USA > Indiana > Johnson County > The people's guide, a business, political and religious directory of Johnson Co., Ind. together with a collection of very important documents and statistics connected with our moral, political and scientific history; also, a historical sketch of Johnson County > Part 5
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Twelfth. All vacancies that may occur in existing offices, prior to the first general election under this Constitution, shall be filled in the manner now prescribed by law.
Thirteenth. At the time of submitting this Constitution to the electors for their approval or disapproval, the article numbered thirteen, in relation to Negroes and Mulattoes, shall be submitted as a distinct proposition, in the following form : "Exclusion and Colonization of Negroes and Mulat- toes," " Aye" or "No." And if a majority of the votes cast shall be in favor of said article, then the same shall form a part of this Constitution; otherwise, it shall be void. and form no part thereof.
Fourteenth. No Article or Section of this Constitution shall be submitted, as a distinct proposition, to a vote of the electors, otherwise than as herein provided.
Fifteenth. Whenever a portion of the citizens of the counties of Perry and Spencer shall deem it expedient to form, of the contiguous territory of said counties, a new county, it shall be the duty of those interested in the organi- zation of such new county, to lay off the same by proper metes and bounds, of equal portions as nearly as practicable, not to exceed one-third of the territory of each of said coun- ties. The proposal to create such new county shall be sub- mitted to the voters of said counties, at a general election, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law. And if a majority
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of all the votes given at said election shall be in favor of the organization of said new county, it shall be the duty of the General Assembly to organize the same out of the territory thus designated.
Sixteenth. The General Assembly may alter or amend the charter of Clarksville, and make such regulations as may be necessary for carrying into effect the objects contemplated in granting the same; and the funds belonging to said town shall be applied according to the intention of the grantor.
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Done in Convention, at Indianapolis, the tenth day of Feb- ruary, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and fifty-one; and of the Independence of the United State, the seventy-fifth.
GEORGE WHITFIELD CARR,
President, and Delegate from the County of Lawrence. Attest : WM. H. ENGLISH,
Principal Secretary.
GEORGE L. SITES,
HERMAN G. BARKWELL,
Assistant Secretaries.
ROBERT M. EVANS,
..
EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.
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Whereas, On the twenty-second day of September, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-two, a proclamation was issued by the President of the United States, containing among other things the following, to-wit :
That, on the first day of January, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, all persons held as slaves within any State, or designated part of a State, the people whereof shall then be in rebellion against the United States, shall be then, henceforth and forever free, and the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities thereof, will recognize and maintain the freedom of such persons, or any of them, in any efforts they may make for their actual freedom.
That the Executive will, on the first day of January afore- said, by proclamation, designate the States and parts of States, if any, in which the people therein respectively shall then be in rebellion against the United States, and the fact that any State, or the people thereof, shall on that day be in good faith represented in the Congress of the United States by members chosen thereto, at elections wherein a majority of the qualified voters of such States shall have participated, shall, in the absence of strong countervailing testimony, be deemed conclusive that such State and the people thereof are not then in rebellion against the United States.
Now, therefore, I, Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, by virtue of the power in me vested as Com- mander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy of the United States, in time of actual armed rebellion against the authority and Government of the United States, and as a fit necessary war measure for suppressing said rebellion, do, on this first day of January, in the year of our Lord, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and in accordance with my purpose so to do, publicly proclaimed for the full period of one hundred days
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EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.
from the day of the first above-mentioned order, and desig- nate, as the States and parts of States wherein the people thereof respectively are this day in rebellion againt the United States, the following to-wit : Arkansas, Texas, Louisi- ana, except the parishes of St. Bernard, Plaquemines, Jeffer- son, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Ascension, Assumption, Terre Bonne, Lafourche, St. Mary, St. Martin and Orleans, in- cluding the city of New Orleans. Mississippi, Alabama, Flor- ida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia, except the forty-eight counties designated as West Virginia, and also the counties of Berkeley, Accomac, Northampton. Elizabeth City, York, Princess Ann, and Norfolk, including the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth, and which excepted parts are, for the present, left precisely as if this proclamation were not issued.
And by virtue of the power, and for the purpose aforesaid, I do order and declare that all persons held as slaves within said designated States and parts of States are, and hencefor- ward, shall be free ; and that the Executive Government of the United States, including the military and naval authorities there- of, will recognize and maintain the freedom of said persons.
And I hereby enjoin upon the people so declared to be free to abstain from all violence, unless in necessary self-defense ; and I recommend to them that, in all cases, when allowed, they labor faithfully for reasonable wages.
And I further declare and make known that such persons of suitable condition will be received into the armed service of the United States, to garrison forts, positions, stations, and other places, and to man vessels of all sorts in said service.
And upon this, sincerely believed to be an act of justice, warranted by the Constitution upon military necessity, I in- voke the considerate judgment of mankind and the gracious favor of Almighty God.
