USA > Indiana > History of Indiana from its exploration to 1922, Vol. I > Part 39
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20 Indiana State Journal, Feb. 15, 1851.
21 Indiana State Journal, March 15, 1851. They were printed for the New Albany Ledger at the Cincinnati Gazette office. 22 Indiana State Journal, Feb. 22, 1851.
23 Indiana State Journal, Sept. 20, 1851.
24 Indiana State Journal, Aug. 30, 1851.
.
521
THE NEW CONSTITUTION
The new constitution went into operation, Novem- ber 1, 1851. The General Assembly elected in August, 1851, met as directed by the old constitution. The first general election under the new constitution was held in October, 1852, the old officers holding until the newly elected ones were qualified and took their positions ac- cording to law. There was no jar in the operations of the State government during the change.
One of the objections urged at first against a con- stitutional convention was that it would cost an enor- mous sum of money at a time when the State was almost bankrupt, and could ill afford to spend any money except for the most urgent need. The total ex- pense for the eighteen weeks' session as shown by the State treasurer's report was $85,043.82.25
25 Documentary Journal, 1851, 8; 1852, 7.
1
CHAPTER XXI
POLITICS FROM 1840 TO 1852
§ 92 A BANKRUPT STATE
As soon as the political frenzy of 1840 had spent itself, the citizens of Indiana began to give their seri- ous attention to the condition of their State govern- ment. One ugly fact stared them squarely in the face. That fact was that the State system of internal im- provements was a failure. Long successions of mud- holes marked the places where the people had expected to see hurrying boats bearing the produce of prosperous farmers to expectant buyers. For ten years the people had worked patiently, buoyed up by promises of ignor- ant and dishonest politicians in the hope of seeing their State provided with an adequate transportation system.
The financial condition of the State was alarming. The auditor reported that the total assessment valua- tion of the State had dropped from over $107,000,000 to $91,000,000. The income of the State from taxation had likewise dropped $170,901, leaving a net income for 1840 of only $192,786 from this source.1 The cur- rent expenses for the year were $136,749. There would thus be left a sum of $34,152 to meet the interest at six per cent on upwards of $12,000,000 bonded debt.2
The outlook was gloomy enough. Turning away from the whole subject of internal improvement, the General Assembly gave its attention to governmental reorganization. The ways and means committee, to
1 Auditor's report, in Laws of Indiana, 1840, 228.
2 Treasurer's report, in Laws of Indiana, 1840, 236.
523
NEW TAX SYSTEM
whom was referred the auditor's annual statement for 1840, reported seven bills providing for a complete reorganization of the fiscal policy and machinery of the State.3
The first was entitled a "Bill to Value the Property of the State."4 The law directed the county assessor, an officer created by the third bill of the list, to ap- praise the real and personal property of the State at its cash value. On this basis the State and county gov- ernments were to make tax levies. County and State boards of equalization were provided for. The second bill, when enacted into law, established and defined the office of county auditor, to be filled by popular elec- tion.5 The fourth bill defined the county treasurer's duties; the fifth pointed out the mode of making tax levies ; the sixth subjected the private stock in the State Bank to taxation the same as any other property; the seventh directed a levy of forty cents to meet the inter- est on the State debt.6
This revolution in the taxing system was accom- plished by the Whig Party. A minority of about twenty-five representatives opposed all the measures. In the "Address of the Democratic Members of the Legislature," dated February 13, 1841, the measures were hotly denounced.7 The prosperous condition of the State in 1834 was contrasted with the dismal out- look in 1840. The annual running expenses of the State in 1834 were given as $30,000; in 1840 they had mounted to $840,000. There was nothing to show for the expenditure except a few lines of stagnant pools and a bitter experience.
3 House Journal, 1840, 306.
4 Laws of Indiana, 1840, ch. I.
5 Laws of Indiana, 1840, ch. II.
6 Laws of Indiana, 1810, chs. I to IX inclusive.
7 Vincennes Western Sun, Mar. 6, 1841. "The time has come for the people to take a hand. Demagogues, temporizers, gam- bling politicians must be put down. Is liberty worth such a tax?"
524
HISTORY OF INDIANA
The Whigs assured the taxpayers that the levy of forty cents would pay all the State debt. The fund commissioners likewise gave it as their opinion that the levy would soon put the State finances on a sound foundation.
