USA > Illinois > Illinois, historical and statistical, comprising the essential facts of its planting and growth as a province, county, territory, and state, Vol. II > Part 2
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559
ELECTION IN 1848.
Thus have been mentioned the principal changes made by the convention in the first constitution. It completed its work Aug. 31. The constitution was submitted to the popular vote at an election held March 6, 1848, and ratified by the following vote: for the constitution 59,887; against, 15,859. For Article XIV, prohibiting free persons of color from immigrating to and settling in the State, 49,060; against, 20,883. For Article XV, providing for a two-mill tax, 41,017; against, 30,586. The new constitution went into effect April 1, 1848.
Perhaps the most important work done by the convention was the adoption of Article XV-providing for a two-mill tax, the fund arising from which should be exclusively applied to the payment of state indebtedness, other than canal and school indebtedness.
The tendency in the public mind to honorably liquidate the vast debt created under the internal - improvement system, although there was still an active minority who favored repudia- tion in whole or in part, was thus fastened, and the question placed beyond the power of legislative tinkering.
A notable and interesting event relating to the personnel of the convention of 1847 was a reunion of its surviving members at Springfield on January 3, 1884. Thirty-one were still living of whom the following were present at the meeting: David Davis, John M. Palmer, Walter B. Scates, Augustus Adams, Wm. A. Grimshaw, Wm. R. Archer, Montgomery Blair, M. G. Dale, P. W. Deitz, Joseph T. Eccles, N. W. Edwards, Anthony Thornton, Samuel Lander, James H. Matheny, W. B. Powers, George W. Rives, Oaks Turner, James Tuttle, Edward M. West, Linus E. Worcester, Alvin R. Kenner, George W. Arm- strong. The following were not present, Wm. Thomas, O. C. Pratt, E. O. Smith, John W. Mason, Alfred Lindley, the last three of whom were unaccounted for. Harman G. Reynolds, the assistant-secretary was also present as was the venerable Albert Hale, who officiated as chaplain .*
There were four general elections held in .the state in 1848,
* It is perhaps not unimportant in this connection to note the farther fact relating to the personnel of the convention, namely, that of the members seventy-six were farmers, fifty-four lawyers, twelve physicians, nine merchants, four mechanics, three clerks, one a professor, one a miller, one a minister, and one an engineer.
560
ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
as follows: upon the question of the adoption of the constitu- tion, as above stated; the election of state officers in August; the election of judges the first Monday in September (3); and the presidential election in November; but under the constitu- tion of 1848, and ever since that year, all general, state, and presidential elections have been held at the same time, namely, on the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November.
As the power of the people had been extended to the elec- tion of all state and county officers, increased interest and im- portance was given to county and state conventions and to all general elections. Counties had now the selection of their own officers-that privilege having been extended heretofore only to the offices of sheriff, coroner, and county commissioners.
A democratic state convention to name "candidates for gov- ernor and other state officers" was called to meet at Springfield on April 24, which was duly convened and presided over by Col. John Moore. There was no controversy over the first officer to be nominated; the new constitution having cut short the term of Gov. French two years, he was the unanimous choice of his party for reelection. Wm. McMurtry of Knox County was nominated for lieutenant-governor, the then incum- bent, Joseph B. Wells having decided to run for congress in the Galena district, where he was opposed and beaten by Col. E. D. Baker. Horace S. Cooley of Adams County, was nominated for secretary of state; Thomas H. Campbell of Randolph, auditor of public accounts; and Milton Carpenter* of Hamil- ton, state treasurer-the three last-named candidates being the then incumbents of the offices for which they were renominated.
The whigs, feeling that it would prove a hopeless task to undertake the election of a state-ticket, decided not to call a convention. Gov. French received 67,453 votes, while scatter- ing votes were polled for Pierre Menard, Dr. Charles Volney Dyer, and others, and for O. H. Browning, Henry H. Snow, and J. L. D. Morrison, for lieutenant - governor.
The democratic national convention was held at Baltimore, May 22, where Gen. Lewis Cass was nominated for president on the fourth ballot, and Gen. Wm. O. Butler for vice-president.
* Mr. Carpenter died soon after his election and was succeeded by John Moore, who was appointed by the governor to the position, August 14.
