The New Orleans daily Democrat. [volume] (New Orleans, La.) 1877-1880, 1879-06-13

ble Time when the ppOp e berar, Ia demand A
III ~ convention WAS this intolera.
homes, and DO yor.r duty, without having
given them relief fr,Jm this burden. The gen.
tlsfnan who has spoken wants this burden
isf ts liked. Sir, those chains that were
ballots d is those cha Chains that KeIlo ass
attempted to rivet, but which he did not sue
ceed III rlvetsng, we are asked for iii time To
rIvet. ! Eay chains advisedly, What lie
slavery? is It not the essence Of slavery
take all she earnings of the slave. If the 80.
called pEblic creditor is To continue, with the
ofice-helder, to take all the rewards OF ouf
1 INDUSTRY, are we not continuing to be slaves,
and ara we not here to rtret those cIIHins for
ever, And TO permit those fingers that mani.
pIlfuted the ballots to reach into the pockets
OF Fosterfty and rob the children whose
Iathsrs are yet nnborn2 Applause.I
DELEGATE GAFFREY
then addressed the Convention. He spoke as
follows:
Mr. President III approach the discussion of
this question with the greatest diffidetxe. /
i appreciate my inability to grasp the grave
\ questions Ct constitutional law and Or polit-
zeal morality involved in an investigation of
| the State debt. But, sir, hope that an hon.
est purpose to do right, and d firm desire, d
firm resolve to abide my determination will
characterize all my deliberations on this most
Important subject.
At the outset, sir, will deny the conpe-
tency Of this Constitutional Convention as d
convention Of the delegates of theState of LOU
lslana, Tor the purpose OF framing the organic
law OF the state, to gointo judicial Inquiry
% TO the validity OF this public debt And
that Involves IN inquiry into Tic powers Il
the Constitutional Convention
Of : The nature 81 our government, ca q
reflection upon the departments into which 1t
afNlr lei rxx,
place, sir, the whole sovereignty Of this peo-
PIE - not, and cannot be lodged In this Com
stltutonal Convention. It Is In the whole
BODY, OF the people as q corporate unit-the
people organized as a State. tits lii them, and
no sophistry Of reasoning can disrobe this
sovereign people, In their capacity as State,
OF their sovereign garments and place them
upon the delegates in this Convention assem-
legal manufactures of this sovereign people,
charged With the performance OF specific
duty, and that duty is TO frame the organic
law OF the state, a duty of paramount inn
portance an all-absorbng duty, one that re-
quires the Galmest consideration. the earnest
reflection and best abilities of every Delegate
upon this floor
lpronounce, sir, that the doctrine that any
set of men, not arfned with judicial power,
not clothed with the ordinary means of W.
certeining the truth or falsehood of any
proposition, can arrOgate to themselves the
province of courts, and undertake To say this
IS good and this Is bad without the usual
means 1t Of Inquiry adopted BY all courts, IL .
false doctrine. That Is the proposition that
assert and one that hope TO maintain. Our
government, sir, is divided Iii it, republican
form into three distinct, separate coordinate
and independent branches. These are the
Now. sir II this body is supreme, II It
has this wonderful power Of sovereignty
It absorbs within itself all the powers
held and exercised by these three depart
y The language Of the Delegate from
Caddo, an unmitigated despotism. none To
control Its powers, none to Withstand It's die
tati0n. That - ~ Idea, sir, abhorrant to every
principle OF Anglo-SaxoD liberty; 1t is at war
with the very nature of our institutions, and
simple inquiry into the nature Of our govern
ment should prompt us to rebel against a
proposition 80 monstrous In Its legal bear |
ings that the Convention is d sovereign
power; that this Convention Is ipso facto
sovereign when it comes into power, that It
oversaughs the State sovereignty and
brooks no rival; that there can be no SOW
ereiRn executive; there Gan be no sovereign
judicial power while this Convention Is sitting |
i, perehance this doctrine be good, that this
constitutional Convention ID sovereign au-
thority.
Now, sir, all our rights spring from the
people In the first instance. This Is q lesson
which II has taken centuries for the people to
learn, but they have finally learned it; the
logic Of events has taught it, 1t ie o lesson
That has been taught through blood and revo-
luton. When the French rose in their might
where then was the sovereignty Of
the Bourbons2 Wasit not the mighty people.
exercising their sovereignty which had slum-
oered for centuries, and which before that
same Peep 9, did they not do the same thing
when history repeated itselfin the same sunny
and, the land of France, the home of chivai- +
" Did they not do the same thing when
)artas, who afterwards died In exile in Eng
and2 When his dynasty was changed to the I,
present Republic Of France where then was
he eoverefgntyS Was the sovereignty Of the
french people abrog ated lost by the occupa-
ion Of that sovereignty BY any one man? No,
IT, And, Sir, when In England the same
hing transpired, when the grim Cromwell
marched into the hall Of Parliament, and with !
ts soldiers elected the representatives Of the
reignty of the Stuarts?
These, sir are historical illustrations. and !
My go to show that the sovereignty resides .
/ the body OF the people and asserts itself !
Z occasions In way that makes thrones /
emble and deposes Lnonarchs; that the real \
1t may be transientor transitory = !,
II none the less It Is q power, asserting It. !
III In revolution, resides Ia the people: and !.
oon that sovereignty they base civil gov =
nment, and all our institutions In America
e based upon the elementary idea of SOW 9
eighty residing solely IN the people. !
Now, sr, In ali regulated States, iii all civil Z
I'd countries, when the people have once ex-
cised their sovereign power In deIegating 4
certain governors trust for them, they do i
in the manner indicated; they d 0 It BY q
gidlng the government into three b1 anehes. Q
1 civilized people follow that method when 81
eY establish g representative govern tsnent. y
La impossible for them to act In one esem- o
2. They, therefore, divide the govern traent q
20 three coordinate branches. \,
What is a constitutional convention? when u
Q people desire to remodel, alter or CHI ,nge p
cir form OF government, or when they de sire 81
rebuild their political frame, they deleg ate o.
at work not to sovereign, but to SIT OF Y
legates elected for that purpose. The d II n
ates cannot transcend that power. The W y
, circumscribed by The grant. It is gran q,
IN the people to them, and the doctrin, q q
Int becomes greater than the grantor and er
y usurp the functions and powers Of the "a
antor. is absurd " theory and false In fact 60
are here therefore, as the people have lt
it us, and we are here in no other capacity Va