The law, which is still in substance on the statute books, was good, but the party that placed it on the statute book was never given complete power again in the State. By one of those inexplicable turns in popular government public opinion grasped the Whig party, internal improvements, the high tax, and the ruined State, all in a single thought which neither fact nor argument seemed able to alter. Public opin- ion, as is usual, was right. The Whig Party had had complete control of the State government at least since 1834. During that time taxes had increased eight- fold.8 The party was guilty of flagrant misgovern- ment. Its punishment was not unmerited.9
The Democrats had found a vulnerable spot in the Whig political coat which they never failed to take ad- vantage of. It made little difference what the Whigs proposed or what argument they adduced in its sup- port, the sufficient political answer was "internal im- provements." During the session of the General As- sembly of 1841-42, a series of articles appeared in the
8 For a clear indictment of the Whig Party see an address by Robert Dale Owen to the "Citizens of Posey county," August, 1841; published in the Indiana State Sentinel, October 11, and in the Western Sun, November 13. "Our State debt has run up in six years to one-tenth of all our property. Our tax is eight times as high as it was six years ago. Our bonds are hawked about at half price like those of a bankrupt. Our check for in- terest is dishonored. All is lost, save honor, and it is forfeited." 9 The following election gave the Democrats fifty-six repre- sentatives and the Whigs forty-four. The voters complained that they had to pay 9 per cent. interest on their mortgages when money was worth only 6. The financlai question was finally set- tled by the "Butler Blil." See chapter on "Internal Improve- ments." Indiana Journal, Aug. 28, 1841; Western Sun, Sept. 4, 1841.
525
WHIG FAILURE
Indiana State Journal on the subject of the general responsibility for the internal improvements policy.10 The author, who was thoroughly conversant with the facts, made it clear that many prominent Democrats were supporters of the policy, but he failed to acquit his own party. The Whig Party, having lost its spirit, had become a vast host, unorganized, reposing on their arms, their leaders fallen or deserted. Many who had formerly taken a fighting interest became sullen and disgusted, "stung with regrets" as an editor put it, and gave no more attention to politics.11 The whole period from 1840 to 1846 was one of distress in Indiana. It was the long reaction after the debauch. The farmers pulled themselves together and plied their trade in dogged silence. Their pride as well as their prosperity was gone.
A committee of Whig members of the General As- sembly at the close of the session issued a long, well- written address, but not even the eloquence of Theo- dore Barnett nor the sound sense of John D. Defrees could make much impression.12 "Amid the ruin and desolation which surrounded the Hoosier affairs, they have only one thing to be proud of, and that is their supreme bench. This is an ornament to American jurisprudence," remarked Pleasant Hackleman, editor of the Rushville Whig.13
The Democrats played a waiting game. The salaries of the State officials were reduced, useless offices were abolished, and the bankrupt State govern- ment relieved of every burden possible.14 The thoughts
10 Indiana Journal, January and' February, 1842.
11 Indianapolis Daily Journal, Jan. 5 and 7, 1842.
12 Indianapolis Daily Journal, Jan. 18, 1842.
13 Indianapolis Daily Journal, June 7, 1842.
14 "Our investigation into frauds of the system will exhibit a scene of villainy, fraud and corruption, scarcely, if ever, equaled in the annals of any country. We have appointed a special agent to close up these 'splendid financial operations,' to sue delinquent officers and recover what is possible. Most have been sanctioned
526
HISTORY OF INDIANA
of the people, long centered on the activity of the State, were gradually directed into other channels. The schools, the churches, the benevolent institutions, agri- cultural societies, labor unions, numberless organiza- tions for the betterment of society, the protection of the unfortunate and the innocent, began to receive sys- tematic attention and support.
The influx of settlers and especially of workmen on the canal had seriously demoralized society. This was not noticed, or perhaps the vicious element did not assert itself, so long as times were flush. But with the pinching years of 1839 and 1840 many persons, thrown out of employment, were forced to the hard choice be- tween the miseries of extreme poverty and vice. What the newspapers called a wave of crime swept over the State. A Marion county grand jury, in its report to the court, solemnly pronounced the taverns asylums of immorality and crime rather than places of rest and refreshment for travelers. The recent General Assem- bly had required all liquor retailers to secure a county license. The law had the effect of concentrating the drinking as well as the drunkards in the taverns. With the drinkers came their parasites, the gamblers and the prostitutes. The report of the grand jury awakened the capital like a fire alarm.15 Seven days after the report was made public, the citizens met in mass meet- ing. The censure of the grand jury was discussed, and it was decided that it was not wide of the truth. Im- mediate action was demanded. Under the law the voters had a right, by majority remonstrance, to keep
by law. We have also discharged that whole horde of blood suckers, the boards of commissioners and engineers. In the actions of that most unfortunate and designing conclave of men, the people wili discern in bold relief the workings of that aristo- cratic policy which had its paternity in Alexander Hamilton and the elder Adams." John W. Davis in "Democratic Address to the Voters" at the close of the session of General Assembly of 1842. Published in Western Sun, March 5.
