The legislature of 1844-5, submitted another call to be voted upon in 1846, at which time the proposition carried by a vote of 58,339 to 23,013.

Delegates were elected on the third Monday in April (19th), and the convention, composed of 162 members, assembled at Springfield, June 7, 1847. It was an unwieldy body in point of numbers, being larger than any of its successors, yet it contained its full proportion of the best talent which the State could furnish. Many of its members had already attained merited distinction in the service of the State. Among these may be mentioned the following: Archibald Williams, an able lawyer, who had been a valuable member of the legislature and was subsequently appointed a judge of the United-States district court in Kansas; Francis C. Sherman, who had also served as a law-maker and who afterward became a leading politician in and mayor of Chicago; Zadoc Casey, who had been six times chosen to congress; Walter B. Scates, who had formerly occupied a seat upon the bench of the supreme court of the State;' Col. John Dement, an old ranger and for many years a member of the legislature and more than once appointed state treasurer; Cyrus Edwards, a distinguished member of the state senate and a leading whig from Madison County.

Morgan County sent an able delegation composed of Samuel D. Lockwood,* William Thomas,† Newton Cloud, and James Dunlap.

Sangamon County also sent a strong delegation, at the head of which was that eminent jurist, Stephen Trigg Logan. The others were Ninian W. Edwards-son of Gov. Ninian Edwards -an efficient legislator and public officer; James H. Matheny, then an able young lawyer and at present the popular judge of

* Judge Lockwood came to the State from New York with Wm. H. Brown in 1818, and for thirty years had occupied a prominent and influential position, having been on the supreme bench since 1824; and no man stood higher in respect of purity of character, sound judgment, and eminent ability. He retired to private life in 1849, and died at Batavia, Illinois, April 13, 1874.

+ William Thomas came to Jacksonville, Illinois, from Bowling Green, Kentucky, in 1826. His abilities were soon recognized by the people, who frequently returned him to the general assembly, where he proved an intelligent, safe, and reliable legislator. He still (August, 1889,) survives at the age of 86 years, an upright and honored citizen, who has accomplished much in his day and generation for the good of the State.

CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION OF 1847.

555

his county to which position he has been four times elected; and John Dawson previously a member of four general assemblies.

Among other distinguished members may be mentioned: Thomas A. Marshall, Richard B. Servant, and John D. Whiteside. Of those who sat in that convention, the following members were afterward elected to congress; James W. Singleton, Jesse O. Norton, Stephen A. Hurlbut, James Knox, Abner C. Harding, Anthony Thornton, and Willis Allen- also to the bench, Thompson Campbell; and the following as circuit judges: Henry M. Wead, David M. Woodson, David Davis-later promoted to the bench of the U.-S. supreme court and still later chosen U.-S. senator, Wm. A. Minshall, Alexander M. Jenkins, Onslow Peters, and Chas. H. Constable. John M. Palmer of Macoupin County, was subsequently elected governor, and David L. Gregg, of Cook County, secretary of state. Among the delegates who afterward became prominent in state politics as members of the legislature were Win. R. Archer and Wm. A. Grimshaw of Pike County, George W. Armstrong of LaSalle, Nathan M. Knapp of Scott, Linus E. Worcester of Greene, Samuel Snowden Hayes of White, Selden M. Church of Winnebago, and Henry E. Dummer of Cass County.

Although party lines were not strictly drawn in the selection of delegates, the democrats were careful to maintain in the convention the supremacy which they held in the State, electing 92 out of the 162 members. Newton Cloud was chosen president of the convention, Henry W. Moore, secretary, and John A. Wilson, sergeant-at-arms. It soon became apparent that the members intended to proceed deliberately and to make a thorough revision of the old constitution. The declaration of fundamental principles in the Bill of Rights was, however, copied almost verbatim from the old instrument - the only changes. therein being those providing that the military shall be in strict subordination to the civil power, that "no soldier in time of peace shall be quartered in any house without consent of the owner, nor in time of war, except in manner prescribed by law;" and the addition of a section prohibiting dueling.

The tendency of popular thought and sentiment in this country has always been to curtail the powers of the legislative

branch of the government, while enlarging those of the people. It is therefore not surprising that the most exciting and interesting discussions in the convention were those relative to the definition of governmental powers and the regulation of the elective franchise, these being, as it must be remembered, the prevailing issues between the two dominant parties.

