Western Carolina Democrat and French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1913-1915, 1914-10-08
"4HE TEN AMENDMENTS LIKE
THE~TEN COMMANDMENTS,

In a recent issue F~airbrother,s
Everything" y
1ne Ten Amendments like the Ten
Commandments DO not seem to be
1ully understood,
1nls is no discredit to either the
commandments or the Amendments.
me history of the whole world shows
t1at IN tue beginning great measures
end great men have seldom been fully
understood.
indeed the statement puts the
Amendments in very best company and
that, by reason OF their origin and
n their own intrinsic merit, is a
~ where they belong.
Like the. Ten Commandments" the
e Amendments are promulgated by
the authority that is responsible for
well being of a people: and like he
commandments the Amendments are
designed to lead that people along new
paths OF wisdom and justice.
There is in these Amendments no
faint OF fanaticism. They are inten-
seIy practical measures brought for
ward by intensely practical men, mod
ern machinery devised to meet the de
mands of modern civilization.
The Amendments were born out of
the dir necessities that confront the
State. When the General Assembly OF
y met the conviction was profound
and universal that under the handicap
Of the present Constitution the State
could not go forward-indeed that 1t
could not meet the imperative require
mentS OF the present hour
Out Of this conviction grew the aD-
Eolntment OF the Constitutional Com
mission, which Commission was di-
rected to frame and report to the Gen
eral Assemly st a special session to be
thereafter held such changes in the
organic law as seemed necessary to
the welfare of the people.
This Commission was OF
men Of exceptional ability, of splendid
sanity and Of high patriotism. Their !
names constitute a tremendous argu-
hent in favor of the wisdom and JUS
t1ce Of their conclusions.
The names of these men are as fol-
lows: A. M. Scales, insurance man and
lawyer; j. w. Bailey, former editor Of
tie Biblical Recorder, lawyer and
United States Collector of Internal
Revenue; n. j. Rouse, lawyer, banker,
farmer; H. Q. Alexander, farmer.
president of the State Farmers Union;
d. Y. Cooper, cotton manufacturer,
banker, farmer; E. l.. Daughtridge,
farmer, merchant, LieutenGnt-Gov-
ernor; A. d. Ward, lawyer and farm
er; H. W.Stubbs, lawyer; T. M. Wash
lngton, farmer, tobacconist A. D. Iyie,
lawyer; A. T. Grant, lawyer; George
Conner, lawyer Speaker of the
of Representatives; E. J, JUS
tice lawyer, farmer; H. A. Page, farm
ey; w. A. Devin, lawyer, Chas. S. Wal
lace, fisherman, merchant; E. R. Woot-
en-, lawyer; r. R. Williams, lawyer,
and r. F. Haymore, lawyer and far
mer.
The report of this Constitutional
was given the widest pub
Lefty and when the Special Session of
1913 met, it must be presumed that
members of the General Assembly
knew all about this report and knew
sentient in regard thereto. The
Cequel supports the presumption, for
with his knowledge of public opinion
General Assembly did not "swal-
low whole" the report but subjected it
to the most rigid criticism. About
One-third of the report was utterly re-
jected and other features were subj
stantially amended. But after this
rigid criticism and this discriminating
consideration the amendments now
submitted to the people were adopted
the General Assembly by a practi-
2ally unanimous vote.
Out of the one hundred and twenty
members of the House of Representa-
ives only fourteen voted against these
amendments. This is probably the
nost remarkable vote ever received by
measures of such great Importance.
Later on we shall discuss the sever
Il amendments in detail and shall I'M
to show that each and every
me of them will promote the welfare
# the people. But in the very begin
ing the origin and the history of these
amendments make a powerful argu-
ient in their behalf, and place a heavy
of proof upon the a who
.ttempts to defeat them.-News and $