The united opinion. [volume] (Bradford, Vt.) 1881-1970, 1910-01-07

| ,OlIOWSs
"Section IA. The. votes and pro-
ceedings of the general assembly shall
be printed (when one third OF the
members of either house think it
necessary as soon as convenient af-
ter the end OF each session, with the
yeas and nays cf the house of repre-
sentatives on any question when re-
! quired by ten members, and OF the
senate when required by two sena-
! tors, Except where the votes shall be
taken by baIlot), in which case every
member of either house shall have a
right to Insert the reasons of his vote
upon the minutes"
The constitution now provides that
any one member of the general as
sembly (meaning at the time of the
adoption of the constitution the house
of representatives may require the
yeas and nays to be called upon any
question. This provision at times
has been abused 1t certainly invites
diliatory tactics and puts it within the
power of an individual member to I'M
reasonably retard the progress of
business. 1t is within common
knowledge that the yeas and nays are
often demanded for that purpose
alone.
There is only one other state which
gives one member that right, and that
is the state of Delaware, whose lower
house consists of only thirty five
members. Other states which have
any constitutional provision on the
subject require more than one member
or else some fraction of the mem
bership, like one-tenth, one sixth
or one-fifth. In the beginning
the membership of the house of repre-
sentatives was small and the right of
one member to demand the yeas and
nays then was a very different thing
from permitting it now.
The size of the house requires that
the right should appertain to GER
tain number of members instead of a
certain fraction of the membership;
otherwise, the determination of the
fraction would practically result in
making the same delay as the calling
of the yeas and nays itself.
PROPOSAL FIVE
That Section 20 of Chapter of the
Constitution be amended to read as
follows:
Section 20. No person ought in
any case, or in any time, to be de-
cared guilty of treason or felony, by
the legislature, nor to have his SEN
tence upon conviction for felony COM
muted, RENTED or mitigated by the
legislature"
And that Section II of Chapter
be amended by emitting the words
land murder" where they occur
therein.
Section II of Chapter 2, relating to
the powers of the executive, provides
that the governor shall have power !
to grant pardons and remit fines, in |
all cases whatsoever, except in trea-
son and murder; in which they Chez |
shall have power to grant reprieves,
but not to pardon, until after the end |
of the next session of the assembly; |
and except in cases of impeachment, |
in which there shall be no remission !
or mitigation Of punishment but by |
act of legislation. The inference is
drawn from the above that the power
to commute sentences for murder, |
which is withdrawn from the govern
or, was intended to be given to the |
general assembly, and the general as
sembly is accustomed to exercise that |
right, if not by inference from the
passage quoted, then under its unre-
stricted sovereign powers.
The right to extend mercy to a per-
son convicted of murder in the first
degree being withdrawn from the gov
ernor by the constitution, Section
1856 of the Public Statutes provides,
in order to permit the legislature to
extend such mercy If it chooses, that
mo person sentenced to suffer the
punishment of death shall be executed
previous to the first day of January
after the close of the session of the
general assembly following such SEN
tence."
The execution Of death sentence
is thereby usually postponed from one
to two years, and an appeal to the
legislature for Communication is practi-
cally always made. The attorneys
and friends OF the convicted man are
not considered to have exhausted his
defense until such an appeal is made
and strenuously pressed. The result
is that the case of every person con-
victed of murder in the first degree
must be threshed over in the legisla-
ture, and the evidence and proceed
ings are supposed to be reviewed and
reconsidered by large body, neither
trained nor intended for such work.
If the purpose of such review is to
see whether any mistake or error has
been made in the trial, that is purely
a judicial question and should apper-
tain finally to the supreme court. II
It be a question Of mercy, it is
principle common to all American con-
situations that such a question is ex-
acutiya and should anDprtafn IN the I