The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-05-27
The Proposed Constitution.

10 tHe EuIlW ol tue JOuEHaI unu Aout4et
 It seems to me that the new constitu-
 tion is a very great improvement upon
 the old one and that it would be very
 serious mistake for the cities and larger | towns to vote to reject it. Of course, ] it does not perfectly carry out the prin-
 ciple of popular representation. The ma
 jority in the convention had the idea
 that the towns, as a sort of sovereign
 ties, ought to be represented in at least
 one branch of the legislature rather
 than the people. The idea that boun-
 dary lines, that is to say, imaginary
 lines, are to be represented rather than
 the people seems absurd. But we must
 remember that this very idea has gained a sort of standing from the con-
 stitution of the United States to which
 the representatives of the towns were | fond of appealing as a full justifica- ! tion of their claim. The constitutional provision which gives Nevada, with its
 45,0 GOO inhabitants, as many representa- | lives in the Senate as the State of State | of New York, with its 100000, is just as vicious as the present representation 1 of the towns in the legislature of Con- necticut Considering that the | idea of town representation had
 an overwhelming majority in the convention, far more has been accomplished in the way of popular representation than could have been anticipated The new constitu- tion provides that all towns having less than 1000 inhabitants shall have but
 one representative This certainly is an important step in the right direc- ton, Many of the small towns in Con-
 necticut are old towns and consequent ly have two representatives, and this provision takes from them half of their disproportionate strength in the legisla-
 ture. By the constitution of 1918 all new towns thereafter incorporated were
 to have but one representative. This leaves the old towns, many of which are among the smallest in the State, with two representatives, while many of the new and larger towns have only one All those new towns under 5000 have but one by the present constitu
 ton. Under the new constitution each town having a population of 2,000 and less than 50,000 is entitled to two rep resentatives; each town having popu- lation of 50,000 and less than 100 000 Is entitled to three representatives; and every town having a population of 100,- GOO or more is entitled to four and to one additional for each 50,000 of the population. This provision will increase the representation of some of the larger towns in the State Some of the most populous towns in the State which are not cities, are comparatively new ones, and have but one representative. Most cities will have, by this provision, three representatives at least and New Ha- ven will have four. Another excellent provision of the new constitution is that where there are three representa- tives to be chosen, the town electing them shall be districted, so that the three representatives will not be chosen by the entire common city, but by the representative districts. This is likely to give a minority representation in the cities and to secure a far better class of representatives than have been for merly sent to the legislature. I can but regard this as the best feature, so far as the cities are concerned, of the new constitution.
 The new constitution also provides for a senate of 45 to be elected from dis tricts made as nearly equal as possible. It is estimated that New Haven will have five members in the new senate, and it is to be remembered that these will be elected from five separate dis tricts. New Haven will thus gain four senators. New Haven's representation under the present constitution in tho senate and house is three, one senator and two representatives Under the new constitution it will have five sena- tors and four representatives. It is the most favored town in the State under the new constitution. It seems to me
 Continued on Fifth Page)