The Donaldsonville chief. [volume] (Donaldsonville, La.) 1871-current, 1916-09-23
THE PROPOSED AMENDMENTS.

Contrary TO the disposition ii 49,
fested I' hv : n ~ of our este
contem norar;as Of the Louisiana
to question the ability and willi1
Of at least > considerable propo
Of the citizens Of this state TO
understandingly on the elgnseeJr ,o
posed constitutional ame Il'
which are to be submitted 10 !lte
torate at the November electlon,
Chief believes it will be comp
lively easy matter for any Vo ,,a:Di
average intelligence to famlllarlze
himself with the measures suthclene-
" to qualify himself for judging thelr
respective merits or dement's, ana we
also believe that an adequate number
of such voters viii readily take the
little trouble necessary Tor tf'is put-
pose. a. e,,.t
place, that each Of the propositions
must have received at least a Two
thirds affirmative vote OF both houses
of the general assembly as prereq-
uisite for submission to the people.
AS a matter of fact, nearly, all the
eighteen acts comprising the pro-
uosed amendments were UNANIMOUSLY
approved by the state senate ana
house Of representatives be1ofe pelhg
signed by the lieutenant governor,
speaker of the house, governor ana
secretary of state, thus creating at
least reasonable presumption that
the changes contemplated in the or
oonic law are malicious and will be
promotive of the public interest II
carried into effect.
Another fachtending to facilitate
and simplify thNproblem OF sensing
the pending amendments SO as to vote
upon them properly is that SIX OF the
eighteen are purely local measures,
five applying to the city OF New Or
leans and one authorizing the fund
ing of the city debt of Shreveport.
With relation to these half-dozen
propositions the electors OF the re-
mainder of the state will be justified
in assuming that local needs and
community welfare prompted the
framing and support OF the measures
by the representatives of Orleans and
Caddo parishes, and that there is nc
good reason for running counter to
and trying to overcome the evident
sentiment and wishes of the Two corl-
munities affected by these measures
Of the twelve other amendments at
least six cover objects concerning
which there is not apt to be any ap'
preciable difference of opinion among
the people of the state, such as the IN
crease of pensions to Confederate
veterans, authorizing the funding OF
the penitentiary Indebtedness, requlr'
ing railroads and other public service
corporations organized under Louisl
ana laws to maintain general offices II
the state, exempting from taxatlor
barge. and steamship lines domlcllee
in louisiana and engaged in over
seas trade and commerce, and extend
IAng the powers of the railroad com
mission. -,
Thus there are only six of the
eighteen proposed amendments llkel!
to provoke general discussion or give
rise to much controversy, and 1T ougn
not to be difficult matter for an.
intelligent and public-spirited vote.
to familiarize himself with the pro
visions and purposes of these meas
ures and to make up his mind whethe
he should cast his ballot for or agains
them. We shall recur to this sub
iect next week and enumerate NOR
specifically the three groups int
which we have divided the pendlni
propositions.