In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington, this first day of January, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred SEAL and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unit- ed States of America the eighty-seventh.
By the President : ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
WILLIAM H. SEWARD, Secretary of State.
POLITICAL PLATFORMS.
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PLATFORM OF THE BRECKINRIDGE PARTY OF 1860.
Resolved, That the platform adopted by the Democratic party at Cincinnati be affirmed, with the following explana- tory resolutions :
1. That the government of a territory organized by an act of Congress is provisional and temporary, and during its exis- tence all citizens of the United States have an equal right to settle with their property in the territory, without their rights, either in person or property, being destroyed by congressional or territorial legislation.
2. That it is the duty of the Federal Government, in all its departments, to protect the rights of persons and property in the territories, and wherever else its constitutional authority extends.
3. That when the settlers in a territory, having an adequate population, form a State Constitution, the right of sovereignty commences, and being consummated by their admission into the Union, they stand on an equality with the people of other States, and a State thus organized ought to be admitted into the Federal Union, whether its constitution prohibits or rec- ognizes the institution of slavery.
4. That the Democratic party are in favor of the acquisi- tion of Cuba, on such terms as shall be honorable to ourselves and just to Spain, at the earliest practicable moment.
5. That the enactments of State Legislatures to defeat the faithful execution of the Fugitive Slave Law are hostile in character, subversive of the Constitution, and revolutionary in their effect.
6. That the Democracy of the United States recognize it as an imperative duty of the government to protect the natural-
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POLITICAL PLATFORMS.
ized citizen in all his rights, whether in home or in foreign lands, to the same extent as its native born citizens.
WHEREAS, One of the greatest necessities of the age, in a political, commercial, postal, and military point of view, is a speedy communication between the Pacific and Atlantic coasts ; therefore, be it resolved,
7. That the National Democratic party do hereby pledge themselves to use every means in their power to secure the passage of some bill, to the extent of the Constitutional au- thority by Congress, for the construction of a railroad to the Pacific Ocean at the earliest practicable moment.
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PLATFORM OF THE DOUGLAS PARTY OF 1860.
Resolved, That we, the Democracy of the Union in Conven- tion assembled, hereby declare our affirmation of the resolu- tions unanimously adopted and declared as a platform of prin- ciples by the Democratic Convention at Cincinnati, in the year 1856, believing that Democratic principles are unchanga- ble in their nature when applied to the same subject matter, and we recommend as our only further resolutions the follow- ing :
That inasmuch as differences of opinion exist in the Demo- cratic party as to the nature and extent of the powers of a Territorial Legislature, and as to the powers and duties of Con- gress, under the Constitution of the United States, over the institution of slavery in the territories ;
Resolved, That the Democratic party will abide by the de- cision of the Supreme Court of the United States over the in- stitution of slavery in the territories.
Resolved, That it is the duty of the United States to afford ample and complete protection to all its citizens, at home or abroad, and whether native or foreign born.
Resolved, That one of the necessities of the age, in a mili- tary, commercial, and postal point of view, is a speedy com- munication between the Atlantic and Pacific States, and the Democratic party pledge such constitutional enactment as will insure the construction of a railroad to the Pacific coast at the earliest practical period.
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POLITICAL PLATFORMS.
Resolved, That the Democratic party are in favor of the ac- quisition of the Island of Cuba, on such terms as shall be hon- orable to ourselves and just to Spain.
Resolved, That the enactments of State Legislatures to de- feat the faithful execution of the Fugitive Slave Law are hos- tile in character, subversive to the Constitution, and revolu- tionary in their effect.
Resolved, That it is in accordance with the Cincinnati Plat- form, that during the existence of Territorial Governments, the measure of restriction, whatever it may be, imposed by the Federal Constitution on the power of the Territorial Leg- islature over the subject of the domestic relations, as the same has been or shall hereafter be decided by the Supreme Court of the United States, should be respected by all good citizens, and enforced with promptness and fidelity by every branch of the General Government.
THE REPUBLICAN PLATFORM OF 1860.
Resolved, That we, the delegated representatives of the Re- publican electors of the United States, in Convention assem- bled, in the discharge of the duty we owe to our constituents and our country, unite in the following resolutions :
1. That the history of the nation during the last four years has fully established the propriety and necessity of the organ- ization and perpetuation of the Republican party, and that the causes which called it into existence are permanent in their nature, and now, more than ever, demand its peaceful and constitutional triumph.
2. That the maintenance of the principles promulgated in the Declaration of Independence, and embodied in the Federal Constitution, that "all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, among which are those of life, liberty and the pursuit of happi- ness, and that Governments are instituted among men to secure the enjoyment of these rights, deriving their just power from the consent of the governed " -are essential to the pres- ervation of our republican institutions, and that the Federal Constitution, the rights of the States, and the union of the States, must and shall be preserved.
