abol-
ished, and its jurisdiction merged in the
Chancery Court No lawyer conversant with
the evils of the old Probate Court system can
regret the change. Our old Probate Courts
were presided over generally by men Of no
legal requirements, yet TO them were entrust-
ed exclusive control of all dead mems prop
erty, involving of course questions as difficult
and complicated could possibly arise in any
tribunal, and the wretched results of the sys-
TEN are to be found in the robbery of widows
and orphans and the insecurity and uncer-
la nty of titles land sold in those tribunals,
which were disgrace to any Jurisprudence.
The registration of voters, which
known to US before the enfranchisement of the
negroes, is now necessity, and has been so
recognized by the Democratic party of the
State one of the first acts of which after its
ad vent to power in 1876, was to make the laws
on this subject more stringent Our present
laws are cumbersome and expensive but they
he aSII he
sive without even amendment to the
Constitution. With our present voting Popu-
lation, some system of registration is neces-
sity.
The same thing may be said of the free
schools. We must educate the negro or we
must disfranchise him. The latter is prohibit
ted by the Federal Constitution and the former
is therefore an imperative duty to ourselves.
Indeed the poor white men of the State would
resist now an abolition of free schools bit
terly as the negroes, and venture to assert
no Constitutional Convention will ever dare
attempt 1t. The present free school system is
inefficient and in some respects actually
harmful, but there is nothing in the Consti-
tuition to prevent the LegislS ture from making
it more effective and benehcent, if better
one can be devised.
One peculiar feature only of the present.
Constitution remains to be noticed-that,
namely, by which the judges of the State are
required to be selected by the Governor and
Senate, instead of being elected by the peo-
pie. Whether judges should ever be chosen
by popular ballot, may be considered an open
question in American politics Much has
been said on either side and each side has
strong adherents.
Mississippi set the example in 1882, of Sc
Letting all judicial officers by the people, and
certainly she had whilo the system existed
cause tC regret the experiment, but it can
not truthfully be said that her judges were
superior to those of other States, whore differ
ent systems prevailed, nor that her judiciary
then, taken as whole, was any better than it
is now. During the forty years that the
system was pursued, she had many splendid
judges, but she had many inferior and some
incompetent ones also. l think it quite
probable that If the present system IS pursued
as long, she will produce quite many
distinguished jurists and perhaps fewer in
competent ones. Nay, more l venture TO say
that there never was at any period in the
history of the State better body of Judges
and Chancellors, take them all in all, than we
have now in office. There are doubtless some
among them who are not the ablest men who
mi ht be obtained, but this necessarily occurs
under any system, and there are certainly as
few incompetent ones at any other period
in our history. But the question is not whether
we shall elect Judges by the ballots of the
suffragans of 1860, but by those of 1880. III
our present Judiciary can bear comparison
with the judiciary chosen by the finest body
of electors that this country ever saw, our
noble ante 6ettuH population, how would they
probably compare with that to be elected
under present methods CT conducting
elections anu Win our present D0dy protectors
Before the contested elections and
charges of intimidation, fraud, bribery or
foul counting were unheard of. Now, no
election can be held without the air being rife
with such accusations. Thus far the negroes
Of Mississippi have in the main voted in
body. If they persist in this method of
voting they will in many districts control the
election of Judges absolutely or they must be
prevented from doing so by means not pleas
ant to contemplate. The time will come
perhaps when they will cease so to vote and /
then they will afford the finest field for the /
skilfull electiOneerer the captivating dema-
gOgue and the unprincip1ed purchaser Of votes /
that the world ever saw. What sort of Judges I
are likely to be chosen by such voters T
or if the Judge be man of the high /
est character what sort of moral effect will I
it have to contested election cases
tried before judge whose right to his seat .
depends upon the same state OF facts as that 4
of the Sheriff or Clerk, whose case is being :
tried before him2 The statesman or legisla
tor who cannot adapt his views TO the alter ed |
condition OF his people is unit to draft a law
or frame a Constitution, and the man who
favors an elective Judiciary now, namely, be
cause it worked well before the war, is as un
as he should insists our wear
ing nothing but fig leaves, because our first
parents were clothed in nothing else before
their fall. By every consideration of states
manship, l would implore our law givers
10 preserve the judicial department Of our
government as free as possible from the pollu-
ton of a degraded ballot For Heavens sake
leave US one sanctuary in which the lover of
his country may take refuge, one tribunal
lgainst which there can be no suspicion Of .
violence of fraud. Leave US this, and 1t /
may still be possible for liberty to sgrviFe the /
Dreadful stab inflicted by the Reconstruction
Acts. Deprive us of 1t and hope win know not
where to turn for inspiration nor patriotism,
where to kneel for worship.
With your permission will close the sub-4
ect in another letter. NJ r
The Speakership.