Smyrna times., 1895-10-23

the regards of its patrons for the paper
and its weekly visitations.
CONVENTION FOR A NEW CONSTITUTION.
The nearest way to a settlement of
many irreconcilable things in our State
must be through a Convention for a
new Constitution. We may never hope
to have things where there will not be
conflicting interests, but we ought to
have them at least where a straining
and violation of the law and COnstitu-
ton to gain a political advantage will
not be justified by any well thinking
portion of the community.
The fact is the progress and develop
ment of American ideas has placed our
old Constitution out of date; nor could
any patching up put it in harmony with
the fundamental laws of the nation.
We are going on living under the same
organic law of the State, while that of
the nation and our sister States have
materially changed the status of citizen
ship. There are other matters entering
into the condition of things by changes
of population, representation, bad ju-
dicial methods, tax disqualifcatiOns,
and power for almost infinite machine
manipulation, that needs the most eff
fective revising.
A Constitution should be so adjusted
that no party working under and within
its requirements, could have any adj
vantage over another party working to
reach a public good by another way.
ANY method less than this would be
inimical to the very American spirit
(fair play) which constituted its essence
and spirit.
Possibly the most essential thing
after individual rights are secured be
yOnd peradventure right of life,
liberty and the right of franchise-will
be the division Of the State into cOun-
ties. When the present Constitution
was adopted nearly sixty-four years ago
it was an easy thing to parcel it out into
three counties, because the counties of
New Castle, Kent and Sussex were of
nearly equal population. Wilmington,
then a small town, has grown into a
city of 65, 900, making the population of
the county more than double the popu-
latiOn of both the other counties. It is
not to be expected that New Castle
county, or rather Wilmington, would
be satisfied with only an equal repre-
sentatiOn with Kent and Sussex with
double the population. Nor, on the
other hand, will the latter counties be
willing for the big city to dominate
them.
We see no way to properly adjudicate
matters only by having four or five
counties. The rural part of New Castle
county is much of the time out of har-
mony with the city, and a division
about Christiana river would not seem
a difficult thing to establish The Mil-
ford Herald suggests a division into
five counties as a means of diminishing
the chickering's and jealousies between
New Castle and the two lower counties.
The following is suggested as a proper
reconstruction:
Suppose, for example. we should
make % Wilmington county to embrace
all that portion of the State between
the Christiana and the Arc of Penns'
twelve-mile circle; (2) New Castle or
(perhaps a better name) KirkwOOd
20 Al,oA r.
rs now New Castle below the Christiana;
(3) Kent county to extend to the pres
ent division line between it and New
Castle down to the upper or Northern
branch of the Murderkill river; "a
Gibson county TO extend from the
North branch of the Murderkill to
Lewes Cape thence with the county
road to Maryland line; and % Sussex
to embrace all the remaining portion Of
the present county"
The Every Evening has this sugges-
tion:
''If the city of Wilmington were made
a county by itself. have four
counties with the upulation
according to the census of 1890: Viii
mingtOn county, 61,431; New Castle
county, 35, 751; Kent county, 30, 664;
and Sussex county, 38,647. If these
four counties we're given equal repre-
sentatiOn, the two lower would have
their full share; and certainly the three
rural counties would have nothing to
fear from the one city"
These are proper considerations TO be
brought beforehand, and if our best
and most judicious men are selected,
an equal number from each party, we
have no doubt of reaching wise cOnclu-
sions.
1t may be of interest to know VINO
composed the convention that met in
October, 1831-just sixty-four ago
and gave us our present Constitution.
That convention consisted of the fol-
lowing members, Wis: John Caulk,
Thomas Deakyne, JOHN Elliott, Willard
Hall, Thomas W. Handy, John Harlan,
Charles H. Haughey, George Read, Jr.,
james Rogers and William Seal, of
New Castle county; John M. Clayton,
Peter l.. Cooper, James Fisher, Hughitt
Layton, Jan - b. Macomb, Elias Nau-
dain, Charles Polk. John Raymond,
Presley Spruance. Jr.. and Benaiah
Tharp, Of Kent, and Thomas
Adams, John Carey, Edward Dingle,
William Denning, James G. LynGk,
Joseph Mauil. William Nichols, Samuel
Radcliffe. Henry I. Rodney, and Will
lam d NAPLES, of Sussex,
The Delegates from New Castle
county we're all Democrats, or Yhat
were then called Jaeksonists, with the
exception Of willard Hall, who, to his
great credit be it said, ceased to have
anything to do with party politics bom
4he time he was appointed U. S. judge
for the District OF Delaware by Presi-
dent Monroe during the "era of good
feeling" in 1922; the Delegates from
Kent and Sussex were all Wings, or as
they were then called, American Re-
publicans. OF the New Castle members
three were lawyers, Hall, Read and
Rogers. al of whom had been distin