Wisconsin herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1846-1849, 1847-02-20

tment is violated III us very orgai'iIt-
ltion. But. sir.it will not so opesate,
lin my opinion, and the people will be
so indignant nj any attempt to coerce
them, on so sacred a measure, that
many, very many who were hesita-
ting, would vote against it for this very
reason. Are the people to be pcrsecu-
ted and punished. because they hon
estly believe that il is not Cor the best
interests Of the country TO vote Tor 1t!
1t cannot be. We shall not undertake
to carry measures with so high hand.
1t is very observable that mems o.
pinions as to the result Of the vote of
the people upon this instrument, are
very much Influenced by their own
views Of its merits. 1t will be proper
then. to discuss briefly those parts Of
it 10 which the greatest objections
have been made. But before doing
so. it seems necessary to notice some
preliminary matters.
Having been member of the con-
vention, | may be excused for speak
ing briefly of my own course. During
the progress Of the convention, sever
al measures passed which | did not
like; still hoped, as did every other
member. that after we had once gone
through with our work, we should at
the close make a thorough revision.
and strike out, or greatly modify. those
parts which were most Objectionable.
But when saw that this hope was
vain. and other measures yet more OBJ
noxious were adopted, ! resigned and
returned home, And when after
wards. saw that many Of the MEM
bers of the convention. and some ofthe
presses in the Territory. had recon-
Imended the adoption Of the constitu-
ton, and when / thought Of The ex-
sense ofanother convention the delay
of our admission into the Union. the
uncertainty of obtaining better con-
stitution. for | had been told that those
measures. which seemed to be most in
furious, were very popular; Ihesitated.
But when | found that those same
measures were received by the people
generally with utter condemnation, and
Il, was suggested that convention con-
sisiing Of but few in number could he
called at n small expense to amend the
present constitution, with the moral
certainty of greatly improving it, and
without any delay to our becoming a
State, the path of duty seemed plain
and bright could not have voted
for The constitution without many mis-
givings and computations, but ] can
oppose il with my whole soul.
/ would not speak disrespcctfuIv Of
the late convention, or Of any of its
members, but il labored under many dii-
ficulties which all saw and lamented.
1t was too numerous Many writers
have observed, that large bodies Of
people collected together are much
more. cxcitable than smaller ones. The
emotions and passions Of men seem TO
be as itwere contagious. It was Of
ten remarked in our session, that if
one or two men became excited. the
excitement extended over the whole
body. The majority of the articles
which were adopted, were passed un-
der the previous question, which pre-
cluded all amendment or modification,
and members were compelled to vote
for them as they were, or have nothing
at all to say upon the subject. Business
progressed very slowly. When two
months Of the session had elapsed, the
utmost limit TO which any of US tho't
it woul5 extend, much remained to be
done. Thus many parts Of the con-
stitution were adopted without any
calm discussion or dclibcration.
There were Too many standing COM
mittces. voted for the number a.
doptcd, not forseeing the evils we af-
forwards experienced. Each COM
mittee was necessarily small in num-
bers. contained but comparatively lit
tie talent, had not the opinion of the
convention represented by its mem
bers. and its report was tco apt to be
the mere individual opinion Of the
chairman. When an article was once
reported, it was often difficult to change
1t. for sustaining the report was some
times considered the same thing as
sustaining the chairman. Under this
feeling, one article now in the consti-
tuition passed through all its stages
without the slightest amendment. al
though | doubt not that large major
iiy were entirely opposed TO its pro-
visions. Owing to the number Of the