The debates in many instances were somewhat heated and the speakers indulged in offensive personalities, notably in the discussion between Messrs. Thompson Campbell and O. C. Pratt of Jo Daviess County, which resulted in a mutual agreement between these gentlemen to submit the issue to the arbitrament of the sword or pistol on the field of honor near St. Louis. The intervention of the police prevented any effusion of blood, but only a miraculous interposition could have checked the effervesence of mutual spleen which found an outlet in a wordy but harmless correspondence.

In providing for the election by the people, of the judges of the supreme court, as well as of all the state officers, the convention went much farther than had been anticipated. This innovation upon the ancient and stereotyped methods of judicial appointments by the governor or legislatures of the respective states, was initiated by the State of Georgia in an amendment to her constitution in 1812, providing that the justices of the inferior courts should be elected for a term of four years by the people, the selection of the judges of the supreme court being still confided to the general assembly. The first constitution of Indiana, 1816, provided that the judges of the supreme court should be appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate; the presidents of the circuit-courts to be chosen by the legislature, and the two associate circuit-judges elected by the people of the several counties. Georgia, in her second constitution adopted in 1832, was also the first state to take from the governor or general assembly the power of appointing supreme and circuit-court judges and give it to the people. The next state to adopt the new system was New York, followed by the then, new State of Iowa in 1846. Whether the change has been a wise one admits of arguments on both sides, and may be still considered a moot question. It has been followed, since 1848, in the revisions of twenty-seven states. Virginia,

THE CONSTITUTION OF 1848.

557

however, in her constitution of 1864, returned to the method of election by the legislature, as did Mississippi in 1868. The judges are still elected by the legislature in the states of Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, and Georgia-the latter having returned to the old system. In eight states the judges are appointed by the governor, subject to confirmation by the council or senate, as follows: Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Florida, Louisiana-and supreme court judges only, in Mississippi and New Jersey.

Another tendency in those states which have adopted the popular elective system is, to extend the term of service of the judges, especially those of the court of last resort, which has been increased in New York from eight to fourteen years, in Pennsylvania from fifteen to twenty-one years, in Missouri from six to ten years, in California from ten to twelve, and in Maryland from ten to fifteen years.

The powers of the general assembly were further curtailed in the following particulars: that divorces should be granted only for such causes as might be specified by general law, and not by the legislature directly; that no extra compensation should be granted to any public officer, agent, servant, or contractor, after the service had been rendered or the contract entered into; that no lotteries should be authorized for any purpose; that the charter of the state bank, or any other bank heretofore existing in the State should not be revived or extended. Moreover, remembering the financial embarassments into which the body politic had been plunged by adopting a hastily-conceived system of internal improvements-the State was prohibited from contracting any indebtedness exceeding fifty thousand dollars and even that amount only "to meet casual deficits or failures in revenue." Neither was the credit of the State "in any manner to be given to, nor in aid of, any individual association or corporation."

The features of an executive term of four years and the ineligibility of the governor to an immediate reëlection were preserved. The cumbrous appendage of the first constitution, called the Council of Revision, adopted from the State of New York, was abolished, and in lieu thereof the governor was vested with a qualified veto power.

The advocates of a restricted right of suffrage, limiting its exercise to white male citizens, as contradistinguished from inhabitants, and thus disfranchising unnaturalized foreigners who enjoyed that privilege under the constitution of 1818, succeeded in engrafting upon the new instrument their favorite article. The laws of the different states have not been at all uniform on this subject-new commonwealths have generally extended the privilege to all inhabitants. Actual citizenship is required in the following states: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Iowa, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Virginia, and West Virginia. In all the others citizenship or a declaration of intention to become a citizen is necessary. Kentucky is the only state requiring a residence of two years; twenty-six require one year; eight, six months; one, four months; and two, Michigan and Maine, three months.

The cry of economy and retrenchment in administering the state government, which had been heard for so many years, led the convention into the commission of its gravest error. This was in attempting practically to limit the sessions of the general assembly arbitrarily to forty-two days; the provision being that two dollars per day for the first forty-two days' attendance, and one dollar per day for each day's attendance thereafter, should be allowed to the members as a compensation for their services, "and no more." The time specified for a general session was entirely too short, and the amount allowed members was altogether too little. In fact, so distrustful was the convention of the legislature that the former body determined to fix all salaries of state-officers and judges in the constitution, and all of them at a parsimoniously low figure. Thus the governor was given $1500; the supreme-court judges, $1200; circuit-judges, $1000; state auditor, $1000; treasurer and secretary of state, $800 each. These would have been absurdly low rates to fix even by statute, which might have been amended in two years; but to place them in the fundamental law, to remain irrevocably fixed, was certainly either to invite its evasion or to stimulate a desire for an early change. As will be seen hereafter, it was a very ill-considered and costly attempt at economy and reform.