IN SENATE.
SATURDAY, January 12,1861.Mr. CRAVEN presented a petition from certain citizens of Indiana, praying for the passage of a law making it obligatory for all persons committed to jail for non-payment of fine, to pay it by hard work ; which was read and referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.A resolution was adopted, providing that when the Senate adjourn, it be till Monday morning at 9 o'clock.
THE STATE PRINTING.
Mr. JOHNSON offered a resolution, which was adopted by consent, instructing the Committee on Printing to enquire into the expediency of letting the State Printing to the lowest responsible bidder.
THE MILITIA.
Mr. MURRAY offered a resolution, which was adopted, requesting the Committee on Military Affairs to enquire into the expediency of re-organizing the militia of the State ; and of repealing the laws now in force for that purpose.
BEER, WINE AND CIDER.
Mr. HULL offered a resolution, which was referred to the Committee on Temperance, expressing it as the opinion of this Legislature that the present Temperance laws shall be so amended as that the restrictions shall not operate upon lager beer, native wines or cider.
GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE.
Mr. O'BRIEN offered a resolution ordering the printing of 5,000 copies of the Governor's Message, 2,000 of the same to be in the German language.
Mr. WAGNER moved its reference to the Committee on Printing.
Mr. SLACK thought we should act upon this resolution now ; and was of opinion that the number proposed to be printed was too small by half.
Mr. WAGNER. We will have another Message soon ; and let them both be printed at once, and go to the country together.
Mr. TARKINGTON made an ineffectual motion to lay on the table the motion for a reference.
The motion to refer was then agreed to by yeas 25, nays 20.
POSTAGE STAMPS FOR OFFICERS.
Mr. ANTHONY offered a resolution, which was adopted by consent, directing the doorkeeper to procure postage stamps for the Principal and Assistant Secretary, and first and second Doorkeeper, when ordered for members.
FEDEEAL RELATIONS.
Mr. MURRAY offered the following joint resolution, (S. 2,) which was referred under the rule to the Committee on Federal Relations:
A JOINT RESOLUTION ON THE STATE OF THE UNION.
WHEREAS, The State of South Carolina has placed herself in treasonable hostility to the General Government, by seizing the U. S. Post Office, Custom House, Fortifications and moneys, and firing into a Government vessel conveying troops and provisions to one of the United States forts in Charleston harbor; and
WHEREAS, The intelligence of similar hostile acts upon the property of the U. States Government in Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana, and the treasonable avowals of Senators and Representatives of those States in Congress; and
WHEREAS, This Government, having been formed by the people of the several States, through their lawfully constituted Representatives, for the purpose of establishing Justice and perpetuating Liberty; and
WHEREAS, The Constitution of the United States, which the Senators and Representatives of the people of Indiana have solemnly sworn to support, is the only guarantee of Justice, and the only charter of Liberty-Therefore
Be it Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Indiana, That a full sense of the value of this Government to ourselves and our posterity-to liberty loving men in all the world and of the great and increasing obligations we are under to our forefathers out of whose sacrifices it was established-impel us to make every effort in its behalf by sustaining the present and incoming administration in enforcing the laws and maintaining the Union.
Resolved, That the lawful, peaceful and constitutional election of a President of the United States furnishes no cause whatever of secession of any State from, or dissolution of this Union; and that all States parties or individuals that act on a different hypothesis, put themselves in antagonism to the General Government, and upon committing any overt act, become traitors to the government.
Resolved, That the patriotic stand which the President has taken to assert the supremacy of the Federal authority over the insurgent State of South Carolina, meets with our approval; and in any needful emergency, we tender him, through the Governor of the State, all needful aid in men and money to effect that object.
Resolved, That the Governor be requested to forward a copy of these resolutions to the President of the United States, to each of our Senators and Representatives in Congress, and to the Governors of the several States.
NEW PROPOSITIONS.
The following bills were introduced, read and severally passed to the second reading. without objection:
By Mr. CONLEY: A bill [S. 6] for the immediate repeal of an act entitled "an act to authorize the formation of new counties and to change county boundaries," approved March 7 1857,
By Mr. Mr. NEWCOMB: A bill [S. 7.] supplementary to an act concerning real property and the alienation thereof, approved May 6, 1852.
