The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1882-12-26

sshall nos en- Convsaiioa Is ~ reeae = ~
! slscsion q delegates q WIKI ~ Sloca quail
. lied 10 vote By thh Consultation ihAn g az
squali6ed; and the repesesntaiioa n aid Con
g vention shall BE- bssed on population" Thsss
requirements were followed By The Legislature
Of Georgia In calling the Conventtou o. 16T;
no one was disqualified 10 vots for delegates and
representation In the Convention was based on
population"
II il evident that Mr.. Pasco has "put his foot
in Il" The cases he cites are totally disstmilar
from that Of this State. The Constitutions OF
both left the matte. of Coavention to the pleas
ure of the Legislature, and only in the instance
of Georgia was there any restriction imposed. and
this was observed In the call. Our Constitution
imposes restrictions, and these have all been
observed heretofore. The action taken In 1881,
if continued in January next, will evenuate in
little over two years in q Convention with all
the forms of regularity aud be lawful body In
every respect.
Now, whoever before heard of a serious propo-
sal for State to stop under such circumstances,
having gone over half the road, and take de-
parture directly the reverse of that she has all
along pursued, hazarding the very objectin view,
provoking bitter opposition, threatening to in
volve the interests Of immigration and develop
ment in trouble-a departure, in short, without
the shadow of legal sanction, and therefore revo-
lutionary and dangelousf
This whole dangerous movement proposes to
be "a law unto ITSELF" Being without any au-
thorty, it is to be controlled only by the will of
lis origina;ors Hence, Mr.. Pasco suggests that
representation in The Convention shall not be
based on population" but on an arbitrary rule
which excludes county organizations. The
Convention which met at ST. Josephs in 1888, he
says had but 43 delegates, that of 1855 had g.
and the one OF 1868 had IS. M. P. thinks that
IS delegates will do FOR q shortcut Convection.
Without stopping TO enquire on what represent
alton was based at these several pei iods, note
how naively this gentleman in effect confesses
that the movement is outside of all law. There
is no guide for representation-no rul -evely-
thing is to depend on the mere sav-so of those
who engineer it. In 1888 the population was
about AZ, 900; in 1855. Immediately AFTER the war;
it was probably 10000, and in 1868 not more
than 10000. Now, it is not extray lgaat to say,
IL il dI least ooO,VVV OO you ecC, M. IultOI,
Mr.. Pasco's scheme of representation totally ig-
nores population, and in this goes back on Geor-
gia's example lit ignores county organiza-
tons and proposes to throw the counties into
"hotch-potch" and limit the division to IS
shares, no more. no less; and why noti True,
the Constitution says representation in a Conven-
ton shall not be less than that in both branches
of the Leg stature, but this is prescription of
law, and the shortcut" advocates ignore law
As al,eady said, they ate "a law unto them
selves their will is to be the law.
/ conclude for the present with remarking,
what must be obvious to every thinking mind
that every consideration of prudence points to
the danger of disregardng plain constitutional
obligations on this or any other important mat
ter Fest IA LENTE.