Evening star., 1924-06-23
Why the Rhode Island
Senate Is Deadlocked

10 the Editor OF The Star:
As native born Rhode Islander
have been very much interested in
reading the accounts of the trouble
in the state Senate as published in
your paper. but it seems to me thai
all of the newspapers outside of thc
state have missed one point that is
vital. which is the present constitu-
tion of the state and the metnods
provided therein for amendments
Rhode Island is the only state In
the Union which still retains the
property qualification for voters Tn
der the constitution the great mass
of voters can cast their ballots FOR
all state officers, for representatives.
and senator's in the national Con
gress and for school committee pro
viding that they have registered be-
fore June so preceding the election.
This registration must be made every
Two years or the voter Is disqualified
To vote for aldermen and council
men in the cities Cthe officials hav-
ing power TO fix the tax rateD or to
participate in financial town meeting
in the towns the voter must have a.
least s134 Of real estate or $500 Of
personal property. This provision Is
one of the planks that the Democrats
have stood upon for years and de
clared that il must be changed.
Then the matter of representation
in the General Assembly is another
point that the two parties have
fought over for years. Due TO the
size of the state, with its 604,3e7 peo-
pie contained in LAS square miles. of
which only 1.06o mi:es are land, it is
the most denSely populated of all
states in the Union. Still there are
large tracts of land that are sparsely
settled. for 81 per cent OF the popula-
tion is urban, 237.5e5 Of these living
in the CITY OF Providence
The state Senate, where the storm
center lies, is composed OF one sena-
tor from every city and town in the
state. SO in all Thus the senator
from West Greenwich, with a popula-
tion OF about 400. has the same vote
as the senator from Providence Ia
the House representa- tion is divide Il
by population. except that it is pro
shall have only p of the 100 repre-
sentativeS. and that every city and
town shall have at least one This
provision was made In order that no
section of the state should be with
out representation and so that Proyi-
dencc should not dominate the rest
Of the state.
There "re other provisions of the
conStitu' H. such as election of
judges By both houses of the General
tee, that the Democrats want changed
and they are seeking to bring this
about by means OF the constitutional
convention.
Unfortunately for them, the present
| constitution provides that the method
F. OF amendment shall be by the General
| Assembly passing the am mendments
with a two-thirds vote in each house
| at one session. after which the
! changes must lie over until another
| session of the Genera; Assembly and
| be passed then by two-thirds. After
that they must be submitted to the
] people at the next election and re
| ceive the votes of three fifths OF those
! participating in this election. 1t has
usually been the custom TO have A
| special election called. due to the fact
| that at a general election so many
voters fail TO vote on any but candi-
| dates for office, it has been felt that
proper attention could not be given
| to important amendments.
The supreme court of Rhode Island
| has ruled that, as a constitutional |
| convention is not specifically named
| in the constitution as q means for
amendment, such a convention is il
| legal and cannot be binding.
| For the first time since the civil
| war the Democrats are practically in
control of the state government They
! lack majority in the Senate, but,
| with the presiding officer a Democrat,
! they can block any move by the Re
publicans to transact business, as
| long as the presiding officer carries
out his aVoWed intention OF not rec
ognizing a Republican until the con-
| stitutional convention bill is passed
The fight really comes down TO the
| same battle that was fought out in
| Boston in 1919 when the policeme n
went on strike: the issue of law ano
! order is at stake. The Lieutenant
governor has set himself up as die
tator of the state. He has establish
ed censorship of the press, for the re-
porters of the Providence Journal art
not allowed inside the Senate cham
| Der until they will agree TO submit
all stories 10 him in advance of pub
location and then delete all that hs
, disapproves of in their copy.
CHARLES +. STARK. Ig.