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POLITICAL PLATFORMS.
3. That to the union of the States this nation owes its unpre- cedented increase in population, its surprising developments of material resources; its rapid augmentation of wealth; its happiness at home and its honor abroad; and we hold in abhorrence all schemes for disunion, come from whatever source they may; and we congratulate the country that no Republican member of Congress has uttered or countenanced the threats of disunion as often made by the Democratic mem- bers of Congress, without rebuke and with applause from their political associates ; and we denounce those threats of disunion in case of a popular overthrow of their ascendency, as denying the vital principles of a free Government, and as an avowal of contemplated treason which it is the imperative duty of an indignant people sternly to rebuke and forever silence.
4. That the maintenance inviolate, of the rights of the States, and especially of each State, to order and control its own domestic institutions according to its own judgment ex- clusively, is essential to that balance of power on which the perfection and endurance of our political fabric depends ; and we denounce the lawless invasion by armed force of the soil of any State or Territory, no matter under what pretext, as one of the gravest of crimes.
5. That the present Democratic Administration has far ex- ceeded our worst apprehensions in the measureless subserviency to the exactions of a sectional interest, as especially evinced in its desperate exertions to force the infamous Lecompton Constitution upon the protesting people of Kansas, construing the relation between master and servant to involve an unqual- ified property in persons ; in its attempted enforcement every where, on land and sea, through the intervention of Congress and of the Federal Courts, of the extreme pretensions of a purely local interest; and in its general and unvarying abuse of the power entrusted to it by a confiding people.
6. That the people justly view with alarm the reckless ex- travagance which pervades every department of the Federal Government. That a return to right economy and accounta- bility is indispensible to arrest the plunder of the public treasury by favored partisans, while the recent startling devel- opments of frauds and corruption at the Federal metropolis show that an entire change of administration is imperatively demanded.
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POLITICAL PLATFORMS.
7. That the new dogma that the Constitution of its own force carries slavery into any or all the Territories of the United States, is a dangerous political heresy, at variance with the explicit provisions of that instrument itself, with cotempo- raneous exposition, and with legislative and judicial prece- dents, that it is revolutionary in its tendency and subversive of the peace and harmony of the country.
S. That the nominal condition of all the territory of the United States is that of freedom; that as our Republican fath- ers, when they had abolished slavery in all our national terri- tory, ordained that no person should be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, it becomes our duty by legislation, whenever such legislation is necessary, to maintain this provision of the Constitution against all attempts to violate it; and we deny the authority of Congress, or a Ter- ritorial Legislature, or of any individual, to give legal existence to slavery in any Territory of the United States.
9. That we brand the recent re-opening of the African Slave Trade, under the cover of our national flag, aided by perver- sions of judicial power, as a crime against humanity, and a burning shame to our country and age; and we call upon Congress to take prompt and efficient measures for the total and final suppression of that exercrable traffic.
10. That in the recent vetoes by their Federal Governors of the acts of the Legislatures of Kansas and Nebraska, pro- hibiting slavery in these Territories, we find a practical illustration of the boasted Democratic principles of non-inter- vention and Popular Sovereignty, embodied in the Kansas- Nebraska bill, and a demonstration of the deception and fraud involved therein.
11. That Kansas should, of right, be immediately admitted as a State under the Constitution recently formed and adopted by her people, and accepted by the House of Representatives.
12. That while providing revenue for the support of the General Government, by duties upon imports, sound policy requires such an adjustment of these imports as to encourage the development of the industrial interests of the whole country, and we commend that policy of National Exchange which secures to the working men liberal wages, agriculture remunerative prices, to merchants and manufacturers an ade-
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quate reward for their skill, labor and enterprise, and to the nation commercial prosperity and independence.
13. That we protest against any sale or alienation to others of the public lands held by actual settlers, and against any view of the free homestead policy, which regards the settlers as paupers or suppliants for public bounty, and we demand the passage by Congress of the complete and satisfactory homestead measure which has already passed the House.
14. That the National Republican party is opposed to any change in our naturalization laws, or any State Legislation, by which the rights of citizenship hitherto accorded to immigrants from foreign lands shall be abridged or impaired, and in favor of giving a full and efficient protection to the rights of all classes of citizens, whether native or naturalized, both at home and abroad.
15. That appropriations by Congress for river and harbor improvements of a national character, is required for the ac- commodation and security of an existing commerce, or au- thorized by the Constitution and justified by the obligation of the Government to protect the lives and property of its citizens.
16. That a railroad to the Pacific ocean is imperatively de- manded by the interests of the whole country; and that the Federal Government ought to render immediate and efficient aid in its construction, and that preliminary thereto, a daily overland mail should be promptly established.
17. Finally, having thus set forth our distinctive principles and views, we invite the co-operation of all citizens, however differing in other questions, who substantially agree with us, in their affirmance and support.
