New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-11-01
THE NEW CONSTITUTION
Political Progress Better Government Emphasized by Contributors
with a Variety Of Points of View

To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: 1t happens to have been my duty dur
ing the last five years to watch the progress
of efforts toward charter revision in numcr-
Gus American cities These fights are NINA
lures Of our present fight for the revised
constitution, and they exhibit the following
definite stages in the working Of the Ameri-
can mind:
| The simpler and modernized proposed char
ter is presented to the people, and is OBJ
| viously wholesale improvement on the old
| charter which is, by comparison, Anticipated
and incrusted with abuses. There Is lull
before the storm. Certain persons opposed
by temperament, class or politics 20 the crowd
that wrote the revised charter scan 1t eagerly
for talking points wherewith 20 damn II.
/ They always find them-no difficulty about
that. Charging the charter committee with
an insidious malevolence quite unknown ex-
cept in the hearts Of melodramstic villains
out they come with a fiery broadsde BE
hold, there is a fyspeck In Section 81. Sup
pose now we had Mayor some time in league
with the gas company" etc. zone OF the
beauties of any constructive instrument such
as a constitution or charter is the fact that
YOU can spin a perfectly wonderful sup
pose" out of every line OF ~
! Forthwith the attention Of the town
focuses on Section SO, and discussion RACES
as to whether there is really a fyspeck there
or not. II the existence of a fyspeck be
proven, the new charter is in grave peril, Tor
/ il never seems to occur TO anybody TO remark
that there are palpsble fyspecks all over the
old charter. The opposition never is com
peled 20 finish its argument and claim that
the old instrument is superior to the new"
The larger view, however, prevails In the enc
il the time for discussion is not too short
In recent days | have heard about twenty
men, whose motives ! cannot question ana
whose judgment I usually value. shouting
about fyspecks in the new consttution-and
every one of them has found different ny
speck! Some of them, In fact, have new
one each time I meet them.
The new constitution is, Of course, disap-
pointing 20 radicals who are making the mis-
take of not realizing that their quarrel IS
really with the people Of New York State
especially the upstate voters, who are very
conservative.
| Practical reformers have no easy optimism
II this revision is defeated, their plan will be
to avoid duplicating the expense OF labor
cusly educating a new set OF delegates and 70
begin heavy heartedly q process OF piece
meal legislative amendment on the basis OF
the wealth of information which this conyen-
ton collected in its committee hearings.
II was a conservative convention. They
had no social programme, no economic pro-
gramme. They stuck TO the hard, stupid
technical details of governmental organtzs-
ton. But within that refractory field they
did do a good job. They set up for the PEG
ple a strong, we'll knit governments better
~ IL ~ n .
anv state in the Union. They did it in the
name of mere efficiency and economy-dull,
unnspring, unimpassioned watchwords'
Alas, how many voters fail to see that for
the electorate to obtain q sharper weapon IS
! in itself a pregnant triumph for democracy
RICHARD s. CHILDS.
| Now York Oct 30, 1915.