New-York tribune., 1915-07-10

PublishinE Company
The interest and value of Mr.. Dough
ertv's work are enhanced by inc l"V'
that the constitution Of New lorN 10
lust now undergoing revision al 'he
hands Of a Constitutional Convention
the seventh body of that sort TO meet
since New York became a sclf-govern.
inc commonwealth. The substance oi
this book appeared several years AZ
as Volume IL Of The Legal ana JudIe'"'
History Of New York edited oy JUS
tice Alden Chester, Of the state 81,
,,ror,e Court for the Third Judlc'ai
D;str;ct II has now been revised ana
ENLARGED by the author. and contains
oA1i.:oral chapters dealing direeCy
,yi,t certain Of the problems TO o'
sol-o6 nv tlis wears convention.
! reading of Mr. DouShertys oooN
,,nst greatly hccrten those who nave
faith in the steady, reasoned mSiT'
OF democracy. IL IS almost li"pOS''D'. 80,
Cor New Workers Of this geher"''O'
70 realize how monstrously uhue"o
cratic was the system OF government
cot IN bv our first constitution OHu'i
= tbero was no such thing as popular
,,,lo The state was an ohgarch!
whose control was vested IN very
small group of politicians Teprese"''"s
the landed interests. ...,n4
John Adams once wrote bitterly 'hA'
NJ. Work nolitics was the Devlls own
puzzle. He could not understand alIH
the statesmen of the other sections oI
tho Union could not underS'ah" NV
dominating role played here oy per
oorol and factional intrigue. ADAMS
o,n~essod his amazement that Ne"
VorL roliticians should attack one an
a.hor most scathingly in public ana o"
,,,,bli, questions, and then meet III
bact rooms and bargain with one an
-. o,,o~ the spoils OF. .othce.
Tho exclamation Of the puzzle was
.ha Docnliar system which lodged power
few hands and made the pursul..
Of patronage the chief occup".lo" -
most public men. The consti,u''o'. -
17-7 contemplated control OF the S'".o
bv tho land owners. 1t created Se"a'g
composed of freeholders, ana eleC.vu
-. froebolders alone. No treehoioer
Ia he an elector unless the Nalue
80 h;e holding equalled flOO ster!ihg
80 all debts charged against II.
IT, electorate for the Assembly con-
- of freeholders with sn interest
of 600 and lessees paying annual IeH'ai' a,
o,ooodirc 40 shillings. Freemen IN Al
Sanv and New York City were also
.r+;t,ed 70 vote for Assemblymen. lne
Governor was chosen by the eIec'oi"'''
which chose the Senate
pr.c+;callv all the other public ofhces
:, Tho state we're appointive, ana the
,,or If appointment and removal was
i.ostod IN a Council of Appointment
.s;e,in, Of the Governor and lour
constors ,tbe latter elected by the AS
son,blv). majority vote being re-
on;red 70 approve nomination or 10
a~dor removal. At first the Governor
,,.os sunposed to make all nominations
bnt ofter 1901 any member coulu SUD-
NIT names to the council.
A mower Of veto on legislation was
lodged in a Council Of Revision con con
.isting of the Governor the OhahCe'loi
and the Judges Of the Supreme Court
or arv TWO of the latter. A two-thlrds
,.o4o in each branch was necessary 10
override a veto by the council.
From 1777 to 1921, while this system
God nolitics here was largely a strug-
clio TO control the Council OF Appoint
o,o,t and through it the patronage
which grew very rapidly in proportion
"a the voting population. In 162O, with
census population Of 1,372,Sl2, the
total vote for Governor was 93,454'
Rut the number of Offices IN the gh'
Of the council was 1880. II each ap-
ro;ntee could control two others voters
The oficeholders would virtually con-
stitute a voting plurality.
The War of 1912 broke down TINS
cicious system, since the state was
comnelled to ask nOn-voters IN large
numbers 10 DO its fighting and after
the war these lighters could not well
be kent off the list Of qualified electors
In probablv no other free state IN the
Union was there so non-democrauc a
concentration of power IN the hands OF
the political representatives OF sIlali
class. Our government up to 1871 was
wonderful model OF the indirect or
delegated system Of control, whlch
MANY looking-backward statesmen are
inclined TO praise as truly representa-
tive" and protective Of minorltles
against majoritics. 1t protected very
small minority against the rest OF the
nublic. which had TO look on while the
minority made the laws and distributed
the Offices. Possibly it is still the
historical ideal Of some of the cham
mons of Representative government
who sit in the present convention
haunted by the fear that American IN
stitutions cannot survive much longer
If free field is offered for the de-
velopment of democratic instincts and
a democratic spirit.
II would be interesting TO follow Mr..
Dougherty's graphic and thoroughly
readable account of the changes made
in our organic law by the six conyen-
tions held since 1777. But space for
bids. and each reader can consult the
narrative for himself. The suggestions
of change which the author offers for
the benefit of the present convention
have a greater immediate value.
Mr.. DougheTty is right in calling at
tention TO the scandal of the Sulzer
impeachment, Of which he says that Ii
chad no great inspiration" and that
"its origin was probably vindictive.
The author also holds that the vote Tor
Sulzer for Governor in 1914 proves
the existence Of strong and perhaps
iustifable public belief that, notwlth-
standing his serious faults, he was
marked for punishment because Of the
Il.