"And provided further, that in time of war no elector in the actual military service of the state, or of the United States, in the army or navy thereof, shall be deprived of his vote by reason of his absence from such election district; and the legislature shall have power to provide the manner in which, and the time and place at which, such absent electors may vote, and for the return and canvass of their votes in the election districts in which they respectively reside." 1 To amend the Constitution required that the amendment should be agreed to by a majority of the members elected to each of the two Houses, and entered on their journals with the yeas and nays taken thereon. The amendment was then to be referred to the Legislature next to be chosen, and be published in at least one newspaper of each county; and if in the Legislature next chosen such amendment should be agreed to by a majority of all the members of each House, it was then to be submitted to the people at least four months after the Legislature adjourned, and if the people, at a special election held for that purpose only, should approve the amendment by a majority vote, it should become a part of the Constitution. The method of amending the Constitution adopted was as follows:- In 1873 a House bill to amend the Constitution in various particulars, one of them being to enable soldiers to vote in the field, was under consideration during the session, and finally on April 4 was ordered to be engrossed, but on the same day the engrossment was reconsidered and the bill was refused a passage by a vote of 24 to 27.2 On the same day a joint resolution authorizing the Governor, 1 Compiled Statutes of New Jersey, 1911. Vol. 1, p. xlix. 2 House Journal, 1873, p. 425. with the consent of the Senate, to appoint two persons from each congressional district as a commission to suggest and propose amendments to the Constitution and report to the next Legislature, was passed.1 On April 29, the Senate was convened in special session by the Governor, and the commission was appointed. This commission reported to the Legislature of 1874, recommending various amendments to the Constitution. Among them was the one with regard to soldiers' voting in the field. These amendments were substantially all adopted by both branches of the Legislature, and the soldiers' voting amendment was adopted as recommended by the commission.^ 3 In 1875, the Governor referred to the amendments in his message and said with regard to the soldiers' voting amendment that it was right that soldiers in the field should be given the right to vote "provided that right was carefully guarded.” 5 The amendments were adopted by the Senate and the House in 1875, and approved by the people at a special election in September, 1875. In the revision of the election laws of 1898, Sections 220 to 233 embrace provisions for taking the vote of soldiers in the field. These provisions are a proxy law authorizing soldiers to vote substantially in the manner provided for the vote under the laws of New York. They are now Sections 220 to 232 of the Compiled Laws of New Jersey of 1910. And thus, thirty-three years after the close of the Civil War, soldiers from New Jersey were given the right to vote. 1 Senate Journal, 1873, p. 1068; House Journal, 1873, p. 1431. 2 Law 1873, p. 844. 3 Senate Journal, 1874, p. 50. 4 Senate Journal, 1874, p. 71; House Journal, 1874, pp. 841, 1145. INI CHAPTER XXVII INDIANA NDIANA was the most troublesome, turbulent and changeable State of the North. It was mainly settled from the South and had more inhabitants of Southern birth or parentage than any other Northern State. It gave Lincoln in 1860 a majority of only 5,923 in a total vote of 272,143. There were no general elections in 1861, and in 1862, it elected a Democratic Secretary of State by a majority of 9,543, and a Democratic Senate and House. The Legislature met on January 8, 1863. In the House there was an anti-war majority of 20, the Democrats having 58 and the Republicans 38 votes. In the Senate there were 27 Democrats to 20 Republicans. In a joint convention of the two Houses, Mr. Turpie and Mr. Hendricks, Democrats, were elected United States Senators by a vote of 85 to 62, the majority being 23. A preamble and resolution was presented in the House, which recited that "Whereas the election law of Indiana requires that every voter shall cast his ballot in the township or precinct in which he may reside, and consequently those brave men who are in the field battling for the supremacy of the law, and the integrity of the Union, are thereby disfranchised, therefore, the Judiciary Committee is directed to inquire into the expediency of reporting a bill so amending said law as to confer upon the Indiana volunteers, now in the service of the United States, the privilege and right of voting for State and County officers at all elections held therefor, and that they report at the earliest practicable moment.”1 The Judiciary Committee reported upon this resolution on January 24, saying that they were of the opinion that such a law would be unconstitutional, which report was adopted by the House." To amend the Constitution required that the amendment should be agreed to by a majority of the members elected to each House, and entered on the Journals with the yeas and nays thereon, and should then be agreed to by a majority of all the members elected to each House at the next session of the Legislature, and then submitted to the electors, and if a majority of the electors should ratify it, it should become a part of the Constitution. At the session of 1863, nothing was done with reference to amending the Constitution. The Constitution provided that a qualified elector should be "entitled to vote in the township or precinct where he may reside.' On March 2, a bill was introduced in the Senate to "provide for taking the vote of officers and soldiers of the volunteer service in the army of the United States from this State at all legal elections for civil officers." This bill was read a first and second time and referred to the Judiciary Committee. The next day the Republican minority of both branches failed to attend, and the Senate and House were left without a constitutional quorum to do business, which was two-thirds of each House. On March 7, the Judiciary Committee reported the bill with others which had been referred to them, saying that they had no time to fully consider the same, 1 House Journal, 1863, p. 14. 2 Ibid., p. 178. |