The broad ax. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1895-19??, 1912-09-21
GOV. CHARLES s. DEEEEN's
ADDRESS,
Concluded from FAC !.

| strange 70 Sayy hoS OSSA N--S
the later compilations Of the Statutes
of Illinois. Yet this Act may well be
considered as the fundamental char
ter of the new government established
in Illinois in 1912.
By the terms of this Act, the right
to vote was granted to all free white
males twenty-one years of age, who
had paid a county or territorial tax,
no matter how small, and had resided
in the territory one year. This Act
also provided that not only the mem
hers of the Lower House but also the
five councillors should be directly elect
ed in five districts instead Of being
nominated by the representative body.
Thirdly, the delegate to Congress was
to be directly elected by the people,
instead of by the legislature.
One hundred years ago last Satur-
day September IA, 1879 Governor
Edwards issued two proelamations pro-
viding for two of the events we are
now celebrating. One of them estab-
lished three new counties; Madison,
GaIlatin and johnson, which, with the
two former counties of st. Clair and
Randolph, formed the five districts for
eleeting the members of the council.
The other ordered an election to be
held October $40 for delegates to Con-
gress, members of the council and rep
resentatives.
At the election, Shadraeh Bond was
elected as the first delegate to Con-
gress from the territory of Illinois and
took his seat December I'd. The first
council consisted of Pierre Menard of
Randolph, president; Benjamin Talbot
of Gallatin, William Biggs of st. Clair,
Samuel Judy of Madison and Thomas
Ferguson of johnson. In the House of
Representatives, Randolph county was
represented by George Fisher (who
was Speaker); Gallatin, by Alexander
Wilson and Phillip Trammel; johnson,
by John Grammer; st. Clair, by Joshua
Oglesby and Jacob Short; and Madison,
by William Jones.
The first Legislature of Illinois Ter
ritory met at Kaskaskia on November
IL, 1912. The session lasted one day
over a month, and the principal law
enacted was one continuing in force
the laws previously enacted by the
Governor and judges, and such of the
Statutes of Indiana Territory as were
not local in character or had not been
repealed. Some of these had been
laws of the Northwest Territory which
had been re-enaeted by each successive
government.
A second session of the first legisla-
ture was held in 1913; and there were
two other territorial Legislatures, 1914
l6. and 1s16-1s, which, held two short
sessions each. Then Illinois was ad-
mitted as State, and the territorial
legislature was succeeded by the first
General Assembly of the State.
1t may be of interest here to relate
the fact that in the year 1872 my
great-grandfather, Risdon Moore, the
first of our family to settle in Illinois,
came from Georgia and settled in the
neighboring county of st. Clair, about
four miles east of Belleville. He was
very active in the political life of the
times and was elected to the territorial
legislature for the two sessions of 1914
and 1916 and was chosen speaker for
the term. He was also a representa-
tive from st. Clair county to the first,
second and third General Assemblies
after the admission of Illinois to the
Union. In the great struggle over the
slavery question in 1923 and 1924 he
was a pronounced anti-slavery advo-
cate and incurred the enmity of the
pro-slavery party to such a degree that
he was burned by them in effgy at
Troy, this county.
Since the establishment of the terri
torial legislature of Illinois in 1912,
the people of Illinois have never been
without representative government.
We are therefore celebrating today the
completion of one hundred years of
continuous self-government, based on
popular suffrage. Even the slight re-
strietions of the Act Of 1912 were re-
moved when the first State Constitu-
ton of 1918 went into effect.
The provisions Of our Constitution of
1918 are the same, in general, as those
Of the other State constitutions; though
some Of the provisions in the bills Of
rights Of the other state constitutions
were omitted. For example-There is
no positive declaration in the first Hi
nois Bill Of Rights against slavery,
such as is found in the Ohio eonstitu-
ton There is no declaration Of the
right of the citizen to bear arms. There
is no declaration against standing
armies or the quartering Of soldiers.