561
THE SIXTEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
The whig national convention-called the "slaughter - house convention," because of the defeat of so many great statesmen -met at Philadelphia, June 7. The admirers of Clay, Webster, and Gen. Winfield Scott had to give way to those of Gen. Zachary Taylor, who received the nomination for president on the fourth ballot, having steadily gained from the first when, he received III votes, to 97 for Clay, 43 for Scott, and 22 for Webster. Millard Fillmore of New York was nominated for vice-president, on the second ballot.
The whigs made a determined fight in the State for president and came very near being successful-the vote being for Cass 56,300, Taylor, 53,047-while Martin Van Buren, the candidate of the free democratic convention, who was nominated at Buf- falo, August 9, with Charles Francis Adams for vice-president, received 15,774 votes. The whigs succeeded, however, in elect- ing only one out of seven members of congress-Col. E. D. Baker, in the Galena district-the old whig district, the seventh, having been carried unexpectedly by Maj. Thomas L. Harris, against Judge Stephen T. Logan. At the election for judges of the supreme court in September, Lyman Trumbull was elected in the southern division, Samuel H. Treat in the central, and John Dean Caton in the northern-all democrats.
Although the constitution fixed the time of holding the general election, including that for members of the general assembly, on Tuesday after the first Monday in November, it was provided by the schedule attached to that instrument that the first general election thereunder should be held at the old period in August. The whigs having no state ticket in the field succeeded in electing but few members of the legislature.
Under the new constitution the general assembly was com- posed of one hundred members-seventy-five in the house and twenty-five in the senate; and the time for the meeting of this body was fixed for the first Monday in January, biennially. It had been found under the old regime that but little business was transacted in the month of December, especially during the holidays, when most of the members returned to their homes.
The first Monday in January, 1849, upon which the sixteenth general assembly convened, fell upon New-Year's day. There was a marked absence of many old-time and familiar hangers-
562
ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
on. There were no judges to elect, nor state officers, nor prose- cuting attorneys. The people had relieved the legislature from the discharge of this duty.
Zadoc Casey, who had been returned to the house after an absence of nearly a quarter of a century, was elected speaker, receiving forty-six votes to nineteen cast for Richard Yates. Mr. Casey had already had large experience as presiding officer of the senate, in which capacity as to voice, impartiality, grace, and dignity of bearing, he never had a superior in this State.
Nathaniel Niles was elected clerk, Harmon G. Reynolds and Andrew J. Galloway assistants, and Samuel Ewing doorkeeper. William Smith was chosen secretary of the senate, and I. G. Davidson sergeant-at-arms. On the roll of the senate were to be found the familiar names of Joseph Gillespie, Josiah Mc Roberts, John Todd Stuart-after an absence of four years in congress, Newton Cloud, Franklin Witt, Hugh L. Sutphin, Wm. Reddick, Joel A. Matteson, John Denny, David Markly, and Norman B. Judd. J. L. D. Morrison, Uri Manley, and Demp- sey Odam had been transferred from a previous service in the house. Among the new members were John P. Richmond from Schuyler County, Hezekiah H. Gear, from Jo Daviess, and William B. Plato from Kane.
Richard Yates, who had remained out a term, again appears as one of the representatives from Morgan County. There were also in the house the familar names of Usher F. Linder, Thos. Carlin-serving out the unexpired term of John D. Fry, N. W. Edwards, Francis C. Sherman, Curtis Blakeman, Wm. Picker- ing, and Samuel S. Hayes. The following members, afterward conspicuous in congress and in state politics, appeared in this session for the first time: William Kellogg, Abner C. Harding, Edward Y. Rice, Cyrenius B. Denio, Ozias C. Skinner, Ebene- zer Z. Ryan, Richard S. Thomas, John W. Smith, Dr. Philip Maxwell, George W. Rives, and Col. Charles F. Keener front Scott County.
One of the first things claiming the attention of the legisla- ture after its organization, was to pass resolutions endorsing the Mexican War and eulogizing its heroes; the next in order was to ratify the choice of a democratic caucus in the election of a United-States senator. There had been three candidates, Judge
JOHN WENTWORTH
JAS. A ME DOUGALL
WM A. RICHARDSON
THOMPSON CAMPBELL
ISAAC FUNK
CHICAGO.
FERGUS ATG. CO.
7
STOR
LI
A
NY
563
CONTEST FOR UNITED-STATES SENATOR.
