Waterbury Democrat., 1901-08-09
NEW LAWS NEEDED.
workingmen Should Send the Right
 Men to Constitutional Convention.

that matter every thinking citizen Tn the state to give some attention to the new constitution which, We shall, no doubt have in the near future Most men agree that we have outlived the present constitution of our state. That document was formulated in ISIS. There was very little manufacturing done in the state at that time Towns and villages were sparsely settled. The population of the several towns at that time was nearly equal. There was no one town whose population oyer-shad- owed that of any other. They were so nearly equal that all of the towns agreed that each should have two rep resentatives in the general assembly. No one of them dreamed of the rapid strides which Hartford. New Haven. Bridgeport and the other towns would make during the century then begun. No one of them dreamed of the great strides which would be made in the arts and manufactures in so short q period of time nor did anyone inn agine the vast amount of immigration from Great Britain. Ireland and cOnti- mental Europe which has been going on during the last century. The con- stitutiOn made for ISIS was construct ed by a few farmers. good men, of course for few farming towns. All this has changed.
 Now the constitution of ISIS though well enough for itsNown time and peo- pie is not suited to the people or to the times of today The constitution in use for the people today as everybody knows. gives the smaller farmer in the small town power equal to that or 100 mechanics in the manufacturing towns. in some instances. This per haps is the most glaring evil of the day. But there are other grievances which the people of today suffer under the old constitution and which the new ought to remedy One of these IS the growing power of the big corpora tions It certainly is menace to so- ciety to allow too much wealth and too much power to be accumulated in the hands of any one man or set of men Most of the wealth of England is accumulatedin the hands of less than POO men. This was all brought about as a consequence of the single parlia- mentary law of primogeniture, which means that all the real estate of de- ceased father descendS to the eldest son. When our fathers came to this country they endeavored to avoid the painful effects of this law and so they enacted that when man died intestate his property should be distributed equally to his children and their repre- sentatives
 But this end has been lost sight of by the law makers. They have been under the controlling influence of able and more far seeing men and notwith- standing the efforts of the one set of men. the other set have contriyed to pass laws in shape of tariff and ex- else laws that made the rich man rich CT and the poor man poorer. So that now our country has a larger number of wealthy men than all of Europe and Great Britain combined. and this, all though our country is comparatively young
 Another grievance which more par ticularly concerns the laboring classes under the present constitution is the distribution of judicial power, as pro- vided for therein.
 The result of this constitutional pro- vision takes all of the judicial power out of the hands of the people, and confers it as a matter of course upon a special class. 1t is certain that this special class is far removed from the people. It is not in touch with the people; it has no sympathy with the people and the people have not conf- dence in the Judiciary as now organiz- ed It is probably true that the men who are now the judges are as good men and as good q class of men as could be obtained to do judicial work but if these same men were elected by the people it is absolutely certain that the people would have more confidence in them and that they would have more sympathy for the people.
 The same judge elected by the people instead of being appointed by the gov ernor would never think of issuing an injunction restraining men from en- deavoring to persuade their fellow men from joining a labor union, nor would the same judge elected by the people issue an order restraining union men from standing in front of factory to see a workman coming out, with the object of soliciting him to join theil union. A man who sympathizes with the working classes would have thought twice before penning such ar order. A judge who belonged to the other class and who had no syInpathies with the laboring man would justify his conscience in penning such aI order, even though he violated the law by so doing. He would argue to him self that H7were better to strike dowI the liberties of a dozen laboring meT than to allow them to take the chances of disobeying the law by a breach oi the peace or by intimidating other workmen. He would break the law himself anticipating that they might break the law. He would prevent them from breaking the law by issuing an order contrary to law.
 The theory of the present constitu tion is that no man can be punished for crime except upon the verdict of 8 jury of his peers These peers are tc be selected from-the county in which he resides; from his vicinity. This has been the English law and American law for hundreds of years Right tC trial by jury was wrung from kings al the point of the bayonet. This govern ment by Injunction, this commitins men for contempt is retracing oul steps Is going back to the Star Cham Der; is going back to the Inquisition This commitment for contempt shnuld