IN SENATE.
THURSDAY, JANUARY, 10, 1867.Senators holding over and Senators elect, being convened in the Senate chamber, at seven minutes before ten o'clock, the Hon. CONRAD BAKER, Lieutenant Governor of the State, and ex officio President of the Senate, took the chair and said: Senators will please come to order.
The LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR. The Secretary will call the names of Senators holding over.
Members of the last Senate answered to their names as follows:
- From the counties of Gibson, Pike and Dubois - James Barker.
- From the counties of Washington and Harrison - John A. Bowman.
- From the counties of Scott and Clarke - Elisha G. English.
- From the county of Ripley - William Hyatt.
- From the counties of Sullivan and Vigo - Bayless W. Hanna.
- From the counties of Clay and Putnam - Ethel Staggs
- From the counties of Morgan and Johnson - Samuel P. Oyler.
- From the counties of Hancock and Shelby - James L. Mason.
- From the county of Rush - William A. Cullen.
- From the counties of Fayette and Union - Thomas W. Bennett.
- From the county of Randolph - Thomas Ward.
- From the county of Henry - Thomas P. Reagan.
- From the counties of Delaware and Blackford - Wm. A. Bonham.
- From the county of Marion - W. C. Thompson.
- From the counties of Hamilton and Tipton - Dan. R. Brown.
- From the counties of Boone and Hendricks - T. J. Cason.
- From the county of Montgomery - Joseph C. Milligan.
- From the county of Fountain - J. W. Newlin.
- From the counties of Fulton and Miami - S. S. Terry.
- From the counties of Noble, DeKalb and Steuben - E. B. Noyes.
- From the counties of Laporte and Starke - John B. Niles.
The LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR. The Secretary will now call the names of Senators elect.
The following new members answered to their names:
- From the counties of Posey and Vanderburg - Thos. C. Jacquess.
- From the counties of Warrick, Spencer and Perry - S. F. Johnson.
- From the counties of Knox and Daviess - W. S. Turner.
- From the counties of Orange and Crawford - Wm. F. Sherrod.
- From the county of Floyd - Geo. V. Howk.
- From the county of Jefferson - John R. Cravens.
- From the counties of Ohio and Switzerland - F. J. Bellamy.
- From the county of Dearborn - Elijah Huffman.
- From the counties of Lawrence and Martin - Andrew Houghton.
- From the counties of Owen and Greene - John Humphreys.
- From the counties of Monroe and Brown - Wm. Taggart.
- From the county of Bartholomew - Thomas G. Lee.
- From the county of Decatur - Will Cumback.
- From the county of Franklin - Thomas Gifford.
- From the county of Wayne - Isaac Kinley.
- From the counties of Madison and Grant - John Hunt.
- From the counties of Parke and Vermillion - Thos. N. Rice.
- From the counties of Warren, Benton and White - Anson Wolcott.
- From the county of Tippecanoe - J. A. Stein.
- From the counties of Carroll and Clinton - F. G. Armstrong.
- From the counties of Kosciusko and Wabash - C. S. Parrish.
- From the counties of Whitley and Huntington - Wilson Smith.
- From the counties of Wells, Adams and Jay - Robert Huey.
- From the county of Allen - Wm. W. Carson.
- From the counties of Elkhart and Lagrange - Abner Lewis.
- From the counties of St. Joseph and Marshall - John Reynolds.
- From the counties of Lake, Porter, Jasper and Newton - Firman Church.
The LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR. Senators elect will now present their credentials, and be sworn in by Judge Ray, of the Supreme Court.
The Senators named in the last list printed then came forward in front of the Secretary's desk and took upon themselves the oath to support the Constitution of the United States and of the State of Indiana, and truly and faithfully perform their duties as Senators.
ILLNESS OF SENATOR VAWTER.
Mr. CRAVENS. Mr. President, I am in receipt of a letter from the Senator from Jennings, [Mr. Vawter] who is confined at home by serious illness. I passed through the place of his residence on Monday, and was made aware of the fact that he was suffering from severe hemorrhage of the lungs. I desire to make this statement in his behalf, and ask that he be excused from attendance in the Senate for the present.
The LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR. It is so ordered.
ELECTION OF OFFICERS.
Mr. BENNETT. I move that the Senate now proceed to complete its organization by the election of a Principal Secretary, an Assistant Secretary, and a Doorkeeper, in the order named.
The motion was agreed to.
Mr. THOMPSON. I nominate for Principal Secretary, O. M. Wilson, of Marion county.
Mr. MASON. I put in nomination James B. Kelso, of Floyd county.
There being no other nominations, the Secretary was directed to call the roll.
The first ballot resulted as follows:
Those who voted for Mr. Wilson were-
Messrs. Bellamy, Bennett, Bonham, Brown, Cason, Church, Cravens, Cullen, Cumback, Houghton, Hyatt, Jacquess, Johnson, Kinley, Lewis, Milligan, Niles, Noyes, Oyler, Parrish, Reagan, Reynolds, Rice, Stein, Terry, Thompson, Wolcott, Ward and Armstrong, 29.
Those who voted for Mr. Kelso, were:
Messrs. Barker, Bowman, Carson, English, Gifford, Hanna, Howk, Huey, Huffman, Humphreys, Hunt, Lee, Milligan, Newlin, Sherrod, Smith, Staggs, Taggart and Turner - 19.
The LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR. O. M. Wilson having received a majority of the whole number of votes cast, is duly elected. Nominations for Assistant Secretary are in order.
Mr. WARD. I nominate Thomas M. Browne, of Randolph county.
Mr. HANNA. I nominate Frank Cunningham, of Marion county.
