St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1910-01-12
must be elected by the people.
(Amend. Art. 14.)

NAuGuQs All. IA.
IL. 1t provides In one part of the
section that they may prepare bills
and enact them into laws, in anoth-
er that they may grant charters and
In still another that they shall have
all other powers necessary for the
legislature of a free and sovereign
state. They now can do these things
and have legislative powers only in
concurrence with the senate
(Amend. Art. 3D.
The result is that if one turns to
Section to see what the powers OF
the house of representatives are he
Will find that it states them incor-
rectly in at least eleven particulars;
nor can he ascertain what the true
sense of Section at present is until
he has carefully studied the same in
connection with ten different amend
ments. The courts and the bar can of
course determine what the constitu-
tional provision on a given point may
be, although some provisions by this
system of amendments have been left
obscure; but to the average layman
Chapter 2 of the constitution and its
amendments abound in inconsistent
cies, and in parts are unintelligible
to those who are not trained in de-
termining whether one provision tech
nically supersedes another OF is re-
pugnant thereto.
which ought to be the simplest and
most easily understood of all, has by
the process of years become the most
complicated. AS a handbook for stu
dents, and surely an acquaintance
with the constitution of our state
ought to be a part of the education oil
at least every high school student, il
is most unsatisfactory
In the last fifty years we have beer
compelled to rewrite our public stat
utes four times, in 1862, 1886, 1894
and 1906, simply for the purpose OF
conveniently and logically writing into
the statutes the amendments then
existing. The same considera-
tons which make that desirable
statutes make it even more desir-
able and necessary in the case of the
constitution.
The draft submitted is intended tc
be simple expression Of the chapter
with its amendments as it in fact now
is, preserving SO far as possible its
archaic language, but rearranging the
order Of sections so as to group to-
gether those which relate to one sub
1ect.
CONCLUSION
We recognize that the foregoing
proposals will undoubtedly seem t.
some to go too far and to others moi
~ recommend them to the careful
consideration of the next Legislature
and of the people Of the state. There
Is ground for honest difference OF
opinion as to some of the details Of
the present plan of government. There
are some incongruities which if the
constitution were being generally re.
vised it would probably be though
best to remove; and there are othel
safeguards than those we have recon.
mended being introduced into the
constitutions of other states which
might perhaps profitably be brough
into our own. We have not, how.
ever, thought it best to propose tot
much.
In the first place, although TIT
wording of the resolution is broat
enough to permit us to make any pro
posals we choose, in fact its spiri
did not contemplate that we were tt
attempt any general revision of thu
constitution. A general revision
should be the work, if not of con
gtttutional convention, at least of
commission of general and very repre-
sentative character and embody thu
result of full, deliberate and opel
public discussion.
In the next place, we are not per
suaded that there is in fact at thu
present time and under present con
ditfons a necessity for any such gen
era1 revision. If the time lock claus,
is eliminated (see Proposal One) ant
the possibility exists of initiating
amendments at any session of tn
legislature, the discussion of consti
tutional questions will be encouraged
and whenever the people desire gen
eral revision or a radical change it will
be manifested in some plain way.
To shorten this report, and for tn
purpose Of the report only, the form
of the proposal is in some cases in
.dicated without actually reprinting il
full the section as proposed to b.
amended. II the proposals or any o
them are approved by the Legislature
they should express the sections in full
as amended, in the way now mos
commonly accepted for the expression
Of any amendment either to constitu
tons or statutes. In that way an.
amendments adopted can be inserte'
in their proper place without bein,
left to be interpreted in, and the diff
flculty In that regard with the presen