15 The report is given in the Indiana Journal, May 29, 1841.
INDIANA IN 1852
527
St. Joseph,
Ettbart
Stouben
Laporte
Lagrange
Portar
4
Dekalb
Mareball
Hoblo
5
Starke
Whitley!
Alion
Jampor
Pulaekt
Wabash
Adamı
White
Wolle
Benton
ELE
ZENIA
Howard
Grant
Black Kord
Jay
Warren
Tippecanoe
Clinton
Tipton
EIL
Hamilton
Boone
Madison
Vermillion
Parke
Putnam
Bend- ricka
Marion
SHIXIE
8 E
VEZIA
Shelby
Morgan
Johnson
Vigo
Cley
Franklin
Owen
Decatur
Monroe
Brown
Bartholo- Det
Sullivan
Ripley
Grogne
Jenninge
Jaokson
Lagrence
Switzer- land
Vigo
Jefferson
Davisoo
tin
Washington Scott
Orange
SECOND
Clark
Pike
Dubo46
Gibson
Crawford
Floydy
440- der- burg
PerTy
Harrison
.The Democrate oax- ried all the die- triote ezoopt tho Fifth in 1852.
Warriok
PosBy
Spencer
INDIANA COUNTIES, 1852. By E. V. Shockley
Huntington
Fountain
Montgomery
Hancock
Rueb
Dearborn
8
Lako
Fulton
528
HISTORY OF INDIANA
the county commissioners from issuing a liquor license. A remonstrance was drawn up and quickly signed by 224 of the 364 eligible voters of the town. In less than three hours the whole work had been accomplished, barring saloons from the town for three years.16
§ 93 CAMPAIGN OF 1844
THE election of 1840 closed the period of personal politics in Indiana.17 Men of all parties had united to elect Harrison. Among his supporters there was little cohesion except what was furnished by the personality of the President. How helpless the Whigs were is shown by their condition after the death of their lead- er. Under the lead of Clay a bill for a new United States Bank was prepared and rushed through Con- gress. In due time it reached President Tyler, who promptly attached his veto.
The breach produced by the quarrel between Clay and President Tyler extended to Indiana. The officers who enjoyed the presidential patronage maintained a formal allegiance to the administration. The great majority of the voters, together with the party organ- ization, followed Clay. They denounced the President for what they chose to call his betrayal of the party.
The Democratic Party profited indirectly by the de- moralization of the Whigs, though many of the dis- affected went over to that party. The struggle of 1840 eliminated Van Buren, who had come to be the chief liability of the Democratic Party in the West. He had all the weaknesses of Jackson without any of Jackson's strength. Neither party had any leader at the time, who, like Jackson or Harrison, towered head and shoul-
16 Indiana Journal, June 18, 1841. This meeting was held June 5. It was presided over by Samuel Merrill, president of the State Bank.
17 Adam Leonard, "The Period of Personal Politics in Indiana." Mss.
529
ELECTION OF 1844
ders above the multitude. The old issues of the Whig Party, the tariff, internal improvements and the bank, the championing of which had given Clay his hold on the party, had lost their appeal. The bank had become an impossibility under Tyler. Thousands of Indiana Whigs were interested in their own State Bank, whose prosperity would be endangered by a new United States Bank. The internal improvement issue had turned to ashes in the mouths of the Whigs; and the American tariff. had come to be regarded with suspi- cion by the farming class.
The period from 1841 to 1844 in Indiana was one of political realignment. Not only was there a change in the political management of the parties, but the old issues were discarded. The secret of the sweeping success of the Democrats in Indiana in the election of 1844 is due to the fact that that party first freed itself from the dead issues of the past, and placed itself in harmony with the advanced thought of the times. The Whigs tried to win the campaign on the same old issues, with the same old machinery, and with the same candidates which they had employed since 1824. They seemed incapable of profiting either by the thought or the experience of the previous fifteen years.
Since the beginning of the rivalry between the Whig and the Jacksonian Parties, there had been two opposing commercial institutions in the State. The banks and the land offices controlled the money of the State. The Democrats had always had control of the land offices, and the Whigs had always controlled the banks. The General Assembly of 1841 appointed Nathan B. Palmer to make a thorough investigation of the condition of the bank.18 In 1843 the General As- sembly, still on the trail of the bank, took the manage- ment of it out of Whig hands and gave it to Judge James Morrison, a Democrat. As an offset to this ad-
18 Laws of Indiana, 1841, ch. 170.
530
HISTORY OF INDIANA
vantage the Democrats lost control of the land offices from 1841 to 1845. It is to be observed, however, that both the bank and the land offices were rapidly losing their political influence.
