Tazewell Republican. [volume] (Tazewell, Va.) 1892-1919, 1906-03-08
THURSDAY, MARCH 8, 1906.
IS IA FAILURE ? YES.


press endeavored to extenuate or con-
ceal the perfdious conduct of the party
by declaring the Constitution to be the
most perfect and excellent written or
ganic law that had ever been framed.
Its many good features. mostly taken
from the Bill of Rights and former con-
stitutions, gave it the semblance of an
able though most vcluminous con-
stitution. But some of our Democratic
contemporaries and some reform politi-
clans are beginning to realize that with
in its ample. folds are concealed many
serpents that are commencing to sting
political friends as we'll as foes.
This Constitution has been in force
less than four years; but already we
hear numerous suggestions about need
ed amendments. More than one pro-
vision has been found inconsistent with
other provisions; and some have been
found singularly obnoxious to efficient
government and the public welfare.
There should, however, be no astonish-
ment felt over these discoveries, when
one stops to consider that the trainers
of the Constitution were actuated chief
ly by partisan spirit in all the work
they did.
Among the recent expressions of
doubt as to the excellence of the new
Constitution is one that came from that
level-headed Democratic journal, the
Petersburg Index-Appeal. In discuss
ing the cry raised by some of its con-
temporaries for legalizing primary cleo
tons, the Index-Appeal said:
'Legalize the primary! Shout many
of our contemporaries. Bah! What's
the sense in taking two bites at one
cherry by having two legalized elections
for one office? Was the Constitutional
Convention held in vain? Is the new
Constitution failure?'
This question of the Index-Appeal an
swers itself. The primary plan was
originated by the so-called reform poll
ticians under the leadership of Cover
nor Montague to GUST the machine or
ring politicians who followed the Mar
tin flag. But the followers of Senator
Martin were too smart for the Monta-
que reformers; and they used very eff
fectually the weapon of their adverse
ries to give crushing defeat to the re-
formers at the primary held in 1905.
Now the so-called reformers are clam
oring for legalizing the primary, so that
they may make further efforts, without
the expenditure of their private funds,
to defeat the machine. In other words,
they want to make the people pay for
two elections, two bites at the cherry,
instead of one. Then, the Constitution
is a failure, in that it has failed to ac-
complish the ends desired by the original
advocates of the F mary plan.
Further, the declared necessary rea-
sons for making new Constitution
were: to give the State a pure electo-
rate and honest elections, to curtail the
expenses Of State and County govern
mehts, to reduce the army of office
holders. to remove all possibility of
graft or corruption in the different de-
uartments, of the State government,
and bring about general reform in the
affairs of the Commonwealth.
AS to the pure electorate, it is evil
dent that the new Constitution has not
furnished one. The frauds at various
Democratic primaries and the numerous
assertions that both Democrats and Re-
publicans are using the poll tax prerequi-
site as a means for corrupting voters
prove that the electorate, though so over
whelmingly Democratic, remains very
impure; and that elections are still dis
honest. So the Constitution is failure
on these lines.
An examination of the last report of
the Auditor of Public Accounts discloses
the fact that the expenses of the State
government have been greatly enlarg-
ed, perhaps fifty per cent, since the
new Constitution was proclaimed. And
the records show that, instead of the
number of officers being reduced, new
Offices are constantly being created for
partisan members of the machine. In
these particulars the Constitution has
been a great failure.
AS to what the Constitution has ac-
x<l..had II, the wav of removing cor