The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1857-02-28

Veto Of the Governor.
Gentlemen Of the House Of Representatives:
BY authority of the Twenty-6rst Section
of the Fourth Article of the Constitution, I
herewith return to the House of Representa-
tives, in which it originated, the bill enti-
tied An Act to create Senatorial and Repre-
sentative Districts and apporton the repre-
sentation in the General Assembly of this |
State, together with my objections to the |
Law.
Waving, for the present, the question !
whether an act which, this does, makes !
such unusual apportonment that three vot- |
ers in one Senatorial District, las in the /
eleventh. are more than equal to four in an
other, (as in the sixteenth) and that five |
voters in one representative district Gas in !
the twenty-sevcnth) shall DC more than equal
to nine in another, (as in the twenty-sixth)
with numerous similar instances, can in any
lust sense be said to accord with a constitu-
ton which declares that the number of Sc
majors and representatives shall be appor-
toned among the several counties and dis
tricts, to be established by law according to
the number Of white inhabitants and waiv-
ing, also, the double representation given in
the Senate for the next General Assembly to
certain counties, and of misrepresentation
Of othe.s s, to an extent far beyond any ap-
parent necessity in the case, pass to other
features Of the bill even more obviously OBJ
jectionablc.
| In my view Of the constitution, no county
having the existing ratio of population can
be Joined with another county or counties
in forming districts.
! The express provision that counties con-
tanning population of not more than one
fourth over the existing ratio, shall form Sc
parate districts" &C., does to my mind ex-
! cude the idea that counties containing less
1 or more than the ratio, or even one ratio
with surplus greater than fourth, may
be joined with another county, and thus be
deprived OF any separate representative.
This view is not adopted, but entirely vio-
| lated ~ this bill Were it not that con-
trary practice has prevailed through two
appointments, I should not hesitate to
withhold my assent to this bill on that ground
alone.
At the present session the new county of
Douglas has been established, subject to the
contingency Of popular vote to be taken
in March next. No provision is made either
in the bill for establishing said county, IN
the bill under consideration for attaching
said county to any Senatorial or Representa-
tive district, or for, in any way, securing to
! the people of said county any representative
to the General Assembly. 1t is nothing that
the organization of the county depends upon
a contingency; there should have been at
I least a contingent provision securing the
people that share Of representation in case
Of the organiZaiion-espec as that Or
ganization is likely to be made, and that too
so long before the next regular session Of
the General Assembly.
In thus leaving a portion of the people
unreprcsented, it viii scarcely be contended
that the bill! is constitutional.
1t is also true that at the present session
a new town has been established by law in
/ the County of Cook, called Lake View, which
is not included in the Senatorial District by
this bill. For this reason 1t is liable to the
same objection, or greater If any difference
as II Is IN relation TO the County OF Douglas.
Ii may DC doubted whether, under the
Constitution, city can be divide ! into five
representative districts, as the City Of Chi
cago IS attempted to be, in and by this bill.
] This view is manifest by the fact that there
is no Law, constitutional or statuary to by
which the enumersto OF the inhabitants Of
the separate parts may be taken, to enable
an apportionment among them 10 be made
accorti ing TO the number of white inhabi-
tants
The law incorporating the city of Chicago
defines and prescrbcs lis limits; various
the limits OF the several towns in the County
of Cook, incorporated and organized under
the law providing for township organiza-
tons. From these It appears that the city
OF Chicago embraces portion only OF each
of the towns of North Chicago. The fourth.
: fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth Representa-
tive Districts, as arranged in the bill, are
confined within the limits Of the City of
Z Chicago.
From the language Of the bill in regard to
the ninth Representative Districts, those
portions of towns Of North Chicago, South
Chicago and West Chicago, beyond the city
limits, are not included in representative dis
tricts, and the people Of these parts OF towns
are excluded from any representation in the
House of Representatives. The difficulty
above alluded to might have been avoided
by observing the division made in the bill
dividing the County Of Cook into two Senat-
orial Districts, and giving to these Senatorial
Districts three representatives. By this ar
! rangemeni districts for Senators have been
/ created without dividing towns
For these reasons return this bill with
/ out approval, to the House in which it orr
ginated. W. Ii. BIssELL.