Morning journal and courier., 1891-09-23
GATHER1NGsoF THEUNwAsHED.

UA An4HAsAS sAsVE AnEDN" ASAAAzAs War Horses and Raw
 Recruits Banquet at Redclife's-
 Favor a Revision of the State Con-
 stitution-Mr.m TrOup,s Vigorous
 Speech. ss@7esy. gts
 The Connecticut gathering of demo- cratic war-horses and raw recruits at Red c1iffe's last evening had considerable polit- ical significance The keynote of the meeting was set by Professor Simeon E. Baldwin, the toastmaster of the evening. The club stands unanimously in favor of a state convention for revising the consti. tuition and the banquet last evening was the first gun in the campaign for the cleo ton of democratic legislature and gov ernor in 1899. 4
 It was not until 7:15 o'clock that the diners sat down to- a long, well-spread table in Redcliffe's cafe. The menu was served in seven courses and covers were laid for fifty persons. The consideration of the banquet lasted until nearly 9 o'clock, when toastmaster Simeon E. Baldwin arose and began the exercises of the evening. The head of the table was occupied by the toastmaster. To his right sat Senator Da- vid M. Read of Bridgeport and the, left John H. Leeds of New Haven. The other gentlemen present were:
 Senator Seymour of Norwalk, Mayor Joseph B. Sargent, Morris w. Seymour of Bridgeport, Joel A. Sperry, Corporation Counsel DriscoIl, James T. Moran, Eli D. Weeks of Litchfeld, George P. Ingersoll, Isaac Wolfe, Alexander Troup, George E. Barnes, Colonel John G. Healy, Represen- tative David Callahan, James J. Buchanan, Frank H. Sperry, Harry w. Asher, ex- Senator D. N. Morgan of Bridgepart, Sena- tor Holden of Birmingham, H. Holton Wood of Birmingham, MT. Booth of Bir- mingham and Ro1lin c. Wooster of New Britain.
 Professor Baldwin in opening said
 "There is no democrat in this state but feels it as personal humiliation that 8 man to-day holds the office of governor for whom not single vote was cast by the
 popular suffrages The controversy has passed from the legislature to the courts. know enough of law to be aware that the courts are no place to settle such con- troyersy as this. Our constitutional en- actments ought to be so plain that the most uneducated man can apprehend their meaning. Our constitution was founded
 in 1918 when this state had only third of it's present population, and had made com raratively small advance in modern prog
 ress or civilization.
 At our spring meeting we voted to make it our business to work up the revision of the constitution 80 as to have it true of this state as we'll as of others that any man who has the most votes for public office should be elected thereto. We be- lieve, also, that constitutional convention
 is the proper method by which the consti-
 tuition should be revised"
 MT. Baldwin then went into long dis cussion of the necessity of a constitutional
 convention which would revise the consti-
 tuition from A to z and prevent the cleo ton of a governor by the minority vote.
 ''To this end," said Mir. Baldwin, five must concentrate our efforts towards the election of legislature which shall call a constitutional convention and send a man of the right sort to Washington.
 The crying evil of special legislation is another great burden of our state govern ment and arises from the obscurity and complex character of the constitution. It is the policy of this club to push the re- vision issue for the people of Connecticut s6 that full and equal rights may be grant ed to every citizen.
 Morris w. Seymour of Bridgeport fol lowed Professor Baldwin in long hesitat- ing conservative speech, in which he op- posed changes in the representation of the lower house.
 "What we want to accomplish Is some thing practical, and it is my idea that nothing can be done if we are very radical in our purposes for constitutional con- vention. believe that we ought to adopt some measure which will command the united support of democrats and republi-
 cans. am strongly of opinion that pro- posal to have the governor of this state elected by plurality vote would be carried by an overwhelming majority. I strongly favor the idea of Professor Baldwin in abolishing the crying evil of special legis- | lation in this state, particularly in regard | to the lobbying and jobbing of corpora l tions. A joint stock act that would em- ! brace the great mass of corporations and give out equal justice to all alike, would
 meet with universal recognition.
 I understand that there has been 6 great deal of talk about unequal repre- | sentation of cities in the lower house. 1 favor this prosposal in theory, but any attempt to carry out such proposal would instantly put an end to all hope ot | constitutional revision"
 | Senator David M. Reed of Bridgeport l followed in vigorous speech. He said: l ''I cannot see that you are going to
 carry the revision by any mongrel pro ceeding. First, we will secure a demo
 cratic legislature; and secondly, we will
 keep it so by revising the system o1 representation"
 ''These are noble men who have stood l by you in the senate. They half inaugu
 rated the democratic officers. They stand by their present position and always will
 Had it not been forthe intrigues and selfist
 schemes of the republicans in the lower
 house you would now see the gentlemen
 legally elected by the votes of the people presiding over this commonwealth" Other speeches were delivered by Sena | tor Seymour, Senator Holden, Represen tative Callahan, 0. T. Driscoll, Alexander Troup, and Eli B. Weeks of Litchfeld. Messrs. Troup and Driscoll made vigor-
 ous addresses in favor of popular repre- I sentation in democratic conventions. | Other gentlemen opposed equal repre-
 sentation. At 1O:4O o'clock, after an en
 thusiastic evening, the Democratic clut | adjourned.
 !