INDIANA LEGISLATURE
IN SENATE.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 6, 1859.
The Senate of the fortieth General Assembly of the State of Indiana,met in regular bi-ennal session, and was called to order at nine o'clock A. M., by JAMES H. VAWTER, Esq., the principal Secretary of the last session, who directed that Senators take their seats as their names are called by the counties which they represent, whereupon the following named Senators appeared and took their seats:
- From the county of Allen--Allen Hamilton.
- From the county of Bartholomew--Smith Jones.
- From the counties of Benton, Warren and White--Geo D. Wagner.
- From the counties of Clinton and Carroll--James Odell.
- From the counties of Crawford and Orange--Quinton Lomax.
- From the county of Dearborn--Cornelius O'Brien.
- From the counties of Fayette and Union--Thomas W Bennett.
- From the county of Floyd--D. C. Anthony.
- From the counties of Grant and Madison--Harvey Craven.
- From the counties of Green and Owen--J. W. Conley.
- From the counties of Huntington and Whitley--James R. Slack.
- From the counties of Johnson and Morgan--W. H. Jennings.
- From the counties of Knox and Daviess--James D. Williams.
- From the counties of Kosciusko and Wabash--James D. Conner.
- From the counties of Lake, Porter and Jasper--David Turner.
- From the counties of Martin and Lawrence--T. R. Cobb.
- From the counties of Monree and Brown--W. C. Tarkington.
- From the counties of Ohio and Switzerland--Benjamin Robinson.
- From the counties of Parke and Vermillion--George K. Steele.
- From the counties of Posey and Vanderburg--M. T. Carnahan.
- From the county of Tippecanoe--M. C. Culver.
- From the counties of Warrick, Spencer and Perry--John C. Shoemaker.
- From the county of Wayne Othniel Beeson.From the counties of Marshall and St. Joseph--Rufus Brown.
- From the counties of Cass, Howard and Pulaski--Charles D. Murray.
- From the counties of Clark and Scott--David McClure.
- From the counties of Clay and Putnam--Archibald Johnston.
- From the county of Decatur--John F. Stevens.
- From the counties of Delaware and Blackford--Walter March.
- From the county of Fountain--Isaac A. Rice.
- From the counties of Gibson, Pike and Dubois--John Hargrove.
- From the counties of Hamilton and TiptonJohn Green.
- From the counties of Hendricks and Boone--Solomon Blair.
- From the county of Henry--Isaac Kinley.
- From the counties of Jennings and Jackson--James E. Wilson.
- From the counties of Lagrange and Elkhart--John Thompson.
- From the counties of Laporte and Starke--Morgan H. Weir.
- From the county of Marion--John S. Bobbs.
- From the counties of St. Joseph, Marahnll, Miami and Fulton--Hugh Miller.
- From the county of Montgomery--Lewis Wallace.
- From the counties of Noble,DeKalb and Steuben--Alanson H. Hendry.
- From the county of RandolphDaniel Hill.From the county of Rush--Stanley Cooper.
- From the counties of Shelby and Hancock--David S. Gooding.
- From the counties of Vigo and Sullivan--William E. McLean.
- From the counties of Washington and Harrison--Horace Heffren.
The following named Senators were absent:
- From the counties of Adams, Wells and Jay David Studabaker.
- From the county of Franklin--Aaron B Line.
ELECTION OF PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE.
Mr. MURRAY. Mr. Secretary; I understand that the Lieutenant Governor is absent, and will remain absent for some time; I therefore move that the Senate proceed to the election of a President pro tem.
Mr. GOODING. I hope, sir, that the election will not be gone into until we have a full Senate. I see by the call of the Secretary that two Democratic Senators are absent and that all the Republican Senators are in their places. The probability is that those two democratic Senators would be here before two o'clock, and I hope Republican Senators will not proceed to an election until there is a full Senate. Republican Senators upon this floor have shown themselves to be liberal towards us heretofore, and I hope they will be equally iberal on the present occasion. I hope they will be fair and magnanimous, if you please, and not take advantage of the temporary absence of Democratic Senators. When the Senate is full I never bolt, and whoever may be the choice of the Senate I am willing should be presiding officer. I make the suggestion to postpone this election in the kindest feeling, and in the mean time, am willing that any Republican Senator shall preside until we get a full Senate.
page: 4[View Page 4]Mr. HAMILTON. I hope this matter will not be put off. I claim to be a Democrat, but I go for an election now. I don't care who is the nominee of any party. We are here under a per diem, and we are expected to do our duty.
Mr. STEELE. I can not see what the Senator from Hancock[Mr. Gooding] can gain by a postponement till two o'clock. If I could see any advantage to be gained by it I would be willing to postpone.
Mr HEFFREN. I think we might as well go on now, as to postpone. We are powerless; I know that by past experience. I am satisfied we can't elect a straight-out Democrat. They have a majority,and we might as well let them elect now as to go on till this afternoon or to-morrow. We may as well be beat today - we may as well go down with our flag flying one time as another. If there are any chances for success, I would be willing to postpone.
