The daily morning journal and courier., 1901-12-18
GOVERNORS APPEAL.
EARNEST PLEA FOR CONSTTTU-
 TIONAL REFORM
ing, Delivered Before the Connecticut Board of Agriculture in Park City Theater-Mayor Mulvihill's Address of Welcome.

Welcome. Bridgeport, Dec. 1.-The annual mid winter meeting of the state board of agriculture opened to-day at the Park 1 City theater in this city for three days, With sessions morning, afternoon and evening each day. The meetings of the board are always largely attended, and this is no exception to the rule. Great interest is always taken in the sessions of the board and the fact that the governor of the state, who is member of the board had promised to be pres ent added to the interest.
 At the opening session this morning at 10:30 Mayor Mulvihill delivered the following address Of welcome:
 Tt affords me much pleasure indeed to appear before this distinguished body of gentlemen, constituting the state board of agriculture, created by law for the advancement of agricultur- al education and the general promotion of husbandry throughout our state.
 So important have these interests and the duties of your board been con- oL our state is, by law, made one of your number, and I esteem it privilege and an honor to welcome him and you to the Park City.
 Our beloved state owes much to the | farmers, and the pursuit of agriculture has ever been considered one of the most useful and honorable of employ | ments, When our farmers are prosper ous, it is a sure sign of general pros perity-the merchant, artisan and pro- fessional man are all prosperous too Connecticut is what her farmers have made her to them the responsibil- l ity as well as te hhonor belong The power is in their hands for veal or | woe. In that great convention which 1 is soon to gather for the amendment of our constitution, the farmers of our state have our destinies in their hands, and on their wisdom and progressive ness much of the future welfare of our state depends.
 'As one taken from the workshop and honored by the people of this goodly city by election to the office of 1 mayor, it is to me a pleasure and an honor to welcome YOU. and to thank you for coming here to hold your an nual mid winter session.
 T wish that I had the eloquence of a Governor Mclean, so that I could ex- tend to you a proper welcome and do full justice to the occasion; but my life has been cast in a different mold; the workshop has been my school, and I shall not attempt to do the impossible But it is, perhaps, as well, for I see | in looking over your programme that many interesting papers are to be read; many eloquent men are to address you l sincerely trust, gentlemen that your meeting here will be both pleasant and profitable, and that you will return to your homes with pleasant memories of the city of Bridgeport and it's people. Governor Mclean responded, follow ing with an introductory address upon the work of the board and the pur- poses of the meeting. His speech was a vigorous appeal for constitutional re- form.
 q am not quoting these highly inn pressive figures as preface to an ar gument in favor of constitutional re- form, but, said the governor, 1T do want to say this to the farmers pres ent whose views upon the subject may not coincide with mine. You believe in local government, and so do I, thoroughly You believe in town rep resentation in the general assembly; so do I. Our fathers believed that the state of Connecticut should be gov erned by the people of Connecticut and I agree with thenh
 UNSAFE AND UNFAIR.
 Tn ISIS every town in the state had one or more delegates to the general assembly, but those delegates repre- sented majority of the people. In 1918 no tax could be laid or law passed unless approved by a majority vote of members representing at least 80 per cent of the people. And now, owing to unexpected changes in population, members of the general assembly rep resentng less than 20 per cent. of the population have the power to tax and make laws for the other 80 per cent, This is not only unfair, but it is fun- damentally unjust and wrong if the word democracy means anything in the state of Connecticut to-day It Is so very unfair that it is, in my opinion, very unsafe for the 20 per cent. to try to keep that power any longer, and that is why I believe that the small towns should avail themselves of opportunity they will have this winter to save the principles that are dear to them and at the same time recognize the just and emphatic demand of the people for a constitution that will be fair to the people.
 FARMERS NOT AFRAID.
 T do not believe that the farmers of Connecticut are one bit afraid of the people of Connecticut The rapid growth of the cities and large towns means safety to the farmer not danger, It means that in this great industrial democracy and union of republics there are forty-two states large than Connec ticut territorially, and thirty-three smaller than Connecticut commercially. It means that Connecticut has by req son of her ingenuity, industry, econo- my, honesty and public spirit kept Con- necticut to the very forefront and that to-day she weighs more in the worlds industrial balance than Texas. It means honest occupation and happy homes for thousands upon thousands of our girls and boys and men and women. It means progress and civilization and