The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-11-23
THE REVISED NEW YORK CoNsTITU-
TION.

1t is certain now that every one OF Gne
amendments to the constitution submit
ted to the people of New York at the
recent ele ction was adopted. Revision
of the constitution was first set on foot
by the Democratic Legislature that came
in when Flower was elected, and the
expectation of the Democrats was that
they would control the convention and
be able to mold the revision SO as to give
them partisan advantage for many
years to come But the instruction
against Maynard last year defeated all
their calculations and placed the conven-
ton in control, not of the Democrats, but
of the Republicans. When the conven-
ton completed its work it was savagely
denounced by the Democratic press, and
the most strenuous efforts were put.forth
by the party leaders to defeat the revis-
ion. 1t was declared that If it was
adopted Democrats could not hope to
control the legislature of the State for
twenty years to come, and special ap-
peals were made to the party to vote
against the amendments. Nevertheless
they were all carried. including the ap-
portionment amendment, which the
Democrats said would secure to the Re-
publicans the control of the legislature
for a quarter of a century. OF course
many OF the amendments were OF COM
paratively little consequence, but half
dozen of them were of great Importance.
Outside of the apportionment amend-
ment the most important were the ones
that changed the term of State officers
from three to TWO years; prohibited the
legislature from fixing any statutory
Limitations to the amount which may
be recovered from corporations in suits
for damages from accidents; forbidding
riders on appropriation bills, reorganiz-
ing the judiciary system, and forbidding
the appropriation of State money to sec
tartan institutions.
The amendments that have excited the
most comment are the ones forbidding
pool selling and contract labor in prisons
and prohibiting the acceptance of free
passes. The last amendment is very
drastic one, as will be seen from the
text which follows:
No public officer or person elected or
appointed to public office under the
laws of the State shall, directly or indi-
rectly, ask, demand, accept, receive or
consent to receive for their own use or
benefit, or for the use or benefit Of an
other, any free pass, free transportation
ranking privilege, or discrimination in
passenger, telegraph, or telephone rates
from any person or corporation, or make
use of the same himself or in conjunc-
tion with another. A person who vio-
lates any provision of this section shall
be deemed guilty of mjsdelnanor, and
shall forfeit his office at the suit If the
attorney general. Any corporation or
officer or agent thereof who shall offer
or promise to public officer or person
elected or appointed to pubic office any
such free pass, free transportation,
ranking privilege, or discrimination,
shall also be deemed guilty of misde-
meanor and liable to punishment, except
as herein provided.
No person or officer or agent of cor
poration giving any such free pass, free
transportation, franking privilege, or
DISCRIMINATION hereby prohibited. shall
be privileged from testifying in relation
thereto and he shall not be liable to civil
or criminal prosecution therefor if he
shall testify to the giving of the same