The Kalida venture. [volume] (Kalida, Ohio) 1841-1865, 1847-04-02

wv S''e'ioh, -"'Hcu,F3 uaVlnB eyes see mol,
and ears hear not, "are bowed down TO and
worshipped, ill none other are deemed able
TO save To the government all eyes are
directed; by it all The ills Of life are to he
dspeled, and from il all blessings to flow.
Not bridge can be erected, nor highway
laid out, nor turnpike graded without the
Intervention of The legislature, Hercules is
always invoked, and god brought upon the
stage even when there is no nodus verify OF
such agency. The "let alone polcyn that
first and most ennoblng Of all political
maxirs, which teaches man TO rely mainly
upon the powers and attributes OF his own
nature. and 10 distrust the omnipotence Of
government TO dispel evils and create bless
ngs, is cast aside, and soul-debasing pros
traton before political and corporate or
ganization, substituted in its stead. | say
nothing of the cost to the people. The evil
strikes deeper: the corruption reaches thai
which is more delicate than the purse; and
there is no medicine nor surgery equal 10 The
cure.
But besides the excess Of legislation, much
of II is necessarily has'y, and, worst of all,
|
unstable The law of Yesterday is annulcd
to-day; and one Legislature meets only TO
set aside tho acts Of lis predecessor. The
sound of the hammers, tiakering peipetualy
at the laws, is heard at all hours in the halls
Of the Legislature. Acts amendatory, sup
Elementary, constructive, declaratory, repeal
ing, explanatory, are piled upsn acts, till moi
unirequently the parts in force have 10 be
traced back through ten successive volumes,
and meantime every thing like uniformity
and certainty is lost, and courls, lawyers and
litigans foundering in sea of conflicting
and contradictory legislation, arc driven alike
10 despair. No man-no, even the legal
profession can keep up with the striding pre-
gress oflaw-makng. Gases are begun under
one statute, heard upon second, and de-
cided upon a third. Is not all this an evil
and an oppression not TO be endured? But
it is fastened upon you by tho constitution
it is ordained and established as part of the
fundamental law of the state and the RENE
dy is through that measure only, which with
as earnest entreaiy as ever came from hu-
man lips, l now urge upon the house 10
adopt. THERE is NO OTHER REMEDY for evils
which are coruptng the people, and poison.
ing the fountain of legislation. Hele, in
this remedy alone, is there enough, amply
enough TO compensate for all the cost and
hazard Of u reorganization of our political
system And implorc gentlemen as they
love liberty, as they reverence, and would
land down our free institutions to their
children unimpaired, not to defeat this bill.
Mr.. V. then said that there were many
other evils and defects in substance in the
constitution, which would need remedy
but he would pass TO the consideration OF
those which, though in matter Of form, ar.
rangement and style, were yet not 10 be dis
regarded. He then took up the constitution
reading and commenting at some length
upon sections two, four, seven, nine, nineteel
and tweniy-six, Of the first article; and upoI
article four, article seven section five; ant
sections six and twenty.seven, ofarticle eigh
more minutely and earnestly upon the
seventh section of the first article, showing
that so carelessly was this as well as ethe
sections, drawn up, that it literally excluded
every person from the Senate " who is citi
zen of the United States" or who " shall
have resided two years in the county or dis
trict Immediately proceeding the election;' y
or who shall have paid state or county
tax" unless such person " shall have been
absent on the public business of the United
States or Of this Stale," in which event he
might, if not a citizen of the United States
be eligible to the Senate, though he had re
sided the two years preceding his election
in the county or districts Mr.. v. then pro
ceededj aae F~-41g ll
The necessity and propriety Of chan &c
in the constitution of this State are so read
lily and universally admitted, that have
spent too much time, perhaps, in speaking
TO this point of my argument. But | desired
to present them the more wildly, yea, r
living light before the members Of tbi:
House, because no mere cold conviction e
assent ofjudgmen., feared, could command
their support 10 this measure, without an
accompanying impulse from the will
Scarce one man who has spent one mo,
ment's reflection upon this great question
but will tell you, 81 admit tho necessity OF
amendment, but the time is not favorable ,
Sir, when will the time be favorable, if moi
now? Within forty-four years-since the
formation Of the present constitution, Roi
less than Eve and twenty, perhaps thirty con-
stitutions have boen either reorganized OF
adopted anew. Scarce one State of the
"old thirleen," but has changed its funda.
mental law, and some among them twice OF
three times Massachusetts, old sober con.
servative Massachusetts, where change and
progress in politics, are feared as the breath
of the pestilence, has amended laws. Vir-
ginia and Pennsylvania, also, have done
likewise, and Virginia is convulsed now
again by the efforts of her reformers toward