Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1848-02-23

The passage of the bill through the
House was but repetition of the scenes in
the Senate. The same efforts, the same ar
guments, the same appeals, were met by
that same dogged bull dog silence and the
opinion of the Attorney General. Wings,
that is, those who had any consciences,
hugged close to their bosom this opinion Of
their Attorney General. 1t proved the on
ly salvo, the only hope in this struggle for
political power.
The amendments that had been made to
the bill in the Senate, were mostly again
stricken out, and the bill came again into
the Senate, almost in its original shape
The Senate disagreed to this, and the bill
again went to tho house. Symptoms Of
restiveness now began to show themselves
among the majority the House There
were'a few men who had not sinned so
long and SO often but what they would yet
still have some compunctions Of conscience.
The Senate disagreed to most ofthe House
amendments, and the bill once more went
to the House. There several members
had become seriously disposed to retrace
their steps; and it had become evident that
the bill, as it then was, could not pass
the House. A motion was made to
reconsider the vote on the passage
Of the bill in the House. That mo-
ton was decided out of order, and to ge:
at their object, message was sent to the
Senate requesting reconsideration of the
vote on their disagreement to the House a.
| mendment. The democrats then began to
suspect foul play, and only on the full and
open pledge, voluntarily given On the part
of the majority, that the object of recon-
sideratlon was to enable the House to re-
trace its steps, was the vote to reconsider
suffered to be taken. Sunday interviewed;
tory wings were again patched up; the
House now again insisted upon most OF its
amendments. The motion to reconsider
on the passage Of the bill was Withdrawn
in the House, and the bill was once more
before the Senate almost in its original
shape.
The Democratic members had watched
anxiousl y the progress of events-they had
received information strongly tending, that
on Monday morning the bill should bo
passed in violation Of the pledges given Oh
Saturday night previous. 1t now became
matter of life and death to the right Of the
majority to govern, right forever endan-
gered by the bill before US, and on our ac-
ton hung the fate Of our Consttution-the
sacredness ofour oaths-the cause Of the
people against corporate privileges-the
interests of the laboring thousands against
those Of the idle few We looked all a.
round US for relief. No appeal could be
made 10 the Courts Of Justice. No! the
perpetrators of the outrage would most like
y be the Judges next winter in the Gener-
| oil Assembly, if an appeal was to be made
| there all legal remedies were then gone
our arguments and our appeals had prov
| ed in vain! What then was left to us?-
The rights of a freeman TO resist tyran-
ny! That right we have exercised. We
have left the Senate Chamber, and thereby
deprived an arbitrary majority, Of the
power to do further mischief. The pow
| er of the nineteen perjured tyrants is at an
end, and once more the freemen Of Ohio
breathe fresr and deeper. -"
The remedy is now in the hands Of the
people. The democrats have struggled
valiantly but hopelessly for four years a.
gainst invasions of every description upon
the rights ofthe people. Law upon low
went upon your statue books, each more
aggravated in its character, all having one
tendency to destroy that political equality,
upon which alone rests the fabric of our
democratic government. Rights were
granted to wealth and denied to labor; bur-
thens were placed upon labor and wealth
was exempted from them. Link after link
was added to the chain with which TO bind
the political Sampson, the democratic par
ty of Ohio; one moro link was necessary
to fasten the chain, and helpless would
have stood before mocking whiggery. this
giant growing rppidly in the favor of the
people of Ohio. That link we have snap
ped asunder; it will give breathing spell
to the honest people Of Ohio-to pause-to
retrace their steps and once more to send
the ship ofState a1oat, its helm entrusted
to democratic guidance; may it find the ha-
ven of safety, and may new constitution
give US equality of rights aod equality of
burthens, as the great groundwork of our
political regeneration. --
Nor have we been wanting in careful
and deep reflection, before we took our f.
nal determination. Broken pledges, the
stern necessity ofthe case, q violated con-
stitution, and the absence of any other le-
gal remedy, at last compelled US reluctant
| ly to take this, our present position. -4.a..
And even this we are willing to surren.
der, whenever reason, justice and honesty
shall have again resumed q partial sway
over the minds Of the party now having a
majority in the General Assembly. This
will appear to you plain, on reading the
following declaration, signed by US, and
which was presented to the Senate by one
of US before leaving the chamber: