True American. [volume] (Steubenville [Ohio]) 1855-1861, 1857-06-03

mlnl0nS and blood tntrSty lOllOWerSl 0l
Pierce, Buchanan and Douglas from
butchering Free State men in Kansas, bu
against their gigantic crimes il sternl,
raised its voice, and to arrest them, mem
bers gave freely Of their indiyidua
means.
9TH. II closed the doors Of our pris
ons against those who would incarcerat,
human beings therein, for the crime 0
loving liberty better than slavery.
9Th. 1t visited any citizen Of Obi
who shall engage in slaye.c catching viii
severe pains and penalties.
9th 1t made slave holding in Ohio
crime.
10th. II, in the teeth Of the infamou
Dred Scott decision, declared that the mo
ment the foot of slave blythe consent
Of his master, presses our soil, that instan
be is free, aud that whoever shall de
prive him Of that freedom. shall for Sc
ries of years be incarcerated among feions
in the Penetentiary.
llth. Finally, it reelected that stal
wart champion of right and liberty, B
F. Wade, TO the United States Senate.
Republicans Of Portage and Summit
this is briefly our record. Ponder it ant
then say if you can. that on the grea
question Of human liberty we have beer
Indifferent and false, and that we have &C
complished no results. Iregard it as
proud record for Ohio, and one by whicl
Republicans can stand with the satisfac
ton that Ohio yet leads where Other
States fear to follow.
On the temperance question our ac.
ton was not as satisfactory. We howev-
er accomplished some good, and gave the
cause an accelerated motion in the right
direction, as the following brief synopsis
will show:
lst. 1t passed triunphantly through
the Senate an exceedingly stringent pro.
Military law, which only failed in the
House for want Of few votes.
2nd. 1t made it penetentiary offence
TO mingle strychnine or other poisonous
ingredients in the manufacture Of intox-
eating liquors. thus reducing the traffic
or the profits thereon, full one third.
Sd 1t secured to tie drunkards wife
or children all property exempt from sale
on execution, and the absolute control
thereof, and Of their own earnings.
4lh. II re-enacted an old law suppo.
sed to be dormant, giving to cities and
Villages the power to prohibit the traffic.
5lh: The Senate passed certain reso.
lutions contemplating an amendment to
the Constitution, enabling The Legislature
to prohibit the Importation and manufac.
ture of intoxicating liquors.
Now submit that upon the temper
ance question The Legislature did some.
thing, though am free to admit that il
did not accomplish all that was desirable.
The financial affairs of the State, the
Legislature found an inextricable confu.
sion. The Treasury was as full of holes
as an old skinner, and at each hole there
was small army of Locofoco leeches
gorging themselves with the contents
every time the party gave the concern I
shake. Kings claim to rule by divine
right. and these fellows claim the righ
to grrb at the Treasury, by the immemo
rial usages of their party. The people
had given the leaders leave Of absence,
but the Treasury was full Of camp fol-
lowers as were the kneading troughs oil
the Egyptians with vermin. So tena'
tious was their hold upon the Treasury
that it required time and labor to detacf
them.
Is. It tswept the State House Of those
who had burrowed there so long as II
give the building an almos. rotten appear
ance.
End. II cleaned those out of the Blin(
ASYLUM, who had succeeded in cleaning
the pupils out of it.
Sd. |! recognized the three lunati'
AssyIums ant re-officered them. 81
carefully drawn were the laws for thi'
purpose, that even corrupt men will no
be able TO fatlen upon the public.
4th. 1t cleared the Penetentiary 0
those criminals for whom the State haC
not provided cells, and put honest mer
in their places. The entire dicipline o
the establishment was changed, and on
adopted in accordance with the humani
tartan progress of the age No more dy
ing men will be aogged by petty tyranl
until the vital spark is extinct. No NOR
men will be driven to insanity, scourge
into idiocy, or MANNED for life, as ha
heretofore been the case within the wal
Of the Ohio Penetentiary. Humanit
and reason, not the cat and the scoure
reign there now. Strong incentives f
good conduct and thorough reformation
: are now constantly before and with Il
: convict. Ohio may congratulate hefse
upon such advanced legislation, and tt
Republican press of the State afford
do simple justice by the men who inaug
rated such measures.
t | now propose, as the next question
I order, to speak of the finances Of Oh
: and their condition as the Legislatu
) found them and as it left them. On Il
' 18Th of July, A. D. 1855. John G. Bre
lin, Democratic ex-Treasurer Of State, hi
5 failed To pay over to Mr.. Gibson. his su
. cessor, Sl,O4s 534,l4: See appendix
!. Senate Journal for 1855, page Al and Q
j This heavy defalcaiion brought Ohio
: the very door Of real "repudia'ion.".
e From time 10 time snail installments
/. this amount were paid by Mr.. Bresln.'
] BY night and by day both branches
' the Legislature, through their approp
: ate committees, were incessent IN thu
Q endeavors 10 save this large sum Of mo
a., os ne nn,ok IN vxoca;kIa 0n fha