Abbildungen der Seite
PDF
EPUB

pleas, shall be appointed by joint ballot of both houses of the general assembly, and shall hold their offices for seven years, if so long they behave well; and whereas the first general assembly of this state did appoint judges of the supreme court, presidents and associate judges of the court of common pleas, many of whose offices have become vacant at different times, and elections have been had to fill vacancies; and whereas the original term of office is about to expire, and it becomes necessary, for the general assembly for to provide for that event:

Therefore, Resolved, by the general assembly of the state of Ohio, That the constitution of the state having limited and defined the term of office, which the judges of the supreme court, the presidents and judges of the court of common pleas, the secretary of state, the auditor and treasurer of state; and also the mode of filling vacancies by the legislature, it cannot of right, be construed to extend beyond the end of the original term for which the first officers were appointed."

In the house, the vote stood twenty-seven to eighteen. Those who voted in the affirmative were, Corwin, G. Clark, Crumbacker, J. Dunlap, S. Dunlap, Dillon, Ellis, Ford, Murray, Gosset, Gardner, Gass, Heaton, Hughs, Humphrey, Ijams, Johnson, Marvin, Pritchard, Pollock, Purviance, Shepard, Sharp, Swearengen, Tatman, Vore and Edward Tiffin, speaker.

In the negative, voted, Blair, Elliot, Harbaugh, Jackson, Looker, Lowry, Ludlow, Marple, McColloch, McKinney, Newport, Putnam, Pool, Shields, Spafford, Shelby and Wheedon. When passed, the resolution was sent to the senate, through which it finally passed, on the 18th January 1810.

In that body, the vote stood fourteen for it, and ten against it, as follows, viz: In the affirmative, Abbot, Barrere, Bryan, Burton, Cadwell, Cone, Elliot, Irvin, Kinney, Kirker, McLaughlin, Price, Smith and Wood..

In the negative, voted, Bigger, Bureau, Cooper, Curry, Foos, Jewett, Henry Massie, McConnel, Schofield, and McArthur.

Thus, by a mere resolution, the general assembly, swept off

out of office, every civil officer in the state! After a pause until the 10th day of February, the legislature proceeded then to fill in part the vacancies, thus made. On that day, they elected Thomas Scott, William W. Irvin and Ethan Allen Brown, judges of the supreme court. They then next elected, Francis Dunlevy, John Thompson and Benjamin Ruggles, president judges of the first, second and third judicial circuits into which the state was then divided. Resting awhile from their labours, on the 15th day of February, they proceeded to elect associate judges for the twenty-six counties, (all indeed) then in the state. During the same session they elected a secretary of state, and auditor and treasurer of state. They made provision for electing, as soon as possible, by the people, all justices of the peace, in all the townships in Ohio. A few remarks on this highhanded, unconstitutional measure seem to be called for, here. As to vacancies in offices, such as judges, the constitution provides that they shall be filled by the general assembly, but when so filled it expressly declares them to be elected for seven years.

The motives which induced this flagrant proceeding in the breasts of some of the actors were pure enough, but we fear, quite too many of these men wanted offices, either for themselves or for some friend, and were quite regardless as to the means which they used to obtain them: Mere demagogues, like the mastiff at his master's door in a cold night, that makes such an ado, that his master finally opens his door to assist his faithful sentinel in driving off the robber who assails him, when Caesar slips quickly in at the opened door, and lies down quietly in a warm place, near the fire, where he is permitted to sleep until morning.

Many of the counties had not been organized one half seven years, and the judges, in not a few instances, had not served two years. In some such cases, both sets of judges attempted to act officially. The whole state was thrown into utter confusion for a time, but finally, one and all became convinced that the "sweeping resolution" was all wrong. All aban

doned it, and no man has since that stormy period, ever advocated the proceeding. It will never be reacted in Ohio. Knowing all the actors, personally, with whom we never had any altercation about this or any other matter, we have had no private ill will to gratify, in saying what we have above. Nor was it our own wish to be thus particular in stating all the material facts connected with this matter, but the surviving actors insisted on a full statement, and we have complied with their wishes.

