faltering steps will permit is my sincere conviction. Whether he will succeed no one of course can say. But his success in what he has attempted to accomplish in the past is certainly a happy augury for the future. One reason for this success is to be found in the fact that as a practical statesman he is convinced that the constitution of China must be adapted to the needs and conditions of the country. (38) THE PROBLEMS OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION 1 ALBERT SHAW Editor of the American Review of Reviews, Vice President of the T has been decided by the people of the state of New York that the time has arrived for a scrutiny of the state's or ganic law, with a view to such changes as may be found desirable to meet present-day needs. It is contemplated that a constitutional convention shall be elected every twenty years in this state, and that this body shall meet for some weeks or months of study and work. The result of its labors will be submitted to the people for their acceptance or rejection. Meanwhile, there may be submitted by the legislature at any time, for acceptance or rejection at any general election, such propositions for constitutional change as may be thought desirable. In this manner, taking all the state constitutions under survey, the process of change is going on unceasingly throughout the country. Since the present constitution of 1894 was accepted by the people of New York, many amendments have been submitted, some of which have been adopted by popular vote and others rejected. Recent New State Constitutions Since 1894 the four new states of Utah, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Arizona have been admitted to the Union with constitutions accepted by the President and Congress. A number of the forty-eight commonwealths have made and adopted constitutions during the past twenty years. Hundreds of amendments, furthermore, have been proposed and adopted, some of them bringing about important changes in the principles and methods of state government, while others go far 1Introductory address as presiding officer at the meeting of the Academy of Political Science, November 19, 1914. toward recasting the social and institutional life of particular states. Taking the process as a whole, it is to be praised for its freedom and elasticity, on the one hand, and for its conservatism upon the other. Thus, at the state elections held in the present month, seven commonwealths voted on the proposition to extend full suffrage to women, two of which adopted the proposal as submitted by the legislature, while five rejected it. Six states voted on the proposition to prohibit the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors, with the result that four adopted the proposal and two rejected it. Such changes in the organic law, expressed in a very few words, mean profound alterations in the customs and institutions of extensive regions of our country. Simplify but Safeguard Constitutional Changes It is generally agreed among Americans that questions at once so fundamental and so simple should be decided by the citizen body acting directly. It is also the common view that the process should be deliberate, so that no proposal of change should come before the people until it has been carefully thought out, has gained the support of an ascertained and fairly important element of the citizenship, and can be presented to the voters under circumstances which make it possible for them to give it their attention. Two or three things, therefore, are to be borne in mind. First, that special and striking innovations are likely to come up for separate action, from time to time, and not to await the study of a convention that is called together not oftener than once in twenty years. Second, the convention will presumably be cautious in the matter of recommending a series of revolutionary changes in the governing methods and social life of the state; while, third, it will properly give much attention to the harmonious and effective working of the mechanisms of law and government. In short, it will endeavor to make the constitution fit the needs and conditions of life as it is, rather than to build a wholly new constitution, intended to usher us into a new period of life, as hopeful and ardent reformers conceive that our modern life ought to be. We Should Separate State from National Elections Thus, as respects this very topic of the amending of the constitution, the convention should study carefully in order to find the best means by which to enable the people from time to time to reach intelligent conclusions under suitable conditions. Constitutional amendments ought not to be voted upon without being fully understood. They ought not to be voted upon in the moment when, for example, an exciting presidential election absorbs the minds of the citizens, stimulates party feeling, and subordinates the state and its affairs to the nation and its affairs. The "federative balance," though delicate, is practical and of inestimable value. It means that in the very nature of the case the citizen is a nationalist as respects all that the nation can best regulate and control, while he is a state's rights' man in regard to all that can be best carried on by the particular states. Thus, in so far as possible the citizen should not be compelled to deal with national, state, and municipal questions and elections on the same day and in the same moment when he enters the voting booth. This principle has already been recognized by the constitution-makers of the state of New York in relation to certain municipal elections. But when, two years ago this month, there occurred an exciting presidential election, the voters of New York were obliged on the same day to cast their ballots for presidential electors, members of Congress, a governor and full state ticket, together with the members of the legislature -besides which several constitutional amendments were submitted! It was impossible under those circumstances to give such attention to the governmental affairs of this great commonwealth as the conditions required. The New York City Election as an Example By way of contrast, thanks to a previous change in the state constitution, there was held in 1913 a great municipal election in the metropolis of New York, involving the welfare of five million people, under circumstances which made it possible to give full and concentrated attention to the affairs of the municipal corporation. A citizens' ticket, having only slight relationship to political parties, was agreed upon and duly elected. This separation of municipal elections in cities of the first and second class, with a view to more efficient city government, had been brought before the leaders of public opinion and then submitted to the voters, with results that have been highly gratifying. The affairs of the state, including the election of a governor, state ticket, and legislature—and, even more importantly, the election of all the members of the constitutional convention-came up for action at the polls on the third day of the present month. But it happened that on that same day the voters of the United States were engaged in the serious business of determining the party complexion of the law-making body at the seat of national government. They were electing an entire House of Representatives, and by popular vote they were filling one-third of the seats of the United States Senate. The President and the Administration had declared that the election involved the question of a vote of confidence in the national government, at a time when the most vital questions of domestic and foreign policy were under consideration. It would seem as if the people of New York at such a time ought to have voted for United States Senator and members of Congress, and not to have dealt with state questions. The political issues involved in voting for United States Senator and state governor are widely different. Now that the legislature is relieved of the duty of choosing the United States Senator, it becomes free to devote its undivided attention to state affairs. I hold, therefore, that the constitutional convention ought seriously to consider whether the state elections, like the municipal, should not henceforth be held in the "odd" years. We shall always be electing Presidents, Senators, and Congressmen in the "even" years. The time has come for demanding that our state govern |