Breese to succeed himself, Gen. James Shields, the battle-scarred hero of Cerro Gordo, and John A. McClernand, then a member of congress. The contest was exceedingly animated and close, Judge Breese having largely the advantage at the start, but as time wore on the general forged ahead and secured the prize upon the second ballot. He received seventy-one votes in the joint session on January 13, to twenty-six cast for Gen. W. F. Thornton, who had been nominated by the whigs.
Gen. Shields and his friends celebrated his triumph in a grand supper and ball, but as it afterward befell, his ambition "had overleaped itself," the refrain to his anthem of joy turning into a dolorous discord.
Upon arriving in Washington he found that a question had been raised in regard to his eligibility. Having been born in Ireland, he had come into the State when under age, and claimed that he became a citizen by the naturalization of his father; but a question as to the correctness of this position, hav- ing been raised, although he had been a voter and officeholder in the State for many years, he concluded to make his final declaration and take out his papers regularly under the clause permitting minors to do so who had resided three years in the State, previous to their arriving at full age. This was on Oct. 21, 1840, which at the time of his election left him eight months short of the nine years citizenship required by the constitution for eligibility to a seat in the United-States senate.
The general concluded at once that his opponent, Judge Breese, whom he was in a few days to succeed, was the origina- tor of the objection to his eligibility, and thereupon wrote him an exceedingly hot, imprudent, and ill-advised private letter, in which among other foolish things he stated "that if I had been defeated by you on that ground [want of citizenship], I had sworn in my heart that you never should have profited by your success, and depend upon it, I would have kept that vow regard- less of consequences." He concluded his angry effusion as follows: "if, however, you persist in your course of injustice toward me, and refuse this request, I here give you fair warn- ing-let the consequences fall on your own head-I shall hold myself accountable both before God and man for the course I shall feel bound to pursue toward you."
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ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
The sober, second thought of Gen. Shields told him he had been hasty and injudicious in penning such a letter, and he authorized two senators to call upon the judge and ask for its with- drawal. But to this the latter would not consent, and on Feb. 26, published the letter with his comments in the National In- telligencer. The general published a card in reply, in which he endeavored to explain that the warning which had been con- strued into a threat of assassination, merely meant an exposure of character.
He having failed to establish the fact of his naturalization while he was yet a minor, the committee of the senate to whom his credentials had been referred were not long in coming to a conclusion that he was ineligible to his seat, and their report to that effect was brought in. Thereupon Gen. Shields tendered his resignation, which, however was not accepted by the senate, but the resolution declaring him ineligible was adopted after a long debate without a division, March 15.
The legislature having adjourned, an interesting controversy arose in the public press in regard to the power of the gover- nor to fill the vacancy. Gov. French decided not to make any appointment, but to call the legislature together again for the purpose of choosing a senator. That body was convened Oct. 22, by which time the disability of Gen. Shields had been removed through the lapse of time. The contest between the three candidates which had been sufficiently warm in the first instance was now renewed and soon became exceedingly bitter; the hostility to Shields being greatly aggravated by the publi- cation of his intemperate letter to Judge Breese. The candi- dates were not far apart in the caucus, the first ballot giving Shields 28 votes, Breese 21, and McClernand 18. The general, however, succeeded on the twenty-first ballot, which stood, Shields 37, Breese 20, and McClernand 12. Of course his election by the general assembly followed in due time.
The prolonged and exciting discussion growing out of the new acquisitions of territory under the treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo began at this session, and the opponents of the exten- sion of slavery succeeded in adopting a joint-resolution, by a vote of 14 to II in the senate and 38 to 34 in the house, in- structing our senators in congress, and requesting our represen-
565
THE BLOODY-ISLAND DIKE CONTROVERSY.
tatives, to use all honorable means to procure the enactment of such laws by congress as should contain the express declaration "that there shall be neither slavery nor involuntary servitude in said territories, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes whereof the party shall have been duly convicted." The reso- lution was supported by all the whigs and a sufficient number of democrats in each house to carry it.