[The Revised code of 1852 provides that a married woman over eighteen and under twenty-one, may join with her husband in conveying his land; if the father, or if there be no father, the mother of the wife shall give consent, &c. This bill provides that when there is neither father nor mother living, such conveyance may be made, if the common pleas judge of the district where the grantors reside shall endorse his approval thereon, and being satisfied that it would prejudice the interests of page: 25[View Page 25]the husband and wife to be prevented from making such conveyance. That the judge have power to hear evidence as to the propriety or necessity of making such conveyance, and that he be paid by the grantors, the same fees that are allowed to justices of the peace for similar services.]
By Mr. LINE: A bill [S. 8,] to amend the act the to regulate and license the sale of spirituous, vinous, malt and other intoxicating liquors, to prohibit the adulteration of liquors," c., approved March 5, 1859; so as to provide that any person may sell pure, unadulterated beer and native wine or cider, without license.
By Mr. CLAYPOOL: A bill [S. 9,] to amend sec. 9 of an act providing for the election of justices of the pe'ace, approved June 9, 1852; so that their jurisdiction, unless otherwise provided for by law, shall be limited to the county in which they reside.
By Mr. LOMAX: A bill [S. 10,] to amend sec. 102 of an act to provide for a general system of common schools, approved March 5, 1855; so as to provide for the appointment of school directors where the inhabitants fail to elect; and to amend sec. 149, so as to enable school teachers to procure certificates for orthography, reading, writing and arithmetic, only where those3; branches are the only branches required to be taught.
By Mr. CONNER: A bill [S. 11,] to repeal so much of sec. 151 of the act providing for the valuation and assessment of real and personal, property, as gives the purchaser of land gold for delinquent taxes possession of the premises before the deed is executed.
By Mr. CRAVEN : A bill [S. 12,] to amend sec. 16 of an act touching the relation of guardians and wards, approved June 9, 1852; so as to require that the appointment of appraisers to appraise real estate shall be from the counties in which the land is situate.
By Mr. LOMAX: A bill [S. 13,] to amend sec. 5 of an act to provide for the more uniform mode of doing township business, &c., approved February 18, 1859, so that the township trustee shall hold his office for two years, and until his successor is elected and qualified.
By Mr. CARNAHAN: A bill [S. 14,] to amend sec. 48 of an act providing for the settlement of decedant's estates, so that the executor may postpone the sale till the first term of the Common Pleas Court; no notice of the filing of the petition shall be required; the court may also postpone the sale from time to time, and require additional security for the safety of the estate;this act to apply to persons dying before as well as after its passage.
A MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE
Was received, inviting the Senate to meet in the Representatives' Hall at 2 o'clock next Monday afternoon, to compare the election returns for Governor and Lt. Governor.
The invitation was subsequently accepted by the Senate.
SENATE BILLS ON THE SECOND READING.
The following bills introduced yesterday were read the second time and severally referred, as follows:
Mr. Slack's [S. 2] for the abolishment of courts of conciliation; to the Committee on the Organization of Courts.
Mr. Cobb's [S. 8] to enable justices to commit defendants in case of conviction upon failure to pay costs; to the Judiciary Committee.
Mr. March's [S. 4] abolishing the office of State Printer; to the Committee on Printing.
Mr. Newcomb's [S. 5] providing that the opposite party may offer himself as a witness in his own behalf, whenever the assignor is used as a, witness by the assignee, being read-
Mr. MELLETT moved to amend by striking out all of section 1 after the words " be amended so as to read as follows," and insert the following:
" No person offered as a witness shall be excluded from giving evidence, either in person or by deposition, in any civil action or proceeding, by reason of incapacity from crime or interest in the event of the same as a party thereto, or otherwise ; Provided that no party to a suit shall be allowed to testify when the adverse party is the executor or administrator of a deceased person, when the facts to be proved transpired before the death of the deceased person, nor shall he testify unless he give reasonable notice of his intention to do so to the adverse party, his agent or attorney."
Mr. CONNER. In this bill there is a question involved which has been very perplexing to the courts for a long time. I move its reference to the Committee on the Judiciary.
