their favor, that I believe if a vote upon them could be separated from party politics, it would be nearly unanimously for their adoption.

The expediency can hardly be questioned of limiting within reasonable bounds the debts which may be contracted by cities and townships, so that taxes may not become an intolerable burden, and of fixing a limit upon the fees to be paid to the officers in the populous counties, so that while they shall be adequately compensated, estates and suitors may not be burdened with needless costs and our politics corrupted by the expenditures made in the greedy scramble to obtain office. These reforms are provided for by two of the amendments.

Another amendment is of such extreme importance that it may be regarded as almost vital to the elective franchise. When the elector places his ballot in the box, it is a hollow and preposterous ceremony if some other person, not entitled to the franchise, may neutralize his vote by a fraudulent ballot, or if some dishonest officer may substitute a false ballot for the one he has deposited, or stuff the box with fictitious ballots. Our laws do not provide the Constitution will not allow that they shall provide that the person who offers his ballot shall prove, even when challenged, that he has resided a single hour or minute in the county or precinct where his vote is offered. It is enough that he shall show that at the particular instant he is such a resident, and has resided in the State for six months. No registration law can be passed; the Constitution will not allow one.

The consequence of all this is, that where even the most expensive and organized vigilance is maintained, persons from other counties and other states, not entitled to vote at the precinct where they tender their ballots, often succeed in depositing fraudulent votes; and, where this vigilance is not maintained, the feeble floodgates against fraud fly open at the first assault, and the ballotbox is deluged with fraudulent ballots.

I find upon examination, that nearly all the northern States, except Indiana, require as a qualification to vote, a previous residence of the voter in the precinct where his vote is offered, and that hardly a less number require a registration of voters. These laws are an expression of the people of those states, founded upon experience, that such provisions are necessary to preserve the purity of the elective franchise.

At every general election for many years, sums of money, vastly greater than has ever been suspected by the people, have been

expended to prevent invasions of the ballot-box by persons not authorized to vote, which need not have been expended but for the clause in our Constitution, that will not allow safeguards against fraud to be established, which our own experience has shown to be necessary, and the legislation of other States has provided with respect to those states.

Bad laws seldom inflict merely a single evil: Where the facilities for fraud are so considerable, the members of each party think that their opponents will perpetrate them, and the next step is too apt to be to lay schemes by which wrong may be met by kindred wrong. The consequence of all this is, that politics become embittered; that neighbors who, in their business transactions, would place implicit confidence in each other, believe that, to obtain a party advantage, they would quarter false voters, encourage repeating and connive at a false count of the ballots, and that the young, learning and believing that fraud is perpetrated without disgrace by the most respectable persons, in what they are taught to be the most important of transactions, are not able to draw the refined distinction which would make it wrong or disgraceful to perpetrate frauds in less important ones. Thus, the foundations of private virtue are sapped by tolerance given to public fraud. Resubmission of the Pending Constitutional Amendments (February 21, 1881).

329.

On January 11, Mr. James B. Kenner, a Republican, introduced a bill in the House which was designed to provide for the resubmission of the constitutional amendments which, according to the Supreme Court decision, were still pending action by the people. On January 15, the bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee which on January 20, reported it back to the House with several amendments, which were concurred in. By a vote of 64-21, the bill was advanced to engrossment and passed by a vote of 74-23, and was referred to the Senate. On January 25, the bill was referred to the Judiciary Committee. On February 2, the committee submitted its report, recommending an entirely new bill which was concurred in by the Senate and the bill passed on February 11 by a vote of 28-21. This was the form in which the bill was finally approved, except that the date of the election was fixed on March 14 instead of April 4 as was provided in the Senate bill. See Appendix IX.

[Laws, Fifty-second Session, 29.]

AN ACT providing for the submission to the electors of the State of Indiana for ratification or rejection the constitutional amendments proposed to and adopted by the General Assemblies of said State at the sessions of 1877 and 1879, prescribing certain duties of officers of election and others, providing penalties for violations thereof, and repealing all laws in conflict therewith, and declaring an emergency. WHEREAS, Each of said amendments was agreed to by a

majority of all the members elected to each of the two Houses of the said General Assembly, in which they were proposed as aforesaid, and entered with the yeas and nays thereon on their journals, and referred to the General Assembly to be chosen at the then next following general election; and,

WHEREAS, In the General Assembly next afterward chosen, towit, in the General Assembly chosen at the general elec ion held in October, 1878, and which held its sessions in the year 1879, each of said proposed amendments was agreed to by a majority of all the members elected to each House; and,