Another subject which occupied the attention of the legisla- ture was the controversy between Gov. French and the authori- ties of St. Louis in regard to the construction of a dike from Bloody Island to the Illinois shore. The formation of sandbars in the Mississippi River opposite St. Louis threatened the diver- sion of the channel of the river to its left bank and the destruc- tion of the harbor of that city. Congress had been invoked and had made an appropriation to improve and protect the harbor, and St. Louis determined in pursuance of the plans of the government, as was alleged, to construct a dike which would force the current of the river to the St. Louis side. The gov- ernor was induced to regard the work as an infringement upon the rights of the people of Illinois. The papers of the period were full of the controversy, and proceedings were held in the courts to enjoin the prosecution of the work. The matter being brought before the legislature and duly considered, the contro- versy was finally adjusted by the passage of a resolution, mutually satisfactory to the parties concerned, providing that the city of St. Louis should be authorized and empowered to complete the works then in progress upon condition that it should guarantee the construction of a safe and commodious highway over the dam or dike, the full right of way over which should be secured to the public, and that said city should pro- vide for the St. Clair-County Ferry-Company a landing on Bloody Island free from all expense or damages. The work was completed by Feb. I, 1851, as stipulated. And thus it happened, that the city of St. Louis constructed at its own ex- pense, within the jurisdiction of Illinois, a costly work of inter- nal improvement-primarily for the benefit of its own citizens but ultimately, as the result proved, greatly to the advantage of the people of this State, not only without the consent of the latter but in the very teeth of their active executive and legal
566
ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
opposition, for to this dike is due the growth of the thriving and important city of East St. Louis.
It was at this session of the legislature that the course was adopted in reference to internal improvements, which soon became known and defended under the name of "State policy." This was to refuse the granting of charters for the construction of railroads unless the contemplated line began and ended at some prominent town or city in the State. The question arose upon the presentation of a resolution of the Indiana legislature requesting that Illinois would incorporate a company for the building of a railroad, to be called the Ohio and Mississippi, which was to have its starting point on the Ohio River at Cin- cinnati and terminate on the Mississippi River opposite St. Louis. A long and exciting contest grew out of the question of the adoption of such a policy, which was participated in not only by the people living along the route of the proposed rail- road, but by the press and capitalists of this and other states as well. Meetings were held, at which the exclusive policy was denounced in strong terms, and the governor was requested to call a special session of the legislature for the purpose of enact- ing a general railroad-law, which had failed of passage at the regular session. Immense meetings were also held in the interest of "State policy" -the one at Hillsboro being attended by 12,000 people.
At the special session a general railroad-law was passed, but it contained so many defective and objectionable provisions as to render it practically inoperative. At the same time, the joint-committee on railroads made a formal report which was adopted by a vote of 43 to 27 in the house, and with but two dissenting votes in the senate, in which this peculiar doctrine was set forth, as follows: "that the prosperity of a state con- sists not only in the virtue and intelligence of a brave and energetic people, in the richness of her soil and natural re- sources, but also in the number and extent of her flourishing towns, cities, and villages." "That any internal improvement tending in its operations to impede the growth and prospects of cities, towns, and villages, within our our own borders, ought not to be encouraged." "That a railroad commencing at our eastern boundary and terminating opposite St. Louis and also uniting
567
"STATE POLICY."
with continuous lines of railroad extending eastwardly through our sister states would be immensely advantageous to St. Louis, at the same time that it would impede the growth and prosper- ity of the cities, towns, and other localities on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River."
In the meantime, Judge Douglas and others of our public men with a clearer vision had urged upon the people a more liberal and comprehensive view, and showing that while prefer- ence should be given to our own towns and cities, without doing injury or injustice to others, the great interest of our State was agricultural, and that must not be sacrificed for the smaller inter- ests of localities. So that when the legislature of 1851 con- vened, the friends of the project succeeded in passing the charter of the Ohio-and-Mississippi Railroad. Opposition still continued, however, to the proposed line from Terre Haute to St. Louis via Vandalia, and the advocates of a more liberal policy were not finally successful in securing the desired legis- lation until 1854.
The laws of general interest passed at the first session were as follows: to establish the Illinois Institution for the Blind; to regulate elections and provide for a return to the mode of voting by ballot; for the loan of money at such rate of interest, not exceeding ten per cent per annum, as the parties might agree upon; for the construction of plank-roads; for the estab- lishment of telegraphs; to provide for township and county organization-being the first law enacted on the new departure in this direction.