The opening battle of the new era in Indiana poli- tics was the election of the United States senator to succeed O. H. Smith, whose term expired in 1843. The two parties were almost evenly matched in the General Assembly, so evenly that one or two votes would de- termine the contest. On the first ballot, O. H. Smith, the Whig candidate, received 72 votes; Tilghman A. Howard, the Democratic candidate, 74; Edward Han- negan, an independent Democratic candidate, 3; Joseph G. Marshall, a Whig, 1. On the second ballot Smith received 75 votes, Howard 74. Daniel Kelso, a Whig senator from Switzerland county, voted for Hannegan. On the sixth ballot the Democrats dropped Howard and supported Hannegan, who then received 76 votes and was elected.19 Kelso was openly charged with selling his vote.20 The Whigs by public resolution denounced him. It was the last opportunity of the Whig Party to elect a United States senator in Indiana. The bit- terness was not confined to the Whigs, however. Howard and his friends never forgave some of the Democratic leaders for their part in the contest, though it is difficult to see how they could have elected him.
The Democrats swept the State in the election of 1843. James Whitcomb succeeded Samuel Bigger in the governor's office. He was the first governor elected by the Democrats in Indiana. Eight out of the ten
19 Senate Journal, 1842, 349-355.
20 Indianapolis Journal, Jan. 25 and Feb. 1, 1843. These num- bers contain articles on this remarkable election, for which ali members later apologized. The 73 Democratic members made a statement in the Sentinel Feb. 7, 1843, over their own signatures, that Governor Whitcomb did not help defeat Howard. David Hoover, of Wayne county, classed himself as a Democrat, but Kelso, of Switzerland, did not. Cf. Sentinel. Jan. 31 and Feb. 7.
531
ELECTION OF 1844
congressmen were elected on the Democratic ticket. In 1841 the Whigs had elected six out of the seven con- gressmen. This reversal was said to be due partly to a Democratic gerrymander by the General Assembly of 1842.21 In the State legislature the Senate in 1843 stood 26 to 24, the house 55 to 45 in favor of the Demo- crats. The Whig junto at Indianapolis was driven from power after a continuous administration of eight- een years. The Methodist and Presbyterian churches deserted the Whigs, especially after it became appar- ent that Clay was to be the candidate in 1844.22
As soon as Harrison was dead, Clay and his fol- lowers began squaring away for the race in 1844. A barbecue in Clay's honor was prepared at Indianapolis, October 5, 1842. Delegations from all parts of the State visited the capital to hear their leader, and to take counsel together concerning the approaching con- test.23 It was determined to conduct the campaign along the old lines. Van Buren was the only Demo- cratic candidate above the horizon at that time. Had he been the candidate in 1844, the plan of the Whigs might have been carried to success, but as it turned out their course was fatal.
Such men as Robert Dale Owen, Joseph A. Wright, · Andrew Kennedy, James Whitcomb and John W. Davis, preaching the new Democracy, were more than a match for the old Whigs. They pleaded for human rights, individual liberty, private initiative, that it was more the duty of the State to care for the unfortunate, the feeble, educate the children, and foster individual development, than to concern itself entirely with aiding bankers, manufacturers and transportation com- panies. 24
21 Laws of Indiana, 1842, p. 38; Daily Sentinel, Feb. 10, 1843.
22 Western Sun, Sept. 2, 1843.
23 Indianapolis Journal, Sept. 23, 1842.
24 The following sentiment by Senator William Allen, of Ohio, made the rounds of the Democratic press in Indiana, in 1843-4.
