The Eaton Democrat. (Eaton, Ohio) 1875-1903, 1886-12-30
the whole" concludes Senator Ewing. even

satisfied with his explanation" This
II AGAINST ST. CLAIR
Was made very manifest on the assembling
of the convention. Before proceeding to the
transaction of any business, q request came
them In his official capacity as Chief Maeis-
trate of the Territory. The request was on
posed by . number OF the members, and .
very warm debate ensued. The result was
that q motion was made and carried by . ma
5ority of nve "that Arthur St. Clair.
convention on those points which he
deems of Importance, The wording
OF the resolution clearly Shows that the con-
vention denied the right Of the Governor OF
the Territory to exercise any onicia( control
or influence over their action.
ABSENCE OF PARTY SPIRIT
Within the present limits of Ohio In those
early days has been so well described by
Judge Jacob Burnett. . membef of the nrst
Council. and one Of the strong men of his
day, that quotation of his exact words win
be pertinent and timkly. He said:
when the proposition was made I'm 1900 for
q change of Governments. party spirit was nm
known in the Territory. The election OF the
elder Adams had just met with general appro-
baton. ana resolutions had been passed 1t
popular meetings to sustain his Administra-
ton against the encroachments OF the French
Government, which tnen threatened the
peace of the nation. The troop OF cavalry IN
Cincinnati. commanded by Captain FfndIay,
In which the writer of this note had the
honor Of being . private. presented . fiatter-
ing address to The President, rendering their
services to the Government whenever it
should see proper to call them out. Similar
Offers were made from different parts of the
Western country, and, IN fact, there
seemed to be but one sentiment pervAding
the minds of the people. Only four individ-
uals in Cincinnati and its vicinity are now
remembered who then advocated the election
Of Mr.. Jefferson against Mr.. Adams-these
were Major David zeigier. William Henry
Harrison, William Mcmillan and John
smith"
The exciting contest which a&itated the
states during That election" continues Judge
Burnett twas not felt in the Territory. - .
Unfortunately. the political calm which pre-
vaded the Territory prior TO the second session
OF the General Assembly was OF short dura-
ton. very soon after the plan was formed
70 establish e State government. the Efforts
and influence OF the party advocating the
measure succeeded In producing = high de-
gree OF excitement The attention Of the
people was directed to the rights and privi-
leges enjoyed by the citizens of the States,
which were put in contrast with the ~restric-
teons and disabilities imposed ON the inhab-
ltants OF the Territory. 7 discrepancy was
palpable, but no serious injury had resulted
from it. Nevertheless the people became
convinced that their rights were unneces-
sariiy withheld for the benent OF q few favor
ties Of the General Government although
there was not the least foundation in truth
for this assertion"
COLOR LINZ.
The color line was one of the points of
danger and embarrassment In the conven-
ton that gave Ohio q constitution, and had
not moderation and a patriotic Intention to
keep peace SO far as possible prevailed amone
the members, an endless amount of trouble
might have been created. some two hundred
coIored people were then residents OF the
Territory. There seems to have been little or
no question AZ to whether Ohio should be-
come a free State or not, but there wa 9
great diversity of opinion as TO whether the
free colored man should become q citizen or
give him full citizenship, while Others con-
tended against allowing him any other priv
ilege than the protection Of the laws. and
exemption from taxes and military duty. It
was proposed on one hand that the eonstitu-,
ton should expressly declare that AL cclored
people were ineligible to. any ofhct, civil or
military, and also 70 exclude them from
being examined as Witnesses. In Courts of
the State. against white people.
To prevent trouble, It was finally facility
agreed by the majority Of the. convention
that all suggestionsa and propositions In con-
%nection with this subject should be allowed
to lie quietly on the tabie-sn idea which
took form In the making OF . constitution
tor the white people, and ignoring those who
were not white. AWhite male citizens' alone
became electors in the instrument that was
nnaiiy aoopteo as the Iunoamentailaw Of the
STATE. Tne nrst occasion on wnlcn on1o as Q
State was compelled to take political action
on the Question OF slavery was In 1905. Mas
sachusetts had proposed an amendment to
the eonstisution OF the United States TO the
enect that representation in Congress should
De apportioned among the States in the ratio
OF their Tree popuiation. Ohio opposed this
proposition on the ground That the oonstitu-
ton OF the United States was the "resalt OF
compromise and interference with It's pro-