The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1913-01-21
THE FEDERAL CONSTITUTION
DOES NOT FORBID IT

We missed the copy ol he Tampa
Times containing the artlci" which
takes issue with lie TELEGRAM as to
the le.al ri1At oi he people OF Flor
ida To- divide the State, but We see
enough OF il quoted in the Pensacola
News to catch he point. although W"
should have preferred to SEE the full
text of the article The Times would
be much obliged if the authority tina;
asserts that State division is as prac-
ticable as county division will tell
us how the process OF dividing would
or could be commenced. carried on
and completed There is no process
laid down in the constitution OF
either the United States or the state
OF Florida or in the statutes OF eth
err. AS for the people voting upon
it. the referendum is hot YET adopted
in Florida, ete
We are NOT awar. OF any author
iiy assumed by the Telegram in
what il said We merely expressed
an opinion in definite terms on a cur
rent matter OF press discussion, as
other papers ar. doin2 conspicu-
ously The Tampa Times and the
yelled sarcasm oi that paprY carries
EeItAer force nor meaning. The Pen
s;coa News has clearly answered
the Times on the point 4, issue anG
lett us only 70 look AT the subject
from another angle. We do not doubt
the lull right of the people OF Flor
ida the Legislature taking initia-
tive By submitting the issue 70 them
to vote on the question OF division
II is their inherent right, and the
fact that the referendum in its mod.
ern meaning has not yet been adopt
ed mas nothing to do with IT, The
people have been employing this
means OF registering their will on
State issues ever since the founda-
ton of the government, and the very
submission to them of the roferen-
dun amendment itself is an exercise
OF that inherent right Voting on
State division after the submission
OF the question to the people by the
Legislature would be but A similar
exercise of the same right and il is
a part Of our system of seli-eovern-
ment absolutely inalicnable.
The constitution Of Florida iorsn'
have to provide for or against State
division. and its silence on the oues-
tion certainly does not forbid il. hut
rather leaves the people to settle IN,
matter as they adopted the constitu-
ton itself by popular vote. Nor
does the constitution of the United
States forbid it, The people who
favor division are not now seeking ia
create new State in West Florid;,
within the jurisdiction of the oil
one. They merely want. first, to vot,
on the issue to see what the popula,
will is. and there is nothing in eth
er State or federal constitution NJ,
any statute to prohibit such express
sion of their wishes: and if the prop
osition carries. then the matter car
be taken to Congress, which has full
constitutional power to create TN,
new State. always provided that the
consent of the Legislature had been
obtained
Beyond any reasonable human
doubt the makers of the federal con-
stitutiOn in framing the section
which says that mo new State shall
be formed or erected within the jur-
isdiction of any other State: nor any
State be formed by the junction of
two or more States or parts OF States
without the consent of the leeisla-
lures Of the States concerned as well
az Congress" intended that this legis-
lative and congressional consent
should refer to and qualify the first
part of the sentence ending with a
semi-colon. as we'll as the last. The
rules of grammatical construction
and OF common sense and reason af-
firm it. To deny it is to put the
wise trainers of the constitution
who obviously and sensibly intended
to give Congress plenary power in
the matter. providing only for legis-
lative consent-in the irrational po-
sition of permitting the creation OF =
new State by the junction of two or
more old ones. and then arbitrarily.
without rhyme or reason. forbiddinr
the creating of a new State ont of
part OF an old one, when ii is easily