19 



LIMITATIONS UPON THE POkiLRS OF COIWENTIONS 



As has been noted, theory holds that the convention is pos- 

 sessed of all the political power of the people, and so cannot 

 be limited by action of the ordinary agencies of government in its 

 exercise of that power. Yet the practice in North Carolina has 

 seldom allowed conventions the full range of authority which theory 

 claims for them. 



Whether, and by what means, the powers of a convention of the 

 people can be restricted by the act of the legislature calling (or 

 proposing that the people call) a convention has long been a sub- 

 ject to delight the heart of the political theorist, and has at 

 times posed very practical political and judicial problems in 

 some other states. In North Carolina, hoviever, no serious diffi- 

 culties have arisen in this respect, for the various conventions 

 have followed the instructions and limitations imposed on them by 

 the convention acts under which they were called into being, where 

 those acts were ratified by action of the people in voting for a 

 convention. With time, the practice in this State has hardened 

 into a practical modification of the theory of the unlimited con- 

 vention, so that it is now generally accepted that if the proper 

 devices be used, the powers of a convention can be limited by the 

 terms of the convention act, approved by the people in voting for 

 convention. 



To understand how the concept of the limited convention has 

 developed in North Carolina, it is necessary to examine briefly the 



^See Advisory Opinion of Stacy, C. J., in Opinions of the 

 Justices in the Matter of Calling a Convention, 20U N. C. ^06 

 at ai2 U933). 



