Portage sentinel. [volume] (Ravenna, Ohio) 1845-1854, 1851-05-26

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] ject Therefore, to take iiom courts, the
/ powers which they have ,ha etofore#ese1-
csed upnn rhe subject, and to oremove doubts
about the proper construction OF tie above
provision, the new Constitution oi Chlo, FOL
owing the example OF New York, Indiana,
/ Michigan. Kentucky, Wisconsin, Iowa and
California, contains the above explicit
eareat on this suhiec'.
Another sect on of the new Constitution,
tlnay with pride, be coutrasted With the cor
responding one in the present Constitution
it is that guaranteeing freedom from ar
rest for debt. The two sections oa that
subject are here present d:
OLD CONSTITUTION. NEW CONSTITUTION
j The person of debt Mo person shall be
I or, where there is not imprisoned for debt in
| strong presumption ofany civil acioa, on
fraud shall not be con mense OF final process,
/ tinued in prison, after unless in case of fraud'
delivering up his es-
tate for the benefit of his sr
creditor or creditors, in 49,. ~
such manner as shall be
| prescribed by law
/ The present Constitution it will be OBJ
observed, permits the arrest of a person for
/ debt put provides for his discharge except
in ca ses Of fraud - whereas, the new Con-
-stitution prohibits the arrest except in cases
of fraud.
Another provision concerning the admin
/ istration of criminal justice of the State, is
worthy Of note | here present the two
corresponding sections upon this subject:
OLD CONSTITUTION. NEW CONSTITUTION.
THAT no person ar Except in cases of
rested or confined in impeachment and cases
Jail, shall be treated ARISING in the army and
with unnecessary rig navy. or in the militia,
Or or be put to answer when in actual service,
any criminal charge. in time of war; or pub
! bat by presentment in lie dangers and in cases
'dictnreat, er inpeach-I Iofpetit larceny and 9TH
mcnt.o er interior offences; no
person shall be held to
answer for capital or
otherwise Il ia IN o Il
crime, unless on present
ment or Indictment of q
grand jury.7
Under the present Constitution, it will be
observed that every person accused Of
crime. no matter how lriflng, has right
10 assist on in al, and in most cases must
submit to an indictment by a grand jury.
That involves grea, delay and expense,
and often produces great Injustice. both to
the Individual accused and TO the State
The new Constitution on the contrary, al
lows The Legislature to- provide summary
and speedy way Of dsposing of cases of
petty lareehies and other inferior offences
which hitherto. have consumed so much of
The Time of our grand juries and higher.
courts and which have ever been very ex.
pensiye to counties. This provision alone,
with proper legislation upon the subject,
will save the State CT Ohio fifty il not an
hundred thousand dollars year.
There is one other provision Of the first
Importance, and which very properly finds
a place in the Bill Of Rights, to which, in
conclusion, | will briefly refer. 1t asserts
and reserves, as to the future, the slprem-
acy Of The General Assembly over the leg
islalion ofthe State. /, is in these words:
mo specinl privileges or immunit.es
shall ever be granted that may not be al.
tored, revoked or repealed by The General
Assembly,"
= The phraseo!ogy of the sentence, is per-
maps open 10 criticism, but it contains n
principle vital 10 republican Govern.
NEXT, and which never chould have been
and never will again be surrendered =
This section tnge:her with another, Of
kindred nature, reserving the power to re
peal ac.s of incorporation hereafter grant
ed, will have greater influence uron the
future legislation OF Ohio, than any other
two sections ofthe new Constitution. This
subject occasioned much and very angry
deba:e in the Convention, but in the form
in which these sections now appear, they
meet with no serious resistance. Ii is n
subject upon which there has been much
misrepresentation, and when reach nnoth-
er division of the Constitution, where this
question more properly comes up, shall
present to the people some facts some truth
upon this subject.
have gone over the Bill Of Rights
the most interesting part Of any Constitu-
tion. It con!ains twenty sections the old
one contains twenty eight. The new and
additional guarantees in respect to the rights
OF conscience, property, personal liberty
and Legislative Supremacy, TO which |
have referred, are of great importance, and
render it much more valuable Than the old
Bill OF Rights, which, however, has been
said 10 be monument of the wisdom Of its
trainers, more durable than marble, and
which has been the model for the Bill Of
Rights Of nearly every American Constitu
tion that has been framed within The last
/ fifty years.
+ shall review the Legislative depart
men; next week, as that comes next in
order. l. CASE.
New Constitution.
Having in my FIRST communication on
this subject reviewed the Bill of Rights,
/ propose in this, TO draw attention 10 the
LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT..
This in every government is altogether
tho most important function. In point Of
power il overlops every other department
/ of the Constitution The government of