Yea-Sayers

In 1915, delegates chosen by the New York electorate met at a Constitutional Convention at Albany to overhaul the State's Constitution. As it turned out, no revisions were made. Unaltered was an old constitutional clause making it mandatory for the electorate to vote every 20 years, beginning in 1916, on the question: "Shall there be a convention to revise the Constitution and amend the same?" In 1916, with the failure of the previous year fresh in mind, the electorate voted No. Last week, 20 years having elapsed, the question again appeared on every New York ballot. Rare was the voter who knew why it was there. It was not mentioned in any political platform. Candidates generally ignored it in their speeches. No civic agency seemed greatly interested in its passage or defeat. Nevertheless, when the ballots were counted it was found that millions of yea-saying New Yorkers had voted Yes on the convention proposal, overwhelmingly recorded themselves in favor of doing something about their Constitution, although nobody had suggested what. The convention is scheduled to open on the first Tuesday of April 1938.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.