At this same session, the legislature removed the seat of government from Chillicothe to Zanesville.

t

Congress had granted a township of land for "an academy" in their contract with John Cleves Symmes, for the sale to him of the Lower Miami country. According to that grant, the township was to have been in the centre of the ceded lands. The legislature, at this session, located the Miami University, as they called it, on a township which they selected entirely out of the tract of land, in the centre of which, by the original grant, it was to have been located. All the acts of this session, were equally violent and unconstitutional-" for madness ruled the hour."

They proceeded to appoint, commissioners to fix on a site for a permanent seat of government of this state.

Next session, these commissioners, James Findlay, Joseph Darlington, Wyllys Silliman, Reason Beall, and William McFarland, reported in favor, we believe of Dublin, a town on the Scioto river, some fourteen miles above Columbus. The year, 1810-11 passed quietly off, but at their next session, the legislature, accepted the proposals of Colonel James Johnson, Alexander McLaughlin, John Kerr and Lyne Starling, Esquires, who owned the land where Columbus is. The general assembly fixed the seat of government where it now is and will there remain. At this session of 1811-12 the legisla ture passed an act, removing the seat of government, back to Chillicothe, until 1816-17, after which time it was to be where it now is, at Columbus. In the meantime the public buildings were to be erected, on land then a dense forest.

WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN.

PERIOD FOURTH.

THIS PERIOD COMPRISES THE WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN OF

A

1812, IN OHIO.

THOUGH peace had been made on parchment between the United States, and England, in, 1783, yet that peace, could scarcely be said, to have extended to this North Western Territory. The war with the Indians, continued from the 27th of April 1774, until the peace of Greenville, August 3d 1795. The British, constantly occupied their Indian posts within the limits of our territory until the first of June 1796. The Canadian Indian Department, continued to pay regular annuities to their savage allies, who lived within the limits of this Union, up to a very recent period; perhaps, they do, up to the moment, when this is written.

This conduct of our Canadian neighbors, kept up a hard feeling between us, and the English; and besides, that nation was constantly doing some act, which showed their ill will towards the United States. They were continually preying on our defenceless commerce, but not content with plundering our property on the high seas, under various pretexts, they impressed our sailors, into their naval service. This practice of impressment, kept up, and even increased the angry feelings of our nation, towards England. General Harrison, the governor of the Indiana Territory, had, in November 1811, fought a severe battle with the Indians, at Tippecanoe, and every thing portended war, between this nation and England, when,

[ocr errors]

in June 1812, war was actually declared, by congress, against Great Britain. In order to harrass the enemy, wc suppose, on the land, to punish him for plundering us, on the ocean; Mr. Madison's administration took steps to raise an army, during the session of congress commencing in December 1811 and continued until the summer of 1812. During that protracted session, congress authorised the increase of the regular army to thirty-five thousand troops, and they authorised the raising of a large force of volunteers, for twelve months. Early in the spring of 1812, Governor William Hull, of Michigan, was ordered into Ohio, to raise troops, with whom it would seem, he intended to cross over into Canada, opposite Detroit, and march downwards towards Quebec..

Canada, Upper and Lower, consists of a vast country, lying northwest of the United States, bounded by either lakes or their outlets, which separate those provinces from us. The settlements along these waters are narrow, and their population thin. These settlements extend fifteen hundred miles, in length, from the sea to Lake Superior. Had the war, on our part been conducted with the ability, that any common man, in private life, of the requisite geographical knowledge would have conducted it, we should have siezed, at once, on Kingston and Montreal. All the country above these points, in that case, would have fallen into our hands, as a matter of course. But so it was, General Hull was sent into Ohio to raise troops wherewith to attack, the weak settlements along lake Erie, on the Canadian side of it, and march, downwards in the direction of Fort Niagara. We propose to be brief indeed, on the war of 1812, for more reasons than we need give.

But little of that war, comparatively speaking, was carried on in Ohio, and its events are so recent, and so well knownthat we must be brief. That it was badly conducted by the then administration, is certain, for two reasons; the men at the helm, in Washington, were ignorant of the geographical situation of the country; and they knew little of the art of war. There were, at that time, two parties east of the mountains, in the nation; one party accused the other, of appointing ineffi

« ZurückWeiter »