PLATFORM OF THE NATIONAL CONSTITUTIONAL PARTY OF 1860.
The Union, the Constitution and the Laws.
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POLITICAL PLATFORMS.
UNION PLATFORM, ADOPTED AT BALTIMORE, JUNE 8, 1864.
Resolved, That it is the highest duty of every American citizen to maintain against all its enemies, the integrity of the Union, and the paramount authority of the Constitution and laws of the United States, and that, laying all political opin- ions aside, we pledge ourselves, as Union men, animated by a common sentiment, and aiming at a common object, to do everything in our power to aid the Government in quelling, by force of arms, the rebellion now raging against its author- ity, and bringing to the punishment due to their crimes, the rebels and traitors arrayed against it.
Resolved, That we approve the determination of the Gov- ernment of the United States not to compromise with rebels or to offer any terms of peace, except such as may be based upon an unconditional surrender of their hostility, &c., and a return to their just allegiance to the Constitution and laws of the United States, and that we call upon the Government to maintain this position, and to prosecute the war with the ut- most possible vigor to the complete suppression of the rebel- lion, in full reliance upon the self-sacrifices, the patriotism, the heroic valor, and the undying devotion of the American people to their country and its free institutions.
Resolved, That slavery was the cause, and now constitutes the strength of the rebellion. and that as it must be always and everywhere hostile to the principles of Republican Gov- ernments, justice and the national safety demand its utter and complete extirpation from the soil of the Republic, and that we uphold and maintain the acts and proclamations by which the Government, in its own defence, has aimed a death blow at this gigantic evil. We are in favor, furthermore, of such an amendment to the Constitution, to be made by the people in conformity with its provisions, as shall terminate and for- ever prohibit the existence of slavery within the limits of the jurisdiction of the United States.
Resolved, That the thanks of the American people are due to the soldiers and sailors of the army and navy, who have periled their lives in defence of their country, and in vindi- cation of the honor of the flag; that the nation owes them some permanent recognition of their patriotism and their valor, and ample and permanent provision for those of their survivors who have received disabling and honorable wounds
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in the service of their country, and that the memories of those who have fallen in its defense, shall be held in grateful and everlasting remembrance.
Resolved, That we approve and applaud the political wis- dom, the unselfish patriotism and unswerving fidelity to the Constitution and the principles of American liberty with which Abraham Lincoln has discharged, under circumstances of unparalelled difficuly, the great duties and responsibilities of the Presidential office; that we approve and endorse, as demanded by the emergency and essential to the preservation of the nation, and as within the Constitution, the measures and acts which he has adopted to defend the nation against its open and secret foes; especially the Proclamation of Emanci- pation, and the employment, as Union soldiers, of men hereto- fore held in slavery, and that we have full confidence in his determination to carry these and all other Constitutional measures, essential to the salvation of the country, into full and complete effect.
Resolved, That we deem it essential to the general welfare, that harmony should prevail in the national councils, and we regard as worthy of public confidence and official trust those only who cordially endorse the principles proclaimed in these resolutions, and which should characterize the administration of the Government.
Resolved, That the Government owes to all men employed in its armies, without distinction of color, the full protection of the laws of war, and any violation of these laws and of the usages of civilized nations in the time of war, by the rebels now in arms, should be made the subject of full and prompt redress.
Resolved, That the foreign immigration, which in the past has added so much to the wealth and development of resources and increase of power to this nation, the asylum of the oppress- ed of all nations, should be fostered and encouraged by a liberal and just policy.
Resolved, That we are in favor of the speedy construction of the railroad to the Pacific.
Resolved, That the national faith is pledged for the redemp- tion of the public debt and must be kept inviolate; and that for this purpose we recommend economy and rigid responsi- bilities in the public expenditures, and a vigorous and just
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system of taxation ; that it is the duty of every loyal State to sustain the use of the national currency.
Resolved, That we approve the position taken by the Gov- ernment, that the people of the United States can never regard with indifference the attempt of European power to overthrow by force, or to supplant by fraud, the institutions of any Re- publican government on the Western Continent, and that they will view with extreme jealousy, as menacing to the peace and independence of this our country, the efforts of any such power to obtain new footholds for monarchial governments sustained by a foreign military force in near proximity to the United States.
FREMONT PLATFORM, ADOPTED AT CLEVELAND, MAY 31, 1864.
1. That the Federal Union must be preserved.
2. That the Constitution and laws of the United States must be observed and obeyed.
3. That the rebellion must be suppressed by the force of arms, and without compromise.
4. That the rights of Free Speech, Free Press, and the Habeas Corpus must be held inviolate, save in districts where martial law has been proclaimed.
5. That the rebellion has destroyed slavery, and the Fed- eral Constitution should be amended to prohibit its re-estab- lishment.
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