The daily morning journal and courier., 1898-06-28

CUHlIdIy lO HIS ldCeiJ every olNbS "No given an equal representation in the senate, the convention could not have | realized how powerful an instrument Of 1 injustice and fraud they were fashion, | ing. It could hardly have been fore- seen by them that rotten borough" states, with but sparse populations, would be created by political parties for | political gain. Had Pinckney's plan been accepted such practices would | have been far less effective. Still his plan was a compromise. His idea was to divide the states into geographical zones, the senators from New England | to form one class, those from what were then the middle states another, and those from the five southern states a third. Representation was to be ap- portioned among the zones and not among the states as such. This ingen- ious scheme allowed the small states 1 greater proportional representation than was justified by their population, and gave the large states a smaller pro- | portional representation than was jus tified by their population. It was a compromise far less radical and unfair than the one chosen. Had this scheme prevailed the history of the United States, particularly the sad chapters of 1 slavery, secession and cruel war, might to some extent have been changed-and changed, it is submitted, for the better. | Pinckney's propositions regarding the acceptance by American officers of presents, titles or emoluments from for eign states and princes, and regarding a uniform bankruptcy law were accept | ed without question and embodied al- most literally in the constitution. The prohibition of religious tests for office, secured at his instance and adopted in his very words during the closing days of the convention, was one of it's most important acts.
 Although the idea of an executive composed of a single person was not original with him, yet 1t was due large ly to his persistency that it was adope- ed He was prominently opposed to blending the judicial with the legisla- tive department, and to him must be given part of the especial credit for the complete separation of these depart ments. The propositions which, pre- sented by Governeur Morris and sec | onded by Pinckney, required the chief justice of the supreme court to recom- mend from time to time such altera- tions of and additions to the laws of the United States as he might deem advisa- ble, was sound and practical. His ar guments against the unlimited ineligi- bility of members of congress to other offices combined eloquence and logic. Had his motion requiring a two-thirds vote in order to carry commercial | ct 1aA unwise and ll-timed tariff laws of both l parties might have been avoided, The idea of nine states being a sufficient number to ratify the constitution be- longed to him.
 His attendance upon the convention was regular; his participation in its proceedings active. His speeches, with one notable exception, where he ad- dressed the convention generally upon the nature of a constitution, the posi- ton of the American colonists, and the object to be sought in the way of a new and firmer system, were pointed and brief His arguments were practi- cal and clear; his language lucid and chaste; his style dignified and refined.
 Despite his youth and despite the presence and prestige of his celebrated uncle, Gen. Charles Cotesworth Pinck- ney who was also a delegate from South Carolina, his ideas and opinions made a distinct impression upon the constitution as finally adopted. View ing his work as a whole, and consider ing the vindication of many of his ideas by subsequent events, he should be ranked above his colleagues from South Carolina, and almost if not quite with Madison, Wilson, Franklin, Els worth, Gerry. Hamilton and Roger Sherman.
 It may be said of Charles Pinckney that he was one of the most brilliant and active members of the most re- markable convention in history, con- vention which established a system of government without parallel of proto- type. That system has stood against the shock of war, the strain of time. It has wielded a profound and beneficent influence upon the lives and destinies of millions of the human race. It is the helmet and shield of liberty. And of its founders, Charles Pinckney was the youngest, but not by any means the least.
 Hon. Charles Andrews, ILL. D., ex- chief justice of the New York court of : appeals, addressed the graduating class on "The Influence of America on Jurisprudence"
 The award of prizes followed and were made by President Dwight. They are:
 The Townsend prize ($100) to that member of the senior class who shall write and pronounce the best oration at the public anniversary exercises at graduation.
 Gilbert Lawrence Hedges, B. H., Yale university 1896.
 Committee of award-Hon. William Hammersley, Hartford, Conn.,; Hon. Da- vid Torrance, Derby, Conn.,; Rev. L. T. Chamberlain, D. D., New York. The Jewell prize ($50) to that mem- Der of the senior class who receives the highest marks at his annual examina-
 tion.
 William Livesey Burdick, M. A., Wes- leyan university, 1885, attorney-at-law. The Munson prize ($50) for the best graduating thesis by member of the , senior class.
 Addison Strong Pratt, B. A., Yale uni- versity, 1896. With honorable mention
 of William Livesey Burdick, M. A.,
 Wesleyan university, 1885, attorney at law.
 l Committee of award-Tohn K Reach