PREFACE The basis for this study was a series of articles prepared at the suggestion of President E. Benjamin Andrews and syndicated to the newspapers in the year 1899 under the heading "Tendencies in Recent State Constitutions." In 1906 the articles were revised and published in the Galveston Daily News and the Dallas Morning News, and later were published as a pamphlet for general circulation. In 1907 the series was enlarged and published as a supplement number in the Annals of the American Academy of Social and Political Science, March, 1907. This pamphlet has now been revised so as to include the changes of the last seven years, and ten additional chapters have been added, more than trebling the original material. Part I traces the history of the state constitutions so as to show the trend of nearly a hundred and forty years in the constitutional development of the commonwealths of the Union. Part II is in general the revision of the supplement to the Annals, but with many omissions and additions. Part III includes constructive suggestions as to the probable trend of changes in state constitutions during the next few years. The work as a whole aims to call attention to the great importance of these fundamental laws, and hence to the necessity of devoting to their improvement far more attention in the future than has been given to them in the past. In many respects these laws concern more vitally the interests of the average citizen than does the national constitution, so that the increasing attention paid to them in recent years is an excellent illustration of a growing civic interest in local government and in the principles of democ racy. This interest is greatly stimulated by the increasing attention given to state constitutions and government by the departments of history and political science in so many American colleges and universities. For such classes this work possibly may be considered worthy of introduction as a textbook. The author furthermore hopes that citizens and members of legislatures and constitutional conventions may find these chapters to some slight extent helpful in furthering a knowledge of our state political institutions. Acknowledgment is cheerfully given to the Legislative Reference Bureau of the State of Rhode Island for kindly and frequent assistance in securing information in respect to constitutional amendments, and to the Annals for permission to republish its Supplement revised. BROWN UNIVERSITY J. Q. DEALEY |