The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1880-04-08
gu1ttt1a1.
oLD-T1ME POLITICS.


and Hard Money Roth as Crime
[CinCinusu Euquirer.J
At the close of the session OF the Ohio
LEGISLATURE in 1850 a law reviving the
defunct chartea of; Bridge Company
was passed which did much to give Ohio
its present Constitution. At that time
all bills introduced into the Legislature
we're, as now, to be read three several
times in each House. but under the rules
each reading the first and second time
was by title only, and not untrequently
a mere motion to that effect would su'
persede the third reading Unless de-
mand for the yeas and nays was made
no recorded vote was had, and how often
law was enacted that never received a
single reading in either branch OF the
General Assembly The law to which
allusion is made is entitled in the laws
of the session of ls49-50 as An act to
revive the act entitled an act to incorpo.
rate the Hamilton and Rossville Bridge
Company, and for other purposes"
Section l of the act revives the old
charter, which for non-use or some other
reason had become extinct, and names
"Henry l. Curtis, Daniel Beaver, Alex
ander Delorac, wilkinson Beatty, John
NJ. Milliken, James O'Conner, John W.
Wilson, John W. Erwin, William Beckett
and Charles Richardson, and their asso.
ciates and successors, in the room and
stead of the Corporators named In said
act, and by the same corporate name
The section then reduces the tolls to be
collected to 33 per cent, and reserves to
the Legislature the right to alter or
amend said charter. This is all in the
law relating to the subject named in the
title, Then comes this strange section,
and in that is found the part that caused
the hubbub. 1t is given in full:
"section 2. That the Town Council
of the Town Of Morrow, in the County
of Warren, is hereby authorized and
empowered to license and 10 regulate taV
tyns. rt.taurant8 and coffee houses, and to
appropriate the revenue arising there
from to the support of common schools
in said town.
[Signed] B. F. LETTER,
"Speaker House of Representatives
"CHARLEs U. CONVERGE,
Speaker of the Senate.
"March 2l, 1880"
What necessary connection there was
between licensing houses to sell liquor in
Warren county and the regulation of
toll-bridge between the towns of Ross
Vile and Hamilton, in Butler county, it
would be hard to tell. At that time
there was fierce temperance war waged
in Ohio, the temperance men in the ad.
yocacy Of their peculiar notions as in.
temperate a. the men they sought to CO.
cree were in the use of liquor. In no
other way than by trick could the ad-
yocates of license get the privilege of
selling whisky in the town Of Morrow
by adding this Section q to bill that
would be likely to pass into law. The
tale told at the time was that just at the
heels of the session, when halt the mem.
bers were busy throwing paper wads at
each ether, and paying little or no atten'
ton to what was going on, this license
section was offered as " rider" " on the
bill. One of the members voted yea, no
one voted no and thus the bill, by about
the same vote, was passed, and thus it
became law.
How my old friends, Major Millikin
and John W. Erwin and other inCorpo.
rators, were pleased at the idea Of seeing
their names as inCorporatoIs in law to
license whisky.shops in Warren county
might easily be guessed at. If there
was no profanity used on that occasion
it was because they did not use swear"
words.
1t is held by some that the words in
the title, and for other purposes" COW
cred this second section, just as the same
words in the charter of Library Com.
pany in Granville, Licking county, some
years before, gave the corporators the
right to start a bank, which it did and |
for years the Granville Alexsndrian |
Company Bank-I think that was the
name-iesued its paper promises to pay, |
and resisted the law against unauthor.
lied banks until it was ready to follow |
the fate of other banks of Ohio, closed |
its doors, and left the unfortunate hold,
ers of its notes who trusted it to repent |
at leisure.
The passage of the Bridge Law, 80 ut.
terly incongruous, happened at time
when an effort WAS being made to call |
convention to remodel the Constitution
of the State adopted in 1902, The Whig |
leaders, in a state of desperation, had at.
tempted to gerrymander the State 30 that |
in all time to come they could perpetu |
ate their power in the General Assembly, |
and this they attempted by law divid' |
ing Hamilton county, then Democratic, |
into districts for the election Of Senators |
and Representatives. After having |
passed the Senate, in which body II was
irst presented, it was sent to the House,
which body passed it with one amend
ment. Finding that the trained major.
ity of the Upper House were about to pass
the amendment-Which, when agreed |
10, would make it law-ffteen Demo.
cratic members of the Senate, believing |
it to be without warrant Of constitutional
authority, withdrew from their seats, and |
left the Senate without quorum, with. |
out which no business could be transact |
ed except to adjourn from day to day |
and compel the attendance Of sbsentees
These recusant Senators proclaimed |
when they left that they could not, even |
by their presence, be party to the vio' !
lation of the Constitution, and that if the
bill was laid aside they would join in fn
ishing up the business OF the session
but il not, they would not return. AL |
though the bill was in the Senate, and |
thus out OF the possession of the House,
3 member of that body introduced res
olution that the House reCede from its |
amendment. The Speaker hurriedly de
clared the resolution passed, although |
WheE introduced none but the Wings
understood it, and none hut the Wings |
in the secret could catch the words. In.
stantly upon The facts being known the
naponOPatir Tr ON hpra Of tho Hnuap lpft |