Rensselaer Gazette, Volume 3, Number 21, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 14 September 1859 — CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION. [ARTICLE]

CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION.

[Aii Indiana correspondent of. the Cincinnati Gazette, says:] The time is approaching when, as citizens of Indiana, we shall be required to xpress, by a viva voce vote, our preference as to the method of amending our Constitution. The conviction of the necessity of some correction of that instrument is well nigh universal. The experience of a sev.on years’; trial is probably sufficient to show thatsome portions of it should be materially changed,; others rendered more definite and explxit, otnmissions supplied and deficiencies supplemented. It is perhaps a happy circumstance that we are called to the con ideration of this important question at a time when there will be little or no occasion for the intrusion of party p jlitics to bias our judgment, or divert attention from the intrinsic merits of the case. There is no general election, hearing on either State or N ition.il policy,' to engross the minds of ou? citizens. The question we are called to decide, rises above nil such consideration. Partisan politics lias no r ght to intrude its dictates or utter its shibboleths in the matter. The revision aid perfecting the Fundi.men'al Law, on which nr poliiica! structure must. rest, and by

which the movements of our governmental machinery may be so readjusled as to lessen some of the friction of the last seven yea re, is a question'that concerns every citized, irrespective of his party relations. There may he honest d fferences of opin- | ion relative to the policy to be adopted in the administration of the government, and * a corresponding preference of the men who j shall serv„ the people in an official capacity, j hut there can be no essential diversity of ; opinion in reference to the channel through which the v dee of the people shall be exI p-cssed. the manner in which their vvi'l shall I be executed, and the wisdom and impartiali- ! ty with which justice shall be dispensed. : All are equally interested in the preserva--5 lion of the elective f-unchise, the diffusion j ot knowledge, the suppression of vice, and : the prevalence of virtue. Whatever perils | such interests, strikes at the very root of national prosperty and permanence, and undermines the inundation of individual security and progress. It s therefore to be hoped | th it every one will go to the polls next OcI tober, and express his view's on the questi m ! of the method of revising our Constitution, ! ontrammeled by party fealty and uninflu- ; enced by partisan considerations. The simple question for all to consider and ; determine is, Shall the amendments, tha’ ' experience has shown to be d si able and ; necessary be made by a Convention, called | for that special purpose, or by th • Logisla- | tore proposing special amendments for the j consideration of the succeeding General As- | sembly, which, if approved by them, shall be submitted to the electors, as the Constitution provides. These are the two methods bv which our Fundamental Liw can be amended. The Constitution contemplates that its imperfections sfiall be eliminated by the latter mode. The Legislature has chosen the former method. The one is constitutional, the oth- | er is extra-constitutional but not unconsti- | tutional. Toe latter is the more prompt and ! effective way of accomplishing the object, | and for that reason, was probably adopted : by the last Legislature; the former.is the ! more protracted and less efficient. The evils sought to be corrected can be reached ! and removed by a Convention in season to ; relieve the Legislature of 1861, while, under | existing cii cumstances, such relief, by the | method suggested by the Constitution, could ; not he realized till 1365, for nothin'? could ! . n be done till the Legislature of 1861 should agree upon and propose specific amendments for the consideration of the Legislature of 1363. Should they concur and submit said amendments to the electors, and these .corrections become a part of the Constitution, there could be no legislation under their authority till the session of 1865. Whether the Legislature adopted the ex-tra-constitutional mode of relief, from a conviction o; the inherent, difficulty of getting all the desired corrections embodied into specific amendments without disturbing the consistency and symmetry of the instrument, and also from a desire to reach and remedy the evils more effectually and at an earlier dale; or from a disinclination to assume the responsibility and labor of amending our Fundamental I,aw in the way qmivided by the Constitution, is not the question now : claiming our consideration. Either or till of them, might perhaps bo sufficient justification of their course. Many doubtless would have preferred the constitutional to the extra constitutional method iu amendment, under the impression that but a very few points needed correction, t and that these could be considered end acted Tupon by the people as intelligently from legislative as a constitutional revision and submission. Birt the quest on of that that mode of amendment has no been submitted to our decision, and we have not !he ' opportunity of directly expressing our prefer- ' once between it and it alternative. As the Legislature choses to devolve the task and responsibility of the desired revision on a Convention, if the people wishe. to change their Fundamental Law, for reasons doubtless satisfactory to themselves, the whole matter resolves itself into this question, Shall we have a thorough revision, with all the care and wisdom of a Conventi >n, in 1860, or a partial correction of existing evils by the constitutional method in 1865! If necessiy . demands that divers amende ents of the Constitution should be mad at an earlier date, then we are shut up to the alternative of either ciid„ring the aforesaid 1 evils for five years longer, fir adopting the constitutional method of correction. Interests of varied character, already suffering through the imperfections of the present Constitution, are too numerous and vital to admit of such delay. Under the circumstances it would seem that there should be but one opinion. Preference of methods must