WHEREAS, Said General Assembly last named, by an act entitled "An act providing for the submission to the electors of the State of Indiana for ratification the constitutional amendments proposed to and adopted by the General Assemblies of said State at the sessions of 1877 and 1879, prescribing certain duties of officers of election and others, providing penalties for violations thereof, and other provisions relating to the subject matter," which was approved March 10, 1879, provided, as was supposed for the submission of each and every one of said amendments so proposed to the electors of the State; and,

WHEREAS, It was afterwards decided by the Supreme Court that said act was insufficient in its provisions to make a valid submission of said proposed amendments to the electors of the State, and that said attempted submission was void, therefore,

WHEREAS, In the General Assembly of the State of Indiana elected at the general election held in October, 1876, and which held its sessions in the year 1877, there was proposed by the Senate of said General Assembly seven separate amendments of the Constitution of this State, which amendments were in the words and figures following, and designated in the resolutions by which they were proposed by the numbers following, respectively, towit:

Amendment No. 1.

Amend Section 2 of Article 2 so as to read as follows: Section 2. In all elections, not otherwise provided for by this Constitution, every male citizen of the United States, of the age of twenty-one years and upward, who shall have resided in the State during the six months, and in the township sixty days, and in the ward or precinct thirty days immediately preceding such election, and every male of foreign birth of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, who shall have resided in the United States one year, and shall have resided in this State during the six months, and in

the township sixty days, and in the ward or precinct thirty days immediately preceding such election, and shall have declared his intention to become a citizen of the United States, conformably to the laws of the United States on the subject of naturalization, shall be entitled to vote in the township or precinct where he may reside, if he shall have been duly registered according to law.

Amendment No. 2.

By striking out the words, "No negro or mulatto shall have the right of suffrage," contained in Section 5 of the second article of the Constitution; and,

Amendment No. 3.

Amend Section 14 of the second article to read: Section 14. All general elections shall be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November; but township elections may be held at such time as may be provided by law: Provided, That the General Assembly may provide by law for the election of all judges of courts of general and appellate jurisdiction, by an election to be held. for such officers only, at which time no other officer shall be voted for, and shall also provide for the registration of all persons entitled to vote.

Amendment No. 4.

Strike the word "white" from Sections 4 and 5 of Article 4.

Amendment No. 5.

Amend the fourteenth clause of Section 22 of Article 4 to read. as follows: In relation to fees or salaries, except that the laws may be so made as to grade the compensation of officers in proportion to the population and the necessary services required.

Amendment No. 6.

Amend Section 1 of the 7th article to read: Section 1. The judicial powers of the State shall be vested in a Supreme Court, circuit courts, and such other courts as the General Assembly may establish.

Amendment No. 9.

Strike out all the sections of the 13th article, and in lieu thereof insert the following: Section 1. No political or municipal corporation in this State shall ever become indebted, in any manner or

for any purpose to an amount, in the aggregate, exceeding two per centum on the value of the taxable property within such corporation, to be ascertained by the last assessment for State and county taxes, previous to the incurring of such indebtedness, and all bonds or obligations in excess of such amount given by such. corporations shall be void: Provided, That in time of war, foreign invasion, or other great public calamity, on petition of a majority of the property owners, in number and value, within the limits of such corporation, the public authorities, in their discretion, may incur obligations necessary for the public protection and defense to such amount as may be requested in such petition; and, therefore,

Section 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana, That each of said proposed amendments of the Constitution shall be submitted to the electors of the State, at a special election to be held for that purpose on Monday, the 14th day of March, 1881, for their ratification or rejection.

Sec. 2. The Secretary of State shall cause to be prepared ballots, on each of which shall be printed the proposed amendments, numbered severally as in the preamble of this act, and below each proposed amendment shall be printed the word''Yes" in one line and in another line the word "No." He shall immediately send to the sheriff of each county a number of said ballots, not less than three times the number of votes cast in said county at the last general election, and the sheriff shall, immediately after receiving said ballots, deliver to the trustee of each township in his county a number of said ballots, not less than double the number of votes cast at said election in said township. It shall be the duty of each trustee to see that a number of said ballots, not less than double the number of votes cast at said election in each precinct in his township, be in the hands of the inspector thereof, at the opening of the polls. The inspector shall, on request, deliver to each elector at the time of the election one of said ballots. The Secretary of State shall also procure and furnish immediately, as other election papers are furnished, the blanks for the poll lists, tally sheets and certificates required by this act.

Sec. 3. Any qualified elector may vote at such election, for or against any or all of said proposed amendments, by depositing one of said ballots in the ballot-box. If he intends to vote for any amendment he shall leave under the same, the word "Yes" and erase the word "No" by drawing a line across it, or otherwise. If he intends to vote against any amendment, he shall leave