Daily Los Angeles herald., 1879-04-30
The GREAT ISSUE.
Out Of the Frying-Pan, but Is 1t 1nto the Piref
And if 30, How Hot is the Fire2

ihoi II iiOul Iuous w CiiJ tuO tilhS'
can't be made any worse than they
are now, and so / shall vote for th,
new Constitution"
Are we so sure of this ? Nigh
not the times be worse ? And Is
not at least among the possibilities
that the new Constitution may
make them worse, rather than bet
ter? Is "anything for change
always sound policy? 1t may b,
for the adventurer, the man witt
nothing to lose; but how about thu
man who has something at stake
the quiet citizen. the industrious
man, the man with a family and 6
home? Change does not always
mean improvement.
And first, are we so sure that thu
hard times in California are to be
entirely attributed to defects in the
present Constitution If they are
are the Constitutions of all the
other States similarly defective
For from all parts of the East We
have the same cry of hard times
scarcity of money, lack of employ
ment. Papers from the East have
been full of it for years past. Ye,
the people of those States do not
InnI- .tl IN
tion as the remedy. We hear moth
ing of conventions as the panacea
for hard times. They talk rather
of extravaganza Of living, of over
speculation, of readiness to run in
debt; and they talk of economy and
a return to sound business princi-
pies, as the cures.
1t Is well for US to look this mat
ter square in the face; and, if we
also have been, as a State and as
individuals, living beyond our
means, indulging in wild. cat spec
ulations, taking the short cut to
get rich and finding that short cuts
don't pay, let us at least be honest
with ourselves and not try to
shoulder the blame off upon the
laws to ease up our own conscience.
Let us not fall into mi istake here.
A new Constitution does not max e
money; il creates no values; it does
not give bread to the hungry; it
does not provide employment for
the laborers; does not make idleness
aud waste lead to other ends than
poverty and want. Don't let us ex.
pect too much of a new Constitu.
tion. 1t is only so much paper
with words printed upon it, 1t has
no power to create industry, econo-
my or providence in the people.
What are we to expect from il.
and will our expectations prove
well founded Or will it fail to &C.
complish what is claimed for it !
We can now begin to see the merit.
and the dement's of the proposed
Constitution. The searching dis.
cussions that have been going on
in the papers, upon the plat form
between neighbors, have laid ii
bare with the keenness of the sur.
geon's scalpel. Defects have been
shown where it was supposed to be
perfect. Inconsistencies have beer
brought to light. Sections have
been found to be in direct conflicI
with the Constitution of the Unitet
States, and SO invalid.
| That there were evils in the State
that there were certain reform.
needed, few will deny. 1t was te
remedy these ills that the Conven.
tion was called. Unfortunately,
that Convention did not confine it.
self to the question of reform.
Casting aside the old Constitution
with its tested and tried and well
understood principles, the Conven
tion attempted to frame an entirely
new one. This course was, to sa '
the least, an unfortunate one. Ii
was throwing away the experience
and the tested work Of nearly thirty
years of reasonably successful State
government.
What has the new Constitution
done 1t has taken away from the
citizen the protection of the GRAM &
Jury, and has rendered it possible
to arrest and confine and bring tc
trial for his liberty or his life any
man upon complaint and commit.
ment OF a magistrate, taken away
that safeguard of the citizen which
the Anglo-Saxon race wrested from
its kings centuries ago, and which
it has clung to through all its mi.
grations from that time to this q:
one OF its priceless treasures of lib
erty.
1t has presented o section upon
the suffrage question which would
debar from citizenship the Amer.
lean child born in China, yet which
falls to debar the man of Mongo.
liam blood, because the bulk of Chi
nese immigration comes, not from
China, but from Hong Kong, which
is English, and not China, terri
tory, and in law these immigrants
are not natives of China. The
whole section, however, is null ant
void, because in direct contraven.
tion of the Constitution of the
United States; and as such ha.
made us the laughing stock Of thu
Eastern States.
1t has, by its restriction of tn,
moneys to be used for high schools
taken away from the children o.
the poor III all except large cities,
the chance of obtaining a higher
education, and of fitting themselves
to enter the State University and
so avail themselves of its aGvan.
tages.
By taking away from the State
Board of Education the supervision
of the schools, and by giving te
each county and city the selection
of its own text books for the
schools, and the examination and
grading of its teachers, it has de-
stroyed all uniformity and system
in the public schools, and has put
back the educational interests o.
the State half century; aud by
doing this discourages immigration
of the better classes, for people oil
intelligence will not remove to Il