Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1885-06-23
Questions Before the Florida Con-
VPnfiOn


Vention.
The questions which appear to be at
tracing the especial attention of the
members of the Florida Constitutional
Convention at present are the following
Ought county officers be elected or ap-
pointed? Ought Circuit Judges be
elected or appointed? And is a Liuten-
ant Governor a necessary officer? The
first and second questions are very i'm
portant. The third possesses some inter-
est but is not likely to cause great deal
of discussion.
There are strong reasons at present why
county officers in Florida should be APP
pointed by the Governor, but it is possible
that these reasons may not exist ten
years hence. Immigration to Florida
is very great, and the time is not distant
when the white people will be in the as
cendancy in every part Of the State. The
only reason now for giving the Governor
authority to fill local Offices is to prevent
them from being filed in some of the
counties by ignorant negroes. There are
/ some negroes, Of course, who make fair
! officers, but these, as a rule, are not the
4 ones who are prominent in local politics.
In time, the objections that are now so
strong against negro officials may lose
their force.
On the other hand there are several
reasons why the local officers ought to be
elected. The people ought to be en-
couraged to take an interest in their
I local affairs, and one of the ways to en-
| courage them is 10 place on them the
/ responsibility of selecting their local
officers. Those who are directly RESPONSE
BILE to the people are more apt to be
Jealous in trying to please than
those who are not. The people
are more capable of Judging who is
best qualified to serve them in their local
affairs than the Governor is, and are
likely to make better choice.
AS it may be many years before another
constitutional convention viii be called,
the members Of the present convention
have very difficult matter in this local
office question to deal with. Until immi-
grafton puts all parts Of the State into
the hands of those capable of managing
county affairs intelligently and wisely, it
is better that the Governor should appoint
the county officers, but if it is believed
that in a very few years there will be
very little chance for the management of
local affairs to fall into the hands of ig-
norant and incompetent persons the
counties ought to be given at once full
! control over their own Offices.
The reasons which apply to the selec-
Cf In IN b. 81
selection Of Judges. The judges ought to
be appointed, and for long terms. Those
who administer the laws ought not to be
dependent in any way on public favor.
Judges who are elected for short terms
are apt to begin work for q reelection
soon after they take their offices, and in
striving to be popular they may fail to
discharge their duties with strict i'm
Partially. A lawyer who accepts a
judgeshlp gives up a practice which he
may have been years in acquiring, and
the chances OF ever acquiring 1t again are
against him. His anxiety, therefore, for
reelection is so great as to interfere, to
some extent, with the performance Of his
duties. There is another thing to be
taken into consideration. 1t is that poll
ticians, rather than those learned in the
law, very frequently get on the bench
under the elective system. tits true that
Governors sometimes make bad appoint
ments, but, as a rule, they select good
men for Judges. They cannot afford, if
they care for their reputation, to put in
ferior men in such responsible positions.
There is no very strong argument
against the Office of Lieutenant Governor.
1t is true that the office is not absolutely
necessary, and the one chosen to fill 1t is
no more likely to make a good Governor,
should circumstances call him to the
Office Of Governor than the Senator who
is elected President of the Senate in the
absence of Lieutenant Governor; but it
is better, perhaps, to let the people select
the possible Governor than to place that
duty on the Senate. There is no occasion for
attaching large salary to the office. Let
it be an office of honor rather than of
profit. Twice the pay of a Senator while
the duties OF President of the Senate are
being performed is ample compensation.
The convention appears to be taking hold
of the questions with which it has to deal
with the right kind of spirit, and with
determination that indicates that means
to frame an instrument that will meet
with general approval.