Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1849-12-17
The Hamilton County Case.

There can be no division Of coua,ies, for
,te pdrposes Of Tepresehtation, under The
copsti.ulion OF The State OF Ohio.
L Th6Nxpfessions- used in the constitu-
don sslalsss 10 The apporlionmen. Of sena.
sorial representation, are these, "appor:
siensd apong the several counties or dis
tricts.nn Arfiele /, Section 5. 'fhat the
words, ,scounlles aud s,dislricis"a are iden-
tical and cosncident IS apparent, from the
fact thai ,hsfe IS no comma after the wesd
scountie,, y lad the, trainers Of the con-
ssitution 'contempl plated' that a county might
be.deylded, they would have used language
to.convey that idea-but they have used
language which conveys just the opposite
weahlpg. The Senators are 70 Pc appor-
toned among the counties, and he who
maintains that they may he apportioned
Ai,onk parts Of counties, must first prove
ihAt part d as great as the whole.
.sNow the. appor,ionnent law of 1s4e
xiyes .ihs county of Hamilton two Sena.
tors. TO mike man a Senator of a
county, il is necessary for him 10 be elected
by ne peopte of the whole county. A
person ciaiping an election on the ground
that he has q minority OF the votes in GER
.sln lownships, or wards Of county, is not
the Senator of the county.
The party therefore wi,i;h attempted to
dsmemher Hamilton county did. wrong.
And nov, IN order TO secure the fruits OF
this Wong, they are disturbing the peace
and hood order Of the. ssPte, inpeding the
course course y Of Legislation, npd stopping the
wheels Of government... There is not in,
law 1 principle of more importance than
5hi.: maj, shall take advantage Of
lis hiss owri ssn wrong The conduct Of the
whias il, ihe Senafe is, in direct violation of
shis principie. They are attempting TO,
nike adyan.age Of their own wrong.
9. But Thai the trainers Of the. constitu'
tion did hot intend that, copnaes ,sheAld be
divided in the election OF Senator'S, is ap-
parent from the superintendent made IN
she constitution itself. By ihei7 18th article
ofthe Schedule 10 10 fhe constitution, Ham
lion county hasf,nr Senator'S Ross coun
" no Senators, w ashiaeton county two
s<sonat6rs, Jefferson county TWO Senators.
Ia ii moi evident, that il the trainers of The
iconssilu,ion of. The State Of. Ohio, had in:
,epded % give The Legislature the power of
cutting up county into districts, they
sseuid have set the eyamplel " hat Is the
inferencel That they did not intend the
county to be SO divided md dismembered.
On, whate principle, then, can man who
has ssceiyed a majority ofthe votes ofthe
Osopie ot onlya portion of county, claim
sosbe /, Senator. ss ,ss.8..
= hs constitution Of The State Of Ohio
was f.iished. md published 10 the world on
th5 79;A day. of November, a. 2: 1900
sFor forty seven years il has been the 50.
pretne law Of the State, under which we
have grown in population, resources and
.ss,arai plwer. For forty seven years the.
isatsa,ors.have been elected by Counties
No disturbance, no difficulty, no inconve.
nience has resulted frpn this mode of ap-
portaonment and election. Il was the
mode OF apporlionment, and election LAID
dsswn By. lhe trainers II our constitution.
No serlt,us attempt had ever been made to
sclaanae il, or il made had proved abortiye,
s6scause il was unconstitutional. The Pee-
pls we're satisfied with it. lss9 zs
.sa5a Is ~, however. some new light broke
llpensa set Of politicians who happened to
IS ID power Contrary to the langiage OF
lie ccopssai.ption. contrary 70 the usages Of
hrly s. seven yedfs, they attempted 10 change
lhs'lsode Of appppof,ionlnent and election
Ia dismemherl o ceunly-tos Introduce
siiew eleaent Of eoatentioninso the politics
Ola Slaie, and to distract the peace and
.ofdsr whichihad heretofore reigned in our
,Lsgisls tive hnl!s. -. -. - ...s.s
il tafs disturbance might have been
spreyented bysubnmitiing The question OF
.A revision Of the constitution 10 the people,
Nilo,s,f they thought best, would have pro
sided Tor the division Of counties into dis
.frlc.ssbu, they appear 10 have been un-
willing 10 submit il TO that tribunal, and in
violation Of dsage and rule Of construction
d old as the constitution itself, undertook,
Without warrant, 70 distnember county
Spokesman. siss.ssg Az4szs fss 80