The daily morning journal and courier., 1902-06-13
What We Gain by Inc New Constitution

| VI h"a w ShAAi ny AAAN ANN "
 TO the Editor of the Journal and Courier:
 As the time approaches to vote upon
 the new constitution, public opinion in ! it's favor Is rapidly gaining ground. If
 needs but a thorough understanding of 1 facts to see that should 1t be rejected,
 decided advantage Is thrown away.
 l. The principle of popular represen-
 tation has received distinct recogni-
 tlon. The claim has been persstently
 made that in at least one off the
 branches of the legislature the munich
 palities ought to be represented as such. | Under the new constitution the Senate 1 is based entirely upon popular repre-
 sentation and in the House the cities
 are given increased representation, so
 that the principle is recognized as ap- | plicabe to both bodies.
 2. The cities will gain control of the
 Senate. Under the old constitution the country has control of both houses and
 the cities did not gain control by the amendment that was passed last year.
 They will gain control, however, if the proposed constitution is adopted. If it is adopted, the cities will control in the Senate and the towns will control in the House.
 8 Amendments are made very much easier by the new constitution. Under the constitution as it stands, amend ments can be originated only in the House of Representatives and a two- thirds majority is required for their presentation to the people. In otber words, we cannot get an amendment started without a two-thirds vote of the House of Representatives, under the present constitution. Under the new constitution either house may originate an amendment and it may be presented to the people by majority vote of both houses. When an amendment is pre- sented to the people, the cities have a majority of the voters
 A. It will be easier to get an amend ment through the legislature as consti- tuted under the new constitution than through any possible Constitutional convention that can be called An amendment proposed by the cities would have the advantage of majority In the Senate and an increased repre- sentation in the House. It must be re- membered that an amendment was passed by the last two legislatures in- creasing the cities representation in the Senate, and that these two legislatures have shown a far greater disposition to do justice to the cities than the Consti- tutional convention did. The provision in the new constitution which makes it more difficult to call constitutional con- ventions is no disadvantage to the cit ies.
 D. In those towns which gain more than two representatives by the new constitution, the representatives will be elected by districts and not at large New Haven gets four representatives under the new constitution. These will be elected by four different dis tricts, This insures a minority repre- sentation and will give us better class of representatives than we have had in the past. Of course the five senators which New Haven will have under the proposed constitution will also be elect | ed by districts of the city.
 6. The city of New Haven gains | largely by the proposed constitution. It | will have four representatives and five | senators. It will have 18th of a senate | of 45 members, which is just about its | fair representation as a city, as it has about 18th of the population of the | State.
 [. No intelligent reason has ever been l given why these advantages should be thrown away. Those who oppose the | new constitution cannot deny that it is better than the old one; that its sys- tenn of representation though not en- tirely just, is much fairer and better than that which exists at the present. | How can it be reasonably argued that | we are going to gain something better by rejecting what we have already | gained? In the last Constitutional con venton the cities were in hopeless mi nority. They got only what the towns were willing to concede; will the towns any more because we sullenly refuse to take advantage of what they do concede?
 8. The new system of things, in which the towns have control in the House and the cities a control in the Senate, though it may not be theoretic- ally perfectly democratic system of nevertheless in it's prac tical workings will not be an unwlse one. It is one in which neither cities nor towns can control the State, and in which each must make concessions to the other. F. P. ARVINE.
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