Eureka daily sentinel. [volume] (Eureka, Nev.) 1871-1887, 1883-02-18
cossTITrTIoSALITY

4-LE La -<HEASk@ 1~-lS =
.ssnal s~xpozaders. before whom a storey
O. a Pzrsg1s rngh. bow the head and
blush, age blaaA-:gr the sln,y cheek Of
tagss 1e5ush AE-Grksrz. One msm-
Ter o. the senate objected TO The Smyth
bill besaase be considered /. unconstisu-
t,oaal. a. sbs sane time probably having
70 more knowledgs Of constitutional
lag ,hza , W2shoe Indian has q me lOs.
arts The szpress.ons used By CIR Il
eellsr: reporter we admit are somewha.
exaz.cate3, thOagh doabt.ezs made %
On p7r59ss. He Is : gentleman q liberal
caltzre. and il familiar wish the rule Of
rhssgse thA. allows ulaaeraei9a IL e.
trsno Tor The purposs Of establishing a
principle With riz0r. or for the rake Of
rendering = fast c0nspicaousiy pain.
That b. u Materially correet ) nos tobs
denied. nor can ths accuracy O. his %
ssrvasi2As b. disputed Our lagal25ora
have been kaoen 10 opposs certain
measures u the Leg ztufs ostensibly On
the ground Of thsir being in conflict with
the Consultation Of the STATE. q Of the
United states, when everybody else,
especially the man up a Tree. has felt
convinced tina. their negative Yo.e could
be counted On with equal certainty,
Though there were no possibility Of a
constitutional do0bs involved There
have been legislators whose ingenuity
would supply them with o.aer we'll
sounding ezcuses in case the hackneysd
Of unconstita.ioaalty were want
ing. Il has been said that the power Of
Socrates IN c~gusrovsrsy was 50 zrea. that
he coald prove black 70 be white, and the
contrary a. well. The difference between
him and them is this, tina. he spoke in
the market places and psolaced c6nvic-
ton wherever he d-issourssd, while they
would have TO BE- even more powerful in
logic or sophis.ry than Socrates 70 obtain
credit among the masses ior what they
say On certain propositions On the floor Of
the Senate or Assembly. Whatever
they may gay On certain occasions enters
the head Of the public through one ear
and takes is departure Immediately by
way Of the other. Their speeches make
no imprsssion-.hsy fall upon flint
while the words Of the old Grecian have
become immortal, though he never wrote,
preferring, a. IL said, to impress his
words upon the hearts Of men rather
than upon the skin Of dead sheep, Truth
IS beautiful and lives forever. We
do not say that the words Of
our Legislators are untrue, bat they per-
iah. Possibly the people are p~rejudiced
and it may be only a false sentiment after
all that Truth crushed TO earth will rise
again" The fact Il, the duty Of legisla-
tors is an unpoetic task. Their work
Is OF a practical e~xpedient sort, nor is it
always within province 70 determine
what expediency is. They are, or ought
to be, public servants, in the s~trictest
sense Of the term. Before election they
are heard from every stump leading the
chorus. "The voice Of the people is the
voice Of Cod" After election, in many
instances, they change faces, disavow
their responsibility TO their masters,
and assume that their own wisdom is
supreme. Their subserviency to the
popular will they repel as a reflection
upon their intelligence, and they stol-
idly ignore the sovereignty Of the peo-
pie until another election approaches.
Now it is safe to gay that the az.
gregated wisdom Of the people of this
or any other State is superior to that
OF any Legislature that ever convened.
At any rate, the masses know their
wants, and when they cry out year az
ter year for the same legislation, it
may be set down that they are calling
for what they need. Under such cir
cumstances it is a serious and solemn
question whether any representative
shall refuse to comply with their
wishes and oft-repested formal i~ustruc-
tions for any reason whatever.
We believe that in obedience TO the be.
hests Of an overwhelming majority Of the
people Of Nevada our Senators were bound
to vote in the affirmative on the passage
Of the Smyth bill. Their duty was to
range themselves in line with the great
Of their constituency and cast
their votss for them, ignoring them
entirely and giving their notions
TO the winds. We do not believe
that they should ay into the face OF
the Constitu ton. To an undetermined
extent they ought to be guided by
what knowledge they may have of the
should not forget that the %expounders
D! that document are ultimately the
Supreme Court of Nevada. The Smyth
bill ID not plainly unconstitutional. In
iact, we do not blieve, and there are
of eminent lawyers who do not
that it conflicts with that portion
the State Constitution which prohibits
special legislation. But even if it seemed
10 the minds OF our legislators %unconsti-
s%utional beyond p~eradventure, we hold
that they should have passed it in con-
to the known wishes and often
reiterated explicit instructions Of the
No harm could nave resulted
.herefrom, and the properly constituted
authority would have been given
he opportunity to test the validity Of
legislation in which the whole State is
profoundly interested.