Virginian-pilot. (Norfolk, Va.) 1898-1911, 1900-07-01
HOW LARGE SHOULD THE
CONVENTION BEf

The Constitutional Convention ought
not to be any larger than is neces-
sary; that is 70 say. its size should
not be fixed in accordance with the
desires of men who want to be dele
gates but in accordance with the ext
gencies of the case. But how many
delegates should there be? 1t is not
an easy question to answer. 1t should
be said. however. that it is quite as
easy to have too few as to have too
many. and of these evils the former is
the more dangerous.
The Constitutional Convention will
not. we take it, meet in one large hall,
resolve itself into committee of the
whole and proceed, amid fiery and
eloquent debate. to evolve a constitu-
ton for the land and make all the
debaters immortal. If that were the
plan of operations then the fewer del
egates the better, and none at all
would be best Of all. That body, how
yer. will doubtless proceed according
to the customary methods. If SO 1t
will divide itself into committees to
each of whom will be assigned the
work OF framing that part of the Con-
stitution which deals with certain
subjects. There would probably be
not less than dozen such committees
and each would have plenty of work
to do.
1t will be in these committees that
the real work of the convention will
he done. It matters not how many or
how few delegates there are In the
convention. there is sure to be much
dead timber. For practical purposes
about one man In five will be worth
less and the rest will have the work
to do. There should. accordingly, be
n sufficient number of delegates in the
convention to allow of such n constitu-
ton of committees as will give to each
willing and capable men who will see
to 1t that the work assigned the com
mittee is we'll and carefully done; this
will avoid the necessity of putting one
man on so many committees that he
cannot give to the work assigned to
any one of them the best that is In
him.
It will be no easy matter to make
up these committees properly. even
from a tolerably full and carefully Sc
lected convention. 1t will be essential
that the chairman of each be n man
OF some special qualifications for the
work assigned his committee and his
helpers should have the same fitness,
so far as possible. These committees
must not be TOO small. for only In
them can there be that painstaking
care that can alone obviate serious
blunders. There will be in each COM
mittee research. comparisons of other
constitutions and the usual routine of
legislative committees. To make the
convention too small Is to cripple
of the larger body. and is. therefore,
equivalent to impairing the efficiency
of the convention. The work of each
committee will have to be gone over
in the convention for examination and
needed changes and there will be the
customary wind jamming: but forty
delegates will do practically as much
talking as n hundred, as every man
knows who has observed the achieve
ments of forty aggregated orators.
Apart from these matters of practi-
cal detail. however, we are-of the
opinion-and the opinion is warranted
by known conditions-that to have
very small convention will be to lower
rather than to raise the personnel OF
it. The fewer the delegates the easier
1t will be for those who have axes to
grind to see TO it that men friendly
to their purposes are chosen. Have a
convention of forty delegates and
majority of them will be corporation
lawyers who will do whatever their
masters tell them. The result would
not be any improvement on the IN
derwood document even before it was
patched and approved by successive