532
HISTORY OF INDIANA
Even the hitherto impregnable fortress of a high protective tariff was assaulted by the enthusiastic young Democrats. James Whitcomb, then a candidate for governor on the Democratic ticket, formerly a sup- porter of Clay, showed by the logic of statistics that workmen in the factories were receiving $500 per year, while farm hands received only $213. There were ten farm hands in Indiana to one factory hand. The farm products were not protected, but when the farm pro- ducts were made into manufactured goods, they were highly protected. The wheat and corn which the farmer sold were free, but the plow which he bought was protected. The best markets for the Indiana farm- ers were among the planters of the South. These same planters were being ruined by the high tariff. It was the first time the protection policy had been challenged in Indiana, and it created considerable alarm in the Whig camp.25
The Whigs met in State convention at Indianapolis, January 16, 1844, for the purpose of inaugurating the campaign. There was no apparent lack of enthusiasm. An exceptionally strong electoral ticket, headed by Henry S. Lane and Joseph G. Marshall, was nominated. A central committee of twenty-six members was chosen. A novelty was instituted in the form of a board of sixty advocates, whose business it was to stump the State. This was the beginning of what
It is a fair sample of the eloquence of the young Democratic speakers of 1844; "Democracy is a sentiment not to be appalled, corrupted nor compromised. It knows no baseness, cowers at no danger, oppresses no weakness. Fearless, generous, humane, it rebukes the arrogant, cherishes honor, and sympathises with the humble. It asks nothing it will not concede. It concedes nothing it does not demand. Destructive only to despotism, it is the only preserver of liberty, labor and prosperity. It is the sentiment of freedom, equal rights, and equal obligations." West- ern Sun, July 1, 1843.
25 State Journal, April 11, May 12, May 19, May 23, May 28, 1843.
533
ELECTION OF 1844 .
later came to be known as the speaker's bureau.26 The convention also appointed sixty delegates, five from each of the twelve judicial districts, to the National Convention.27 The Whigs met in the hall of the House of Representatives. In their enthusiasm, while cheer- ing the speakers, many of the members stood on the tops of the desks, leaving the imprint of their hob- nailed shoes on the furniture. The Indianapolis Sentinel on this account referred to the convention as a "hob-nailed" mob. The Whigs accepted the title of "Hob-nails" without demur.28
Whig campaign papers were established in almost every county, backed financially by the Whig County Clubs. The Central Committee planned nineteen mass meetings in the different parts of the State, each to be the occasion of a barbecue and at least three ad- dresses.29 Innumerable speakings, pole raisings, and rallies served to increase the general interest and ex- citement.
In the matter of substantial argument the Whigs were weak. By agreement Clay and Van Buren had eliminated the Texas question. Tyler had tried in vain to build a party around that issue. When Tyler failed his followers, to the great dismay of Clay, rallied
26 Logansport Telegraph, Feb. 10, 1844; Indianapolis Whig Rifle, Mar. 14, 1844; Indianapolis Journal, May 25, 1844.
27 Indiana State Journal, Mar. 23, 1844.
28 Indiana State Journal, April 13, 1844.
29 Indiana State Journal, Aug. 24, 1814. The times and dates were as follows: Evansville, Sept. 14; Princeton, Sept. 18; Wash- ington, Sept. 21; Corydon, Sept. 25; Charlestown, Sept. 28; Bed- ford, Oct. 19; Madison, Oct. 2; Napoleon, Oct. 5; Cambridge City, Oct. 12; Shelbyville, Oct. 9; Indianapolis, Oct. 22; Anderson- town, Oct: 15; Rockville, Oct. 2; Lafayette, Oct. 5; Logansport, Oct. 8; Goshen, Oct. 16; Fort Wayne, Oct. 12; Laporte, Oct. 19; Terre Haute, Oct. 28. Henry S. Lane, R. W. Thompson, Hugh O'Neal, H. P. Biddle, Samuel C. Sample, John D. Defrees, Samuel Bigger, David Wallace, Albert F. White, O. H. Smith, Samuel Parker, Joseph G. Marshall and George G. Dunn were the principal speakers.
1
534
HISTORY OF INDIANA
around Polk and beat Van Buren in the convention. The Whigs of Indiana denounced the scheme to annex Texas as a venture uncalled for by the people; entirely southern in its origin and support; unconstitutional; an unwarranted aggression upon a weak neighbor; as- sumption of a vast debt for the direct benefit of a few Americans who held Texan bonds; in brief, as a policy that had no other purpose or justification than the spread of slavery.30
Besides the tariff and bank, the Whigs hoped to secure wide support among Jackson Democrats on their proposition to distribute the proceeds of the pub- lic lands. This had once been looked on with favor by Jackson and Benton.31 In the present condition of the State treasury it was thought that it would appeal with great strength to Indiana voters. The Democrats op- posed the whole policy by which the national govern- ment would either asume any part of the State debts or distribute the proceeds of the public land sales. James Whitcomb said: "The effects which would re- sult from the distribution would be deleterious to the best interests of the laboring classes. It is nothing better than a direct scheme of bribery."32
A variation of the distribution policy was known as "the William Cost Johnson plan" from the name of its author. By it the United States would issue national stock (currency) to the amount of $200,000,000, which would be distributed to the Western States in propor- tion to the public lands in each and would be received by the United States in payment for the lands. Under
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