Waterbury Democrat., 1901-11-23
THE CONSTRUCTION.
Ex-Governor Bulkeley Publishes It for
 General Distribution.

Ex-Governor Bulkeley Publishes It for
 General Distribution.
 Ex-Governor Bulkeley of Hartford received yesterday from the press of the printer the first copies of the edited constitution which he said some time ago he intended to have prepared. Hon Lewis Sperry, a member of tho coming convention and Mir Bulkelcy's counsel, has at the eX-governor's re- quest taken the constitution of Con- necticut and eliminated the dead part and written ill the amendments in the amendments in their proper places, so that the document is the constitll- ton as it stands. To this~is appended the constitution of the United States. Ex-Governor Bulkeley introduces the pamphlet in the following preface:
 The constitution herewith presented is the constitution of Connecticut as it is today. The text used for this revision is that found ill the general statutes, revision of 1888. So much of the original constitution and amend ments as has become obsolete. either by subsequent amendment or by linn itation. has been stricken out The amendments still in force have been written into the constitution in Their
 
 guage of the constitution, including even capitals and punctuation, has been preserved as far as possible, so that the draft herewith presented is the constitution of Connecticut not only i in legal effect but in it's exact form as it now exists. In it's arrangement, lts brevity, it's clearness. the principles un- deriving it, and its freedom from legis- lation it is model, and few state con- stitutions can be said to equal it. and none are superior. This compilation was prepared at my request by Hon Lewis Sperry, member of the con- | vention from South Windsor.
 Since the formation of the American i union there have been many written constitutions promulgated. many even ] in some of the individual states. In l some of the states constitutional con- i ventions and new constitutions are of | almost periodical occurrence. Not SO | in Connecticut. Our constitution re- mains substantially the same to-day IS when adopted eighty-three years ago | It is not a code of laws designed for the government of people in matters of business ill the everyday walks of life. and it would not be a constitution if it were. It is the charter of the state. It deals only with the funda- mental law of the commonwealth. It is q constitution in the true sense of i that word. and it is quite free from .eg- l islation which so often appears in constitutions of later date. | deal , l only with the functions of the state, which 1t divides into three distinct parts. legislative. executive and ju- dicial: establishes those three diyis- ions independent of each other, and de- fines and limits the powers which it assigns to each. It defines the quali- fications of electors. the qualifications of officers of state, the manner of their election or appointment, and their re- spective terms of office. It has been amended several times. as would be natural in so long q period, but thos,' amendments. one and all. are confined to matters of detail, and ill no respect can it be said that tliey seriously af- feet the fundamental principles estab- lished by the constitution.
 For the purpose of comparison the constitution of the United States is re- printed from the revised statutes of the United Staes, last edition. lt would seem that those who drafted the constitution of Connecticut were thor. oughlv familiar with. and borrowed literally from. the federal constitution and the constitution of Connecticut compares most favorably with thal great masterpiece, the written funda mental law of great people.
 M G. BULKELEY.
 Hartford, November 20, 1901.