The general assembly adjourned after sitting precisely the forty-two days prescribed by the constitution, and the members received the commendations of their constituents and the news- papers generally for the satisfactory work accomplished by them in so short a time. But it was not long before it was discovered that a much longer time might have been profitably spent in needed legislation; and the legislature was accordingly called to meet in special session, Oct. 23-the governor specifying no less than eleven different subjects requiring action, in addition to the election of a United-States senator. Its action has been already partly anticipated. In addition to the act to provide for a general system of railroad incorporations, others of general
568
ILLINOIS-HISTORICAL AND STATISTICAL.
interest were passed as follows: an act to enable the auditor to prosecute claims in favor of the State; to establish the juris- diction of the circuit court; and amendatory of the revenue laws. The extra session was a short one, lasting only from Oct. 22, to November 7.
The census of 1850 gave Illinois a population of 851,470, an increase of twenty-nine per cent over 1845, and of nearly eighty per cent over 1840. She had advanced, in point of numbers at least, from the fourteenth State to the eleventh. The Illinois- and-Michigan Canal, instead of being a tax upon her resources, had been completed and was earning a revenue of over $40,000 per annum, toward the discharge of the debt created for its construction. She had two lines of railroad, the old Northern- Cross, now called the Sangamon-and-Morgan, from Meredosia to Decatur; and the Galena-and-Chicago Union, from Chicago to Elgin. The revenue laws were producing a fund for the liquidation of the State debt, and for the first time in over twenty years, auditor's warrants were nearly at par, the ordinary revenue being sufficient to meet the current demands upon the treasury. The electric telegraph, with its miraculous speedy flashes of intelligence, began to affect the operations of business by the introduction of new methods, stimulating new enter- prises, and greater efforts all over the country.
The only state officer elected in 1850 was John Moore, state treasurer, to fill a vacancy.
The seventeenth general assembly met on Jan. 6, 1851. John M. Palmer, Joseph Gillespie, John Wood, Peter Sweat, and Andrew J. Kuykendall were among the new members elected to the senate. In the house, Wesley Sloan, Orville Sexton, Zadoc Casey, Wm. Pickering, U. F. Linder, Richard G. Murphy, Wm. Thomas, Ninian W. Edwards, and Robert F. Barnett, were all the old members, or those who had previously served therein, returned. Among those serving for the first time were Isham N. Haynie, Sidney Breese, John E. Detrich, Wm. H. Snyder, Philip B. Fouke, Samuel A. Buckmaster, Charles D. Hodges, J. C. Winter, Nathan M. Knapp, James C. Conkling, Oliver L. Davis, Charles Emmerson, Anthony Thornton, Ozias M. Hatch, James W. Singleton, Joseph Sibley, John Hise, Jesse O. Nor- ton, Aaron Shaw, and Thomas Dyer.
569
THE SEVENTEENTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY.
The democrats had maintained their ascendancy in both houses, and Sidney Breese, having received the nomination in caucus over A. G. Caldwell, as a recognition of past services in the senate, to which he had failed to be renominated, was elected speaker; Isaac R. Diller was chosen clerk, Wm. A. J. Sparks, assistant-clerk, and Samuel B. Smith, doorkeeper - all by acclamation, the whigs not deeming it worth while to make any opposition. Wm. Smith was reelected secretary of the senate and Edward A. Bedell, sergeant-at-arms.
The governor in his message referred to the short time allotted for the session and the large amount of legislative action de- manded. He stated the amount of the State debt, which had been nearly all funded under the act of 1847, to be $16,627,509. No general assembly can be credited with a greater amount of important and far-reaching legislation than the seventeenth.
To begin with its political action; after no little debating, a series of resolutions was adopted early in the session approving the adjustment measures passed by congress on the slavery ques- tion and especially rescinding the one embodying the Wilmot proviso adopted at the last session. The principal acts passed were as follows: to exempt homesteads from sale on execution -the first law on this subject; to prohibit the retailing of in- toxicating drinks-a prohibitory law for the sale of liquors in less quantity than one quart, for the entire State; remodeling and reënacting the township-organization act; to establish a general system of banking, which was in its main features a copy of the New York free-banking law, providing for a deposit with the auditor of United States or State, stocks as a security for their circulation under certain restrictions and limitations. Three bank commissioners were provided for with power to examine into the management of the banks, and required to render quar- terly sworn statements regarding their condition to the auditor.
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