istration was 'wholly in the infancy of political mistakes". By the notorious gag rule" of the house, the right of petition was denied to the opponents of slavery for several years. There was no power to punish the house for violating the constitution, but public sentiment be came so strong that it was finally heeded and the rule repealed.

Article VI of the constitution provides that legislative, executive, and judicial officers both of the United States and of the several states shall be bound by oath or affirmation to support the constitution but no religious test shall be required. The constitution of Missouri, 1820, provided that no bishop, priest, clergyman, or teacher of any religious persuasion should be eligible to membership in either house of the legislature, or to hold any office of trust, except the office of justice of the peace. This provision was held to violate the provision of Article VI, therefore vold.

The states are free to establish a church, restrict the press, or deny the right of petition.

ART. II. A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right

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the liberty of speech, or of the the press. In all criminal prosecutions for libel, the truth may be given in evidence to the jury, and if it shall appear to the jury, that the matter charged as libelous is true, and was published with good motives and for justifiable ends, the party shall be acquitted.

The question is often asked why the states adopt provisions that are identical with those found in the amendments to the national constitution. The courts have held that the amendments impose restrictions upon congress only, hence it is necessary that each state re-enacts these clauses if it wishes to limit the power of its government.

Many persons prefer the short, terse expressions of the national constitution to the more elaborate clauses of the state constitutions.

Section 1 does not prevent the legislature from establishing a day of rest, since such an act is a municipal or police regulation. Nor does it violate this provision that the Christian Sunday has been chosen for the day of

rest.

SEC. 4. The people have the right to bear arms for their defense and security; but stand

of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.

ART. III. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner; nor in time of war but in a manner to be prescribed by law.

The oppression of the British government was so grievous that the fear of the use of tyrannical power is still in the people and they insist on safe-guarding themselves even against a government of their own making. The attempts of the mother country to prohibit the colonial militia and the passage of the mutiny act are responsible for these provisions. The right to bear arms is given to the people as a whole and not to the individual, and the arms must be "such as are suitable for the general defense of the community against invasion or oppression; and the secret carrying of those suited merely to deadly individual encounters may be prohibited."

The maxim of the common law, "every man's house is his castle", is, in Article III, made part of the constitution.

ART. IV. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches

ing armies, in time of peace, are dangerous to liberty, and shall not be kept up; and the military shall be in strict subordination to the civil power.

SEC. 13. No soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house, without the consent of the owner; nor, in time of war, except in the manner prescribed by law.

These provisions have never been violated by the government of Ohio, and probably never will be. "Nevertheless a declaration of the indefeasible right of the citizen can never be wholly needless

"Owner" means the occupant in possession of the house.

Section 4 states a fundamental principle of true democracy when it declares that the "mili. tary shall be in strict subordination to the civil power". In a monarchy the military is in complete control of the government.

This puts the general assembly in complete control of all questions of war, of arming and equipping the militia and leaves the governor, the commander-in-chief, to carry out its directions.

SEC. 14. The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and possessions, against unreasonable

and seizures, shall not be violated; and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.

In law, search warrants are divided into two classes, general and special. The former is issued without the name of the place to be searched or the thing to be seized. This enables an officious officer to harass any one he pleases and to commit robbery in the name of the law. Just before the revolution, Great Britain, clearly contrary to the law, issued general warrants, called writs of assistance, which were used to intimidate the people. The effect has been that this safe-guard is in every state, as well as in the national, constitution.

ART. V. No person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service, in time of war or public danger, nor shall any person be subject for the same offence to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled, in any

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searches and seizures shall not be violated; and no warrant shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, particularly describ ing the place to be searched and the person and the things to be seized.

"A warrant is an authority to do some judicial act, a power derived from some court to take some person or property." Slaves were never treated as coming under this provision.

According to the Dred! Scott" decision the slave had no. political right, he was only a a matter of property, a chattel..

SEC. 10. Except in cases of impeachment, and cases arising in the army and navy, or in the militia when in actual service in time of war or public danger, and in cases of petit larceny and other inferior offences, no person shall be held to answer for a capital or otherwise infamous crime, unless on presentment or indictment of a grand jury. In any trial, in any court, the party accused

criminal case, to be a witness against himself; nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

ART. VI. In all criminal prosecutions the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the state and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor; and to have the assistance of counsel for his defence.

shall be allowed to appear and defend in person and with counsel; to demand the nature and cause of the accusation against him, and to have a copy thereof; to meet the witnesses face to face, and to have compulsory process to procure the attendance of witnesses in his behalf, and a speedy public trial by an impartial jury of the county or district, in which the offense is alleged to have been committed; nor shall any person be compelled, in any criminal case, to be a witness against himself, or be twice put in jeopardy for the same offense.

SEC. 19. Private property shall ever be held inviolate, but subservient to the public welfare. When taken in time of war or other public exigency imperatively requiring its immediate seizure, or for the purpose of making or repairing roads, which shall be open to the public, without charge, a compensation shall be made to the owner, in money; and in all other cases, where private property shall be taken for public use, a compensation

therefor shall first be made in money, or first secured by a deposit of money; and such compensation shall be assessed

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'No person" referred originally to free white people. Negroes were often proceeded against without indictment. But since the fourteenth amendment the expression, "no person," undoubtedly has a broader meaning.

An indictment is a written charge of crime presented to a grand jury and by them certified to be a "true bill", or "not a true bill ".

In time of peace no one, except a member of the army or navy, can be tried for treason, piracy, or felony unless an indictment has first been lodged against him and found to be a true bill by the grand jury. But congress has power to provide for the punishment of military and naval offenses in the manner practiced by civilized nations.

If a person is tried for a crime and acquitted by a petit jury and again put on trial for the same offense then he has been "twice put in jeopardy".

ART. VII. In suits of common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved; and no fact

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by a jury, without deduction for benefits to any property of the owner.

The right to take public property for public use is called the right of eminent domain. In 1215 the English people embodied the common law on the subject of eminent domain in the Great Charter as follow:

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'No freeman shall be taken or imprisoned or disseized of his freehold, or liberties, or otherwise destroyed but by lawful judgment of his peers, or by the law of the land."

But this does not provide compensation as required by American constitutions. There is no provision for taking private property for private use in Ohio's constitution.

The right of eminent domain exists in state and nation, and is sometimes delegated to private corporations to be exercised in the execution of work from which the public will receive some benefit. Navigable rivers or lakes cannot become private property.

There is no provision in the Ohio constitution concerning the English common law. In 1805 the legislature passed an act making the common law