Herald and news. [volume] (West Randolph, Vt.) 1878-1943, 1910-02-10

ne votes and IRA,
ceedinss Of the general asssrbl,, ~ ~,
he printed when one-thir :, h.
members Of either house tsi,,
necessary as soon as convesis,s -
ter the esd Of each seasion gits a.
yeas and nays Of the house CT 49,.
sentatises on any question whs, !,
CURED by ten members. ard ., :.
senate when required by two sea-,
tors, texcept where the votse sh,ns
taken BY BALLOT, in which case ,y.,'
member Of either house shall hsv,
right TO insert the reasons Of his ~.
upon the minutes"
The constitution now provides tb,,
any one member Of the general j
sembly (meaning at the time az n,
adoption Of the constitution the b,g..
OF representatives. may require ~
yeas and nays to be called upob an
question. This provision al time,
has been abused. 1t certainly invites
diliatory tactics and puts II within inc
power OF an individual member 10 nm.
reasonably retard the progress ~
business. II is within comm.
knowledge that the yeas and pays Az
often demanded for that purpos
alone.
There is only one other state which
gives one member that right. and Ina,
is the state OF Delaware. whose lover
house consists OF only thirty.hye
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-slrth
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 very different thing
from permitting 1t now.
The size OF the house requires that
the right should appertain to a Ger.
tain number Of members instead Of
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 2 Of the
Constitution be amended to read as
follows:
"Seetlon 20. No person ought In
any case, or In any time, to be De.
elared guilty Of treason or felony, by
the legislature, nor to have his sen.
tenee upon conviction for felony com.
muted, RENTED or mltigated by the
legislature.
And that Section II Of Chapter 2
be amended by emitting the words
"and 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 lhel
shall have power TO grant reprieyes,
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
OF, was intended TO be given to the
general assembly, and the general as
sembly is accustomed to exercise tha
right, II not by inference from the
passage quoted. then under It's unre-
stricted sovereign powers.
The right TO extend mercy to a per-
son convicted OF murder in the hrs'
degree being withdrawn from the gov
ernor by the constitution, Section
1866 OF the Public Statutes provides
in order to permit the Legislature 70
extend such mercy II It chooses, thai
no 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 executions OF a death sentence
is thereby usually postponed from one
to two years, and an appeal to the
legislature for Communication Is pracu-
cally always made. The attorneys
and friends of the convicted man are
not considered to have exhausted ms
defense until such an appeal Is made
and strenuously pressed. The resui'
is that the case of every person con-
victed OF murder In the first degree
must be threshed over in the legisia-
ture, and the evidence and proceed
ings are supposed to be reviewed ana
reconsidered by a large body, neither
trained nor intended for such work
II the purpose of such review is To
see whether any mistake or error mas
been made in the trial, that is purely
a judicial question and should apper
tain finally to the supreme court. il
IL be a question Of mercy, Il Is
principle common TO all American con
81 & a.