Mr. GOODING. The Senator from Parke, [Mr. Steele] talks about gaining an advantage. I am asking no advantage. The idea I wished to advance was this: The presiding officer is to preside over the whole Senate, and the Senate should give the expression of that choice.
Mr. Murray's motion was agreed to.
Mr. MURRAY. I nominate the Hon. John R. Cravens for President pro tempore of this Senate.
Mr. SLACK. I nominate the Hon. Lewis Wallace.
The Secretary then called Senators for their viva voce votes, and reported as follows:
For Mr. Cravens - Messrs. Anthony, Beeson, Bennett, Blair, Bobbs, Brown, Conner, Cooper, Craven, Culver, Green, Hendry,Hill, Kinley. March,Murray, Rice, Robinson, Steele, Stevens, Thompson, Turner, Wagner and Weir-24.
For Mr. Wallace - Messrs. Carnahan, Cobb, Conley, Fisk, Gooding, Hamilton, Hargrove, Heffren, Jennings, Johnston, Jones, Lomax, McCluro, McLean, Miller, O'Brien, Odell, Shoemaker, Slack, Tarkington, Williams and Wilson-22.
The Secretary declared Mr. Cravens duly elected President, pro tempore, of the Senate for the present session, and called upon Senators Wallace and Murray, to conduct the President elect to the Chair.
The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Snators: In the exercise of a constitutional privilege, and in discharging a constitutional duty, you have conferred upon me an unexpected honor, which, I assure you, I can fully appreciate, but I can also assure you that I can as fully appreciate the labor and responsibility inseperable from that honor. I am not so skilled in the use of that language which would prompt its employment to conceal emotions that, on occasions like the present, and ought to be, but the natural expression of a grateful heart under the influences of the most generous impulses. For the consciousness that your partiality, in thus selecting me to preside over your deliberations, has been dictated more, perhaps, by considerations of a personal character, than from any conviction on your part, of superior ability on mine to discearge the responsible duties seems only to increase the obligation imposed on me, whilst it enhances the honor conferred by you.
In accepting at your hand the honor of the posion, I also engage to discharge its duties, but I do so in the full assurance that you will extend to the want of experience and limited knowledge of parliamentary usage, which, I know, will be but too often manifest to you, and a source of great embarrassment to myselfthat liberal and kind indulgence to which I am so deeply indebted for your present distinguished consideration. I accept it in the further hope, too, that your worthy President, the Lieutenant Governor, will be but temporarily absent, and that he will not be disappointed in the visit he now makes to a Southern clime for the complete and entire renewal of his health, but he may soon return to you and his constitutional public duties, fully restored to health and public usefulness.
With these remarks, after again returning my thanks for this compliment to my constituents, I will refrain from longer detaining the Senate from its further organization.
ELECTION OF SECRETARIES.
Mr. MURRAY. I move that the Senate proceed to the election of Principal Secretary, and nominate James II. Vawter, of Jennings county, for that office.
The motion was agreed to by consent, and no other nomination being made--
The names of Senators were called for their votes, and every Senator voted for Mr. Vawter except Messrs. Jennings, Line and Studabaker.
Thereupon Mr. Vawter was declared elected and the oath of office was administered to him by Judge James M. Hanna.
Mr. HAMILTON nominated James W. Tyner, of Miami county, for Assistant Secretary of the Senate.
Mr. CONLEY nominated Henry S. Cawthorn, of Vincennes.
The roll was called, and Mr. Tyner having received a majority of all the votes cast, was declared duly elected, and received the oath of office at the hands of Judge Hanna.
ELECTION OF DOOR-KEEPERS.
Mr. HEFFREN moved that the Senate proceed to the election of Door-keepers, and nominated George W. Sample, of Hancock county, for principal Door-keeper.
Mr. GREEN nominated A. F. Shortridge, of Marion county, for the same position.
The Secretary called the roll, and Mr. Shortridge having received a majority of all the votes cast was declared duly elected Principal Door-keeper of the Senate during the present session.
The Secretary called the roll, and Mr. Shortridge having received a majority of all the votes cast was declared duly elected Principal Door-keeper of the Senate during the present session.
Mr. JONES nominated Col. John Osborn for Assistant Door-keeper.
page: 5[View Page 5]Mr. McLEAN nominated Benjamin F. Clark, of Vigo, for the same place.
The roll was called with the same result as the ballot for principal Door-keeper, except that Mr. Conner did not vote, and that Mr. Wilson voted for Col. Osborn.
Col. Osborn was thereupon declared elected.
The PRESIDENT, pro tem., then administered the oath of office to Mr. Shortridge, and to Col. Osborn.
Mr. WAGNER. The State Board of Agriculture meets in this city to-day, and I want this Senate Chamber for its meeting. I offer for adoption the following:
Resolved,Resolved, That when the Senate adjourn it adjourn till to-morrow an 9 o'clock.
The resolution was adopted by consent.
And then the Senate adjourned