The motion was agreed to.
IN MEMORY OF GOVERNOR WILLARD.
Mr. SLACK submitted the following:
Resolved, That the Senate of the State of Indiana has received with the deepest sensibility the announcement of the death of Governor Ashbel P. Willard.
Resolved, That the officers and members of the Senate will wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty days, as a testimony of the profound respect the Senate entertains for the memory of the deceased.
Resolved, That the proceedings of the Senate in relation to the death of Governor Willard be communicated to the family of the deceased by the Secretary.
Resolved, As a further mark of respect for the memory of the deceased, that the Senate do now adjourn.
Mr. SLACK. Mr, President: In presenting these resolutions to the Senate, I do not propose to deliver a eulogy upon the life, character and public services of our late distinguished Executive, but I cannot resist this opportunity of testifying to his many virtues, and his most generous impulses.
In early youth he was thrown upon his own resources; and when we view the fact that he began life in a remote land, far from his native home, amidst entire strangers, with no other capital than that intellect which a genorous Maker had given him, and with a fixed and unalterable determination to do his duty, and view the high and lofty position to which he attained, the commanding influence he ex page: 26[View Page 26]erted in the councils of his country, we cannot do otherwise than cherish his memory, and view with respect and admiration the chaplets which encircled his brow.
As old age creeps upon the distinguished and admired statesman, whose many acts of self-sacrificing patriotism have endeared him in the hearts and affections of his countrymen, we are naturally taught, as time rolls round, that he must soon part from us, and leave for a higher and more happy sphere; then the keen pang of separation is greatly mellowed by the reflection that the change is what we anticipated, and we are prepared for the loss. But, Mr. President, when inexorable death knocks at our doors, and obtains admission, and selects for its victim one so young, one so gifted, one so distinguished, one who had so string a hold upon the affections of a generous people, and one too, whose distinction had not yet reached its meridian height, with what redoubled force does the blow come, how much keener the pang, how much more crushing the affliction.
But, Mr. President, the immutable fiat was issued, and we must bow to the will of Him "who doeth all things well."
To the family and friends of our lamented Chief Executive, I may be permitted to express the consoling thought that those who knew him best, appreciated him most; his kind and generous nature knew no harbor for jealousy, envy or malice, and may we not, with propriety, entertain the thought that their and our loss is his gain?
Mr. WAGNER. Mr. President-I also wish to second the resolutions of the Senator from Huntington. It has been my fortune during the past two years, as President of the State Board of Agriculture, to have much to do with the lamented Governor. I have always found him one of the kindest of gentlemen; always ready and willing to advance the interests of the State, and particularly in the prosecution of the geological survey of the State, affording every facility at his command for that purpose. Whatever may be said of Governor Willard as a partisan, all will agree that he was a warm-hearted man, always ready and willing to oblige a friend, even to his own inconvenience; and I most heartily join in this tribute of respect to our late Governor.
Mr. RAY said: Mr. President-I can not feel excused from adding my tribute to this testimonial of the Senate to the late Governor Willard, although I am not prepared with those biographical data which would render a review of the life and services of the deceased, of interest to the Senate. It is in vain, Mr. President, to seek by resolutions of the Senate to supply the void created in the councils of the State, or in the family circle by his death. His career was brilliant, and he left the stage of action young-he was born with great talent, and grasped the laurel of success early in life-fortune attended his efforts, and his political life was uninterrupted by any of those reverses which too often attend political aspirations. Many of the Senators knew him-earlier and longer than I, and are better prepared to speak of his acts and qualities than I am; but I may be permitted to say of the deceased, that as a lawyer and advocate great excellence attended his early efforts-establishing for himself an enviable reputation for ingenuity, eloquence and fidelity to clients. In the Forum of debate, whether the subject was law, or politics, whether it required logic, pathos or invective, he came up to the highest standard of popular demand. Asa politician, he was a partisan in the most emphatic and exalted sense of that term-he was,however,liberal and courteous to political adversaries in official and social intercourse, while in political debate invective was his ready weapon, and mercy was reserved for his friends. As a political speaker his forte was to concentrate and generalize the current, floating thoughts and sentiments of the people, which in time rendered him the idol of his party in Indiana, and commanded for him a National reputation for eloquence, tact and statesmanship.
