The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1905-03-19

8t1e.' 1t prohibits the sureties from being
&distrained SO long as the principal debtor
is sufilcientsfor the pa yrnent Of the debt. a5
II e provide that widows dover shall
be a third &interestSin the realty, and al
alotted in forty days.
lit declared that there should be one
system OF VIC! ghts and measures.
81 It declared that no widow should be
Edistrained to marry so long as she wills
to live without a husband.
Such were some of the minutiae which
filled the minds sof the Barons at Runny-.
1nede They were mot all John Lockcs
They used more ale than idnightg oil
No Museum Of Mental Relics.
s5sll5 or examine your first Constitution OF
this State. and you will find thai = before
the great men who framed that instrue
fment,5 commenced to formulate great di-
Visions OF government they set forth
the long recital of indivi dual rig hts and
thus framed I hat immortal document, the
EBil1Sof Rights. ~
mus, BY precedent at least. yor
were well justified in the selection OF
your course. hat nothing should bic re-
taired merely because of its antiquity.
and nothing rejected m erely because 1t
was OF later birth. "A Constitution should
not be a museum of mental relics, but
an aggregation OF principles for active
living forces, or of tical remedies for
existing wrongs of sufficient magnitude
ITO render their existence threatening to
the rights and the safety of the great
body Of the people;
You knew that9there existed In govern
Sments evils, and to governments dangers,
which no other Constitutional Convention
Sin this State had ever been called upon
TO consider. and against which to give
the people v proper prote ction Around
every legislative body there had grown
up a body Of men, who strove to debauch
it, and made the power Of legislation
dangerous. so strong had been that
body that they had received the designa-
ton OF the third estate.
RI 1T did not need the exposures In Mis-
souri,. Minnesota and Their States to prove
the infamy OF their existence nor II heir
tovershadowing danger to the State. You
knew that that evil was a canker, which
must be cut outsas fully as possib BILE from
the body polite, orSit meant the death
of government from internal rottenness.
..To remedy this you saw 1t was neces-
sary to Introduce restrictions upon the
Legislative power. You also saw that
there existed in this State the power OF
organized wealth. greater than the power
OF the State, for 1t did not hesitate to
lllS duC al - ASPoAN
Gnent OF the State, AS 1t had Its repre-
#scntatives in the legislative halls so It
Estrove as far as possible to have Its
jsympnthlZers among the judiciary. It's
danger did not come simply from Its
8seryitors but greatly from the support
of honest and pure men, who were led
by the false cry, DO not hamper bust
ness encourage enterprise. AS II buff
ness must be born in bribilng and eh-
gendcred by evl.E You recognize stikt
SO widespread was Its support,
that you could not count upon any perma-
snent relief from the Legislature,
IN Seeing this great evil. there was but
one thing to do, and that was to ignore
those who denied II, and fix In the Con-
5stitution some practical remedy. You
also knew that even in the field Of taxa
ton. the handnof this power was also
felt by the State. knowing this, you
saw TINT there WAS but ono remedy, and
that was. not to depend upon the Legis-
Slature, but to embody in the Constitution
IA guiding principle, OF course, along with
these great evils there We're many minor
wrongs which had existed, so long with