The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-10-05
CONSTII UTIONIL REFORM.
some Of the Reasons Why There is No
 Crying Need for It.

| Srylhg Need Tor It.
 To the Editor of the Journal and Courier:
 Amid all the discussion which is go- ing on now in the public press and on
 the platform on this question of con
 stitutional reform 1t is to be greatly re-
 gretted that the subject is not being
 dealt with in more practical manner.
 There are some very pertinent and practical suggestions which are contin- 1 uaily occurring to the disinterested and | thoughtful citizens on this subject on | which the advocates of this reform ought to give some reply or they will | deserve to lose their cause.
 It is very lame element in this dis | cusson that only the theoretical side of the question is presented, and theoret- lcally we may as well concede that the basis of representation of the lower
 house of the general assembly might be changed with good reason But there
 is over against this view a severely practical side of the matter which ought to be, but has not been, present ed. That is the question of the real practical good that is to be gained to the State of Connecticut and her citi- zens by this change; for after all, why should we attach such tremendous sig
 nificance to a mere theory of legislative
 representation? Would 1t not be wiser
 and more statesmanlike for us to be
 more practical and to consider whether
 the public's best interests are to be sub
 served by this change? For not until
 men have grown to be wiser and better
 than they are can we hope that the
 ideal form of government or system of
 representation can prevail in any city
 or State, and until that time the theo-
 retical and ideal on the one side must
 sometimes be very distant from the
 practical and useful on the other
 Now, the writer cares little what sys-
 tenn of representation prevails in the
 lower house of our general assembly.
 provided that system secures to us the
 best and purest kind of government possible under present conditions. He, with many others who are like-minded, is anxious to see this discussion car
 ried on in more practical way We should not be so sensitive as tn the cit ies' proportionate representation in the general assembly until they have prov ed themselves, by choice of fit repre- sentatives, to be competent and worthy
 of such representation
 Here are some of the practical con alterations which occur to one offhand: The citizens of the small towns and vil- lages keep a more watchful eye over their representatives in the general as-
 sembly, over their actions and their stand on public questions than we of fbp 1aroa ri Jo |, so-called rural delegate more truly rep resents his constituents and is more open and honest in his official conduct than our representatives are. Again the delegates from these country towns more truly represent this historical New England State as it was and as it Is to-day than do the men of mediocre ability sent from the cities as the result of a conspiracy of some political ring or ward combination. Furthermore, while it is true in one sense that the cities are the centers of wealth educa- tion and culture, yet the men of wealth. education and culture take little or no interest in municipal and State politics, in fact, this indifference on the part of our better citizens is the crying shame of modern municipal government and will this scheme of constitutional re- form and increase, of city representa- ton in the legislature lessen the evils of this shame? There is no evidence or indication that it will. On the con trary, it seems most certain to increase the opportunity for municipal and leg islative corruption,
 Again, there is the matter of the lob by and the undue and questionable in- f1uence exercised by rich railroad cor porations. Now evidently the city rep resentative, from his very connection and from his position, is far more open and subject to these improper influences than the so-called rural delegate. He | is direct from the large centers where | the question to be decided on the floor of the house has already figured in the . of the political ring or | ward caucus. The city representative is usually the very man who is close to ! the lobbying lawyer, the railroad politi- elan or the corrupt leader of a ring, f
 Finally, we are presented With the fact that during the last ten years, with I but two or three exceptions, the repre- sentatives from New Haven, the largest city of the State have been men of poor standing, mediocre ability and yielding and pliable under the pressure of inn proper influences, and some whose worthless vote could be readily bought with a bribe. l am not contending that the representatives from the country towns are ideals of civic purity, or that : they are entirely above criticism but, nevertheless, the fact remains the smaller towns do not show such a lamning record as when the political annals of the larger cities are exposed Q public view.
 Now, in the face of these practical