The commercial. (Union City, Tenn.) 190?-193?, 1915-12-03
REASONS FOR CHANGE IN
CONSTITUTION OF TENNESSEE
yBy James H. Malone, in Memphis
Commercial Appeal.)

The recent defeat before the peo-
pie in New York of the movement to
adopt a new constitution for that
State will bring genuine regret to
many persons not onlyin but outside
Of that State.
The debates in the convention were
able and exhaustive, and as they
covered subjects of the deepest inter-
est to citizens of all the States, they
were followed by all lovers of good
and enlightened government thruout
the union.
The event, however, brings before
Us the wisdom of the course adopted
by the Legislature in Tennessee by
which it is proposed to amend our
constitution. That is to say, the law
under which the people are to vote
in August, 1916, whether there shall
be constitutional convention in
Tennessee, provides that in case such
convention is called, then that con-
vention will not write an entirely
new constitution to be adopted or
rejected as whole, but on the con-
trary the convention will be empow-
cred only to formulate what, in it's
opinion, are proper amendments to
our present constitution. When this
has been done, then these proposed
amendments will be submitted to the
voters Of the State to be voted for
separately by each elector. If ma
jority votes for given amendment,
1T becomes automatically a part of
the constitution; if the majority is
against any amendment, then it falls
to the ground, and the proposal to
amend the organic law in that re-
spect is defeated.
Herein we have pure Democratic
rule, for it's brings each proposed
amendment home to each voter, who
is thus enabled to vote his own un-
trammeled views upon each propos-
ed amendment in such way as to al
low the widest possible discrimina-
tion which he may desire to exer-
else in voting for or against each
proposed amendment.
This is precisely what was done in
Ohio in 1912, for at the election held
in that year there were laid before
the voters of Ohio AZ proposed
amendments to their constitution, of
which 38 were ratified and adopted
by the people and four rejected.
Il. In 1874 the people of Ohio had re-
jected new constitution submitted
to them to be adopted or rejected as
whole, and the people did what the
people did in New York the other
day: that is, rejected it-and why?
Because they were opposed to one
feature of the new constitution with
respect to taxation; hence they de-
feated even the good amendments
Before the recent election in New
York some of their ablest papers and
writer's regretted that the vote could
not be had as it will be in Tennes-
see.
We are to-day living practically
under the constitution adopted in
1884; for while the present consti-
tuition was formulated in 1870, it is
we'll known fact that the main
purpose of having the convention
that year was to wipe from our or
ganic law all traces of slavery and to
enfranchise the negro so as to get
back fairly and squarely into the
union.
More changes have taken place in
every department of human activity
since 1884 than probably in 1000
years prior thereto, still Tennessee is
bound hand and foot in her swad-
ding clothes,
There will be differences of opin-
ion, of course, as to many of these
amendments, but so there were diff
ferences of opinion when the constl-
tuition of the United States was writ
ten, as well as the first constitution
of Tennessee. There were intellect
ual giants in those days, and certain
ly there is enough manhood and in
tellfgence left in Tennessee to cope
with the questions of that day; at
least to formulate amendments to the
organic law to be submitted for the
ratification or rejection of the peo-
pie.
Among many changes which will
be advocated the following may be
mentioned:
First-The jury law should be re-
formed so as to place the administraA
tion of the law, especially the GRIM
inal law, in the hands of those best
fitted to administer equal and i'm
partial justice. This is not now the
case.
Second-The Supreme Court should
not be compelled to iunket over the
state, but sit permanently at Nash
Vile where the court can have the