Omaha daily bee., 1919-11-30
Vaews and Reviews,
Constitutional Amendm ents|
. Proposed, ADOPTED, Rejected

Proposed, Adopted, Rejected
My reference to previous attempts to revise
| mission Of specific amendments for the ratifca-
ton Of the people in my story. Of how the state
got its present constitution, has evoked several
| inquiries for more information on this subject
There. have been Of course many proposed
amendments that failed to receive the sanction
| OF the legislature and never reached the stage
| Of approval Or rejection At the polls. but the
changes incorporated i'm submitted amendments.
whether successful or unsuccessful, indicate IN
q way the parts OF the constitution that have not
worked we'll or that have not proved wholly
satisfactory and that WILL in ali probability, de-
mand further attention from the coming con-
vention. casss = aEsS s+
The first time constitutional amendment
was voted on in Nebraska the object Of the
proposal was to extend the suffrage to women.
This brought about the famous suffrage cam.
paign of 1882 when the hustings were overrun
with all the most noted equal suffrage advo-
threshed out in joint debate with more or less
acrimony on both sides. When the ballots were
counted there were 50,693 votes against woman
suffrage and only 25,756 for it, out OF total
vote Of S9,o6s. To carry. the proposition would
have had to score majority of all the votes
cast, based on the legislative returns, and it
was clearly showed under by nearly two b
one so no further ado was raised !
To years later. two more amendments were
proposed, both of which fell by the wayside. Ac-
cording to the original constitution Of 1876 the
body was to be at the rate Of s. 1 day, with
mileage at 10 cents mile. To make the job
more attractive the section was to be revised
TO fix salary of $500 with session Of not less
than 90 days. It was likewise proposed to
missioners The. salary amendment scored
sl,o5o votes as against 1896, but nowhere near
the requisite majority OF the total vote Of 1885,
SIS, while the railway commission amendment
was decisively defeated. ~
1t is trite saying that perseverance will
ately resubnitted by the next legislature, with
slight variations. This. time the lawmakers
were to be entitled to S. day for a session
Of not more than 90 days, with definite limit
to total of 100 days. The canvass Of the re-
against, yet considerably short Of the major
ity of the 1928 put down in the total vote
column. How it was done I cannot say with
exactness, but the legislature managed to
work out recount which unearthed 6,785
the shuttle, and declared the amendment car
ried. At any rate, it stood, and what was de-
noutced at the time as bold "salary-grab" was
successfully put over.
- d = e.
y. In 1890 came the big fight over consttu-
tional prohibition. The issue turned ia fact,
upon two separate and distinct amendments
submitted by the legislature; one for COM
plete prohibition and the other for high IL
cense. Two other amendments submitted at
the same time would enlarge the supreme
court court to bench Of five Judges with hve.year
Of these propositions achieved ratification |
Prohibition was beaten by vote of Hips !
to SZ,29Z, and license by vote OF 81 ,O84 to
1890. Both the judiciary proposals showed
up substantial majorites in the votes. cast
t Span them but less than majority Of the
In 1892 two more amendments poled pre-
ponderant votes, yet short Of the constitu- !
tional demand. One Of them would create an
elective railway commission and the other |
for. the permanent school funds, then limited |
to bonds Of the United States and the states. |
- The most pretentious and comprehensive |
effort to revise the constitution was made by !
the Legislature that submitted twelve amend |
ments to Be voted on in 1896. Most Of these !
proposals., related to the judiciary, increasing
judicial SALARIES, providing for intermediate |
courts, authorizing the legislature to increase
the number 5of Judges from time to time, per-
hitting the fve.six jury verdict in civil ac-
TONS n
/, Fixing the salaries Of executive state
officers was to be within the province Of the
Legislature, though not to be changed oftener 7
than once III four years. A state railway. com I
mission was to be created and 4 way provided !
for increasing the number Of other state Off
GERS. One Of these tWelvAs amendments re-
lated to the investment Of the school funds,
another to the merger Of city and county gov
ernnltnts in counties containing city of the I
metropolitan class, another to the use of
mechanical voting devices, and another to sub
sides to works of internal improvements and |
manufactures. Again none of, these amend
ments carried with the t1eedfu constitutional i
majority, although all had majorities of the I
that set Of judges had been cchtinsently
chosen in the same election to fill the new i'd
dicial Offices sought to be created. Following /
the precedent. Of the recount once before re- I
sorted to, the Legislature tried to save these T
Judges by similar procedure, The re-counters
finding 1865 new Affirmative votes se's onl E to
throw. up the job without pulling any of the
amendments over the line.
( An internission followed until 1904, when
an attempt was made to change the method
OF changing the constitution and get away
from the necessity of a majority of the total |
vote, but this, too, failed and the next move
was the introduction of the party-circle device
which have already explained and by which |
the ratification sof all subsequently-adopted
amendments was secured. Thus III 1906 the
railway commission was at last constitution
ally established In 1908 the supreme court
was enlarged, the judicial. terms extended, the
judicial salaries raised and the school fund in
vestment safeguarded. In 1910 full Amer
withstandng its endorsement by both political |
parties. In 1912 the f,arfv-circje VOTE carried