, 1880-11-14
THE CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT.

It appears to be settled that the amend
ment to the eighth section of the tenth article
Of the Constitution, changing the time OF
electlng certain county officers, has been
adopted. The almost unanimous vote received
BY the amendment in the State at large has
more than compensated for the small number
Of votes cast in its favor in Cook County.
The full scope and meaning OF this amend
ment probably were not appreciated at the
time the Legislature agreed, year ago last
spring, to submit it to the people, and
certainly were not ut the time the cleo
ton was held. The substance OF the
amendment is that, two years hence,
a County Judge, County Clerk, Sher-
iff,e land Treasurer arc TO be elected. Ihe
terms of ofhce Of the Judge and Clerk have
always BEEN four years. Those Ut the Sheriff
and Treasurer have been two, but are now
extended to four. commencing With 1883.
Had there been no change the terms OF Office
OF County Judge Loolnis, County Clerk
Klokke, and County Treasurer johnson
would have expiredfn November OF 1881, and
their SUCCESSORS would have then been elect
etI. BY this change, however, In the time OF
election the torms of these three officers are
extended one year. The general impression
was that the provision had no ilnme-
diate effect; that it simply doubled the
terms of future Sheriifs and Trensur-
ers, and made them ineligible for Immediate
reelection. It will be- seen, however, TINT the
amendment does have present effect anu
that It deprives the campaign OF 1881 OF the
greater part of its interest and excitement,
leaving to be voted for next fall only Judicial
oflcers.-a Probate Judge, Clerk Of the
Court, etc. BY the amendment the term OF
office of the Coroner Is also extended to four
wears, commencing with the person elected
in 1854.
The explanation Of the large vote received
for the amendment III the State at large luss
be found in the fact that it extended the
terms of the three chief county offices,
thus cnlisting III its support persons
having naturally great influence in the
counties where they hold office. 1t
is not impossible that it was this same intt't-
ence that carried it through the Legislature.
1t passed the House by ayote Of 113 to &c, and
was adopted by the Senate By proportion
ately large majority. The only singular feat
,,re in the case Is that the county officers OF
COOK. WHOSE LEIlHo H1oO GA1~aA~s~se ~ -
should not have bestirred themselves, as did
county officers elsewhere, to bring out
| larger vote in its favor. Both political par
| ties printed their tickets ''for" and "aEalnst'
the amendment, the result being that tens OF
thousands Of ballots went into the box un~
scratched. and were, consequently, counted
against the proposition. Had the county oft1-
| GERS cxerted their influence with the Repub-
lican Campaign Committee, they might have
had the ballots printed with simply "for the
amendment"
While the voters Of this county appear to
| have been unaware Of the meaning OF the
amendment, it is not probable that there Will
be any serious dissatisfaction with Its adop-
ton. While there may on principle be ob-
lection to the prolongation Of the term OF
any officer, yet it will be generally
regarded as wise to take the election OF S!ler-
1T and County Treasurer out OF the Fresl-
| dential year. The ticket voted for then IS
long enough without them, and it Is not im-
possible that better men may be selected
when the Sheriff. County Treasurer, and
| County Clerk are the only candidates to be
voted for.