Daily Los Angeles herald., 1879-03-30
The Proposed New Constitution.
10. II.


OF the Constitution mandatory
and prohibitory," unless other
wise declared by express words.
This section Ia especially import
ant in Its bearings upon practical
legislation.
Certain forms are prescribed in
Article w as necessary to the en-
sctment Of laws, and of course it
will be in the power of the Courts
under the section referred to in Ar
| ticle l to 60 behind the official au-
thentieation of statutes, to ascer-
tain whether those forms have
been observed.
The evils and inconveniences of
such a practice have been ably
pointed out by o racent writer in
the San Francisco Bulletin.
To his observations 1 shall only
add, that, under the proposed Con.
stition the statute book will not be
conclusive evidence of what the
law Is, and that no man will be
able to know whether what pur.
ports to be a statute of the State is
so or not, until it shall have passed
through the ordeal Of judicial
investigation, aud the high
est Court in the State shall have
determined that the necessary
forms were complied with In its.
enactment.
Articles II and III are left sub.
sta antially as at present, and are
not in them selves Objectionable.
Much diversity Of opinion and
decision exists. however, as to the
oorrect construction of the last of
these, which relates to the decision
OF powers between the three de.
partments Of government.
Since the Convention was called
to revise the Constitution, it may
be assumed that the settlement of
doubtful questions Of construction
was among the most obvious Of its
duties. And certainly nothing
was easier than, by the addition of a
few words, to definitely est tblish
the correct meaning of Article III
a, re.enacted, aud thus save to the
people the cost of settling it by fu-
ture litigation.
ARTICLE Nv.
So many and forcible objections
have already been urged by others
to the article regulating the Legis.
la.ive Department of the State
government, that but little re-
mains to be added.
This article. in connection with
others, leaving the field Of Jnstitu-
tioual law. largely invades the do.
main of ordinary legislation.
1t evi ientIy proceeds upon the
theory that legislatures as now
constituted, aud with the privi.
leges and powers now possessed,
are not Ht to be trusted; tsat the
representatives Of the people do not
represent them, aud that to pre-
vent betrayal Of the trust i'm
posed In them, their hands must
be tied and their mouths gagged.
Whether this theory be we'll or
ill.founded, is not for me to deter.
mine. But ii we'll founded, what
does the fact iaports II we can't
trust our legislators, chosen directly
from the people, with what better
grace can it be said that our Exec
utlve, our Judicial officers, can be
trusted? Does not the admission of
such fact import e1 vi ternaini a
failure of representative govern.
ment? Does not the corruption Of
our representatives necessarily i'm
ply the corruption Of the people
whom they represent? 1t certainly
does, and If we admit the impossi-
bility of securing honest public
servants, why seek by means OF
expedients to evade evils inherent
In our sy stem? Why not resort to
the only adequate remedy and
abolish the system itself?
Representative government, as
the very term imports, is founded
on the idea that the will Of the
sovereign people will be respected
and carried out by those chosen to
represent them. In some coun'
tries-as England, for example,
the representatives are, in theory,
clothed with all the powers Of the
people; but In these States it has
been the universal practice to i'm.
pose certain written restrictions
upon the otherwise unlimited pow
ers of the agents or representatives.
But these restrictions have always
hitherto been confined to certain
generally received and universally
acknowledged fundamental prin-
oiples of government. To cary
them beyond this is to admit the
falsity Of the representative theory.
That is, we erect q government
upon the representative theory, aud
by the very charter of its erection
We avow the falsity and absurdity
Of that theory.
Again, does 1t never occur to
those who are so anxious to tie the