The Constitutional Convention of Massachusetts

Extract

The constitutional convention of Massachusetts which assembled in the city of Boston, June 6, 1917, and finally terminated its labors at a short session of two days in August, 1919, is the fourth body of this kind which the Old Bay State has had. The first convention was held in 1779 and 1780 in Cambridge and Boston, and formulated the constitution of 1780. This instrument, to which sixty-six amendments have been added, is the oldest written constitution now in force anywhere in the world. The second convention was held in 1820, and submitted a series of resolutions part of which were adopted and part rejected by the people. A third convention met in 1853 all of whose proposals were rejected. After an interval of sixty-four years, a fourth convention was called, which met in 1917 and again in 1918 and yet again in 1919. It submitted to the people twenty-two amendments and a revised draft of the constitution, all of which were accepted.

The convention was composed of 320 delegates. Of these 16 were elected at large, 4 were elected by each congressional district, and the remaining 240 were elected from the districts created for the purpose of choosing members of the state house of representatives. They were elected without party designations, but before the election took place, the lines between the friends and the opponents of the initiative and referendum were rather sharply drawn, and this served practically all the purposes of party organization and designation. In fact, this question dominated the whole of the first session of the convention and overshadowed other questions which were probably of greater importance.