give way to the stern demands of the public interest and general welfare. It iu doubtless the universal desire that this revision should be as careful, thorough and symmetrical as wisdom and experience can make it. Leaving out of account, for the present, the difference of date in reach* ing the desired result by the aforesaid methods, let us consider the comparative probability that the conventional will be both the wiser and more economical than the constitutional mode. Is it not reasonable to suppose that a Convention, elected for this sole and specific purpose, would embody as large an amount of wisdom and experience, to say the least, as any ordinary legislative body, and consequently be as well, if not better fitted to give completeness and consistency to the revision than the latter, charged with | other w eighty duties, burdened with other responsibilities, and compelled, by biennial and limited sessions, to dispatch business with more or less haste! To accomplish this will take time as well as wisdom. Which body will probably be the most limited in time for due deliberation as well as efficient in the requisit experience! It is evident that the task of a judicious revision is much more difficult and delicate, by specific and isolated amendments, than by that method which will admit of correction and adjustment by the omission of a word or phrase here, and the substitution of a clause there. The incongruity, as well as the peril, of putting a piece of new cloth on an old garment is rendered still more obvious by the i l rutted fact tnat the rents in our con* stAu.ionai r e, art both numerous and various. The difference of expense between c Legislative and Conventional method of revision, taking into account the probable character of the amendments by both meth- ! ods is more than compensated, even pecuniarily considered, by the more speedy and thmough correction of evils now periling 1 interests, whose value ond importance can Ibe but poorly represented by figures, and , feebly set forth in language. What are tbe I few thousands of dollars of additional ex- ; pense of a Convention compared with the gross injus'ice d ne to our youth in the single item of education! There can be no adeiquate pecuniary representation of'the demoralizing effect of the present state of our educational affairs. Thousands who ought or would have been in school nine or ten months in the year, are now turned into the street- for at least three-lourtha of the year, i Whether the cause of this disastrous result ! be in the Constitution or the Legislature, there is but little hope and less expectation that the evil will be effectually remedied till the utterances of our Fundamental Law are more specific, definite and imperative. The commonwealth would suffer more by the five additional years of educational famine in jour borders, (who does r.ot shudder at the | the very thought of its possibility, to say noI thing of its absolute certainty, if nothing is | done to avert the danger,) than thrice the i amount of the aforesaid extra thousands, i The entire cost of the proposed Constitutional Convention would not be equal to one i year’s interest on the money raised by the townships and cities of Indiana, for building school-houses, during the last lour years, in the confident expectation that the State would furnish adequate funds, directly, for at least six months’ school for the masses, and tolerate local supplements for any additional periods. Who can fail to see that this 1,396,596 invested in school structures ia already depreciated stock, and destined ton | still lower descent, if no constitutional pro--1 vision is made to restore it to its par value! Which would the people prefer, the neceisary expense of a prompt and thorough revision of the Constitution, which should rebuke legislative unfaithfulness and place a i seven months’ school annually, in all our rural townships, beyond the power of cravenhearted politicians to disturb, and the self--1 isiiness of those who would fain have every j dollar of school-tax they paid, returned to ' their own county, if not lo their own township or district, or the loss and depreciation jof school-house investments consequent on the continuance of the existing state of things! There can be but one answer to the foregoing interrogatives, and the convicion ol these facts needs only a lodgment in the nrnds of the- masses to secure such a ! response at the ballot-box n xt October, as : will forever iuib*-d that provision in tiie fun- ! daiiiental law ui Indiana, j Experience suggests both the propriety j and wisdom of giving definite expression to I the constitutional pledges, the extent, imj port and value of which the people are as competent to apprecate as their representatives, and ’hus forestalling the uncertainties and delay of legislation. Why should the first article ol our Constitution set forth.ihe civil rights, privileges and immunities guaranteed to adults, which no subsequent legislation cun either lessen or impare, in the slightest degree, while the edueejjonal rights and privileges of minor citizens sre left to the contingencies legislation! If he people, in their Fundamental Law, intend to make adequate provision lor the education of their youth, without distinction of condition or social position, then let it be definitely stated. If seven months annually meets the wants of the masses Why nos »ay so, and not leave it to be realized, if ever, after the lapse of years of legialautixe conflict! If tbe people wish the elective fran-

chise to be bo guarded that it can be neither periled nor perverted, then let them say, in their Constitution, definitely how lons a residence in a corporation entitles an individual to the right of voting. All. without distinction of party, would say that the period should be long enough, at least, for some of his fellow-citizens to be acquainted with his local habitation and name. Such a constitutional provision would effectually guard the ballot-box and arrest evils, whose demoralizing effects every good citizen, without respect to party, must deplore. We have never been able to perceive either the wisdom, justice or democinev of disfranchising a citizen, so far as to render him ineligible to certain pffir.es, even i th“ people wish him to fill it, after the eyoirati-*n of one term or more of service. Why should the community be deprived o' the benefit of the knowledge and experience of any citizen because he had served the public a given number of years in some particular (Official capacity ! -The absurdity of the exclusion is bo m nifest and the injustice is so gross, that '.we hope all traces of such disfranchisement will disappear from our revised Constitution; There are divers other portions of otir present Constitution that need revising—some by supplementary actions, and others by more full and explicit provisions. Some (require expansion, specific and definite, others demand stern and rigid limitation. It jeould be improved, in important par iculars, by slight omissions, verbal supplements and the incorporation of a few original powers, (evidently overlooked in former revision, the want of which has so often greatly embarrassed legislation, and brought judicial and (legislative opinions in conflict. Leaving the consideration of *ll others to those more (Conversant with their particular infelicities, we shall confine our remarks, in a subsequent article, to the Educational features of the present Constitution, and suggest some •amendments that would render that article of our Fundamental Law more definite, effective and mandatory. One or the People.