As a political leader his characteristic traits were intrepidity of soul, native sagacity, iron will and alacrity in serving his cause-he readily seized and tenaciously maintained the strong positions of a controversy, and with dexterity and power assailed the weak ones. As Governor, in the discharge of his official duty he was the constant victim of the struggling demands of stern duty on the one hand, and appeals to the sympathies of a lenient heart on the other. A good judge of men and measures, he rarely made a political mistake, and when attacked, was always equal to the occasion.
With a tongue of inspiration, and a heart full of patriotism and the love of his race, no orator of this country could so electrify the masses of the people by the flashes and torrents of a sweeping eloquence ; and in times of high political excitement his gallant bearing and clarion tones never left it doubtful where his party stood. As a friend he was devoted and unselfish, frank and warm in his attachments, his bosom never harbored envy, jealousy, duplicity or revenge. He commenced his career in the valley of humble life-poor, but proud and ambitious, he leaped from crag to crag, from chasm to chasm, scaled hill after hill, until he reached the mountain top. He never forgot the path that he traveled, nor the friends that smiled on his early struggles. But death, that sets his seal alike on individuals and nations, upon kingdoms and crowns, upon the creations of man and the forms of nature, laid his cold hands upon him, and he was clay. He has passed from this living generation of men, and from the perilous crisis that threatens the destruction of the Union he loved so well.
Mr. ANTHONY. Mr. President, I feel that there is great propriety in my saying something responsive to the resolution just offered.
My early and intimate aquaintance with Governor Willard, as he moved in the social and political relations of life, enables me to add my tribute, in proof of the many qualities ot head and heart, which so endeared him to his numerous friends.
When yet a school boy, I well remember the hour he first placed his foot upon Indiana page: 27[View Page 27] soil, in the place of my residence, in the district I now have the honor to represent upon this floor. He was then a young and unpretending man, poor and friendless, wandering from his native hearth-stone in search of both health and fortune.
Bold and self-reliant, and with a will which nothing could intimidate, he settled in the midst of men great in wealth, eminent in the profession of which he was a member, and prominent and learned in the politics of the State and nation, but in the brilliant charge of his genius, sustained by his earnest and persistent energy, wealth lost its precedence, learning its prestige, and political eminence its distinction, and A. P. Willard rapidly seized upon social and professional prominence, and in politics became the idol and leader of his party.
In the year 1850, Mr. Willard was elected by an unprecedented majority, to represent in the other end of this Capitol the same county I represent here, and as such representative he was able and industrious, and by his power and excellence as a forensic debater, out-ranked his cotemporaries, and returned to his home with his record endorsed by his party friends. From that time forward, he did not tarry a moment in the race for political distinction; he swept past his plodding rivals one by one, until his fame as a politician culminated in the victory he won in the able and hard-fought contest of 1856. which victory placed him at the early age of thirty-five in the position of Chief Executive of the State of Indiana, the office he held at the time of his death. As a partizan, Governor Willard was uncompromising; he never asked nor gave a point, but as a man he was noble, frank and generous ; in the relations of friendship he was never charged with infidelity, and in his domestic ties exhibited the noblest traits of the human race.
Mr. LINE: Before putting these resolutions to a vote of the Senate, I will say that I only knew Gov. Willard as a politician. These resolutions have been presented unexpectedly to those Senators who knew Governor Willard, and I will take this occasion to move that those Senators who have addressed us on the subject, be requested to write out their remarks, that they may be published.
Mr. RAY and Mr. SHIELDS seconded the resolutions, each in a short eulogy upon the life and character of the deceased.
Mr. DEHART sends the following to the Reporter's desk:
Mr. President: Although I never enjoyed the acquaintance of our deceased Governor, yet his name and actions as a citizen, orator and politician, are familiar. Zealous as a leader, eloquent as an orator, kind, warm and generous as a friend, he has left a monument in the affections of the people of Indiana.
The resolutions were adopted unanimously.
The Senate adjourned till Monday morning