There being no other nominations the ballot resulted[Senators voting as above.]
For Mr. Browne..................................29 votes
For Mr. Cunningham ..........................19 votes
The LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR. Mr. Browne having received a majority of all the votes cast, is duly elected. The next in order is nominations for Doorkeeper.
Mr. PARRISH. I nominate Samuel G. Thomson, of Wabash county, for Doorkeeper.
Mr. MASON. I put in nomination James H. Carr, of Hancock county.
There being no other nominations, the ballot resulted[Senators voting as above.]
For Mr. Thomson ..............................29 votes.
For Mr. Carr.......................................19 votes.
The LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR. Mr. Thomson having received a majority of all the votes cast, is declared duly elected.
The officers elect were called forward by the President of the Senate, who administered to them the customary oath of office.
SENATE APPOINTEES.
Mr. BENNETT. I offer the following resolution:
Resolved, That the President of the Senate appoint a committee of three Senators, to whom the Secretaries,and Doorkeepers shall report the names and duties required of all assistants by them appointed. And it shall be the duty of said Committee to authorize the appointment of such assistants only as are needed, and to report the same to the Senate for its action. And no person shall draw pay for services as such assistant unless his employment be authorized by such Committee appointed by the Senate.
The resolution was adopted unanimously, and the President of the Senate made the Committee to consist of Messrs. Bennett, Reagan and Hanna.
LEAVE OF ABSENCE.
Mr. CULLEN. I desire to obtain leave of absence for the Senator from Howard, [Mr. Richmond] who was unexpectedly called home last night on account of sickness in his family.
The LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR. It is so ordered.
COMMUNICATION WITH THE HOUSE.
On motion ot Mr. BONHAM, it was -
Resolved, That the House be informed that the Senate is organized by the election of O. M. Wilson, Principal Secretary; Thomas M. Browne, Assistant Secretary; and T. G. Thomson, Doorkeeper.
STANDING COMMITTEES.
Mr. BENNETT. I move that the President of the Senate be authorized to appoint page: 11[View Page 11] the Standing Committees of the Senate and report them to the Senate.
The motion was agreed to.
RULES OF THE SENATE.
On motion of Mr. CULLEN, it was -
Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to whom the rules of the Senate be referred for revision, and that the rules of the last session of the Senate be adopted until otherwise ordered by the Senate.
The LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR subsequently made this committee to consist of Messrs. Cullen, Cravens and Howk.
STATUTES, JOURNALS AND BREVIER LEGISLATIVE REPORTS.
Mr. BONHAM offered the following:
Resolved, That the Doorkeeper be instructed to furnish each Senator with one copy of Gavin and Hord's Revised Statutes, one copy of the House and Senate Journals of the last regular and special sessions and one copy of the BREVIER LEGISLATIVE REPORTS of the last regular and special sessions.
The resolution was adopted by yeas 35, nays 13.
STANDING COMMITTEES.
Mr. NOYES offered the following:
Resolved, That the President of the Senate be directed to appoint among the standing committees of the Senate one committee on Congressional apportionment and one on Legislative apportionment, to consist of eleven members each.
The resolution was adopted.
Mr. NILES. I move to reconsider the resolution for the purpose of offering an amendment. The question was perhaps hardly understood at the moment the vote was taken. It occurs to me that while the committee on Congressional apportionment might not be too large; it would be very cumbersome to have the other committee consist of eleven members. It seems to me a smaller committee - say five - would act more efficiently. Too large a committee would not be together half the time. I think a smaller committee would give better attention to the subject.
The motion to reconsider was agreed to.
Mr. NILES. I now move that the Committee on State Apportionment consist of five members instead of eleven, and that the resolution be so modified.
Mr. NOYES. I accept the amendment.
Mr. OYLER. I hope the amendment will not be accepted till we consider the matter a few moments. I look upon the apportionment of the State for Legislative purposes as one of the most important duties of this General Assembly. It is a matter in which all parts of the State are deeply and vitally interested; and the interest of one locality may be found antagonistic to another. It is essential that every part of the State should be fairly represented on the committee, and I think eleven is a small number enough. The matter ought to be carefully considered by the committee. If Senators will consider but for a moment, they will see that there is more need for eleven members on this committee than on the committee for Congressional apportionment. We will save time by appointing a committee of eleven, for a report from a committee of five would not be as satisfactory to all parts of the State.
Mr. NILES. I will ask the indulgence of the Senate to submit another remark or two upon this subject. The resolution calls for the appointing of a committee of eleven on the subject of Congressional apportionment - there being eleven Congressional districts, and it being feasible to constitute this committee of that number; but it is impossible to constitute a committee on State apportionment representing each Senatorial, much less each Legislative district; and it has been my experience that a committee consisting of a moderate number five or seven at most is as many as can be got together as often as may be necessary; and a small committee can operate far better than a multitudinous one. The committee are not to legislate; they are to prepare subject matter for legislation. A committee of five are as competent to present some feasible plan of apportionment as a committee of eleven or fifteen.
The amendment was rejected upon a division - affirmative 15, negative not reported.
The question recurring on the original resolution, it was adopted by yeas 28, nays 20.
On motion by Mr. THOMPSON, it was -
Resolved, That the President of the Senate appoint, in addition to the regular Committees, a standing Committee on Immigration.
DESKS FOR CLERKS.
Mr. CULLEN. I move that the Librarian be instructed to purchase for the benefit of the Secretaries a stand with locks, &c. I am informed that they have no proper place to keep their papers.
The motion was agreed to.
And then came a recess till two o'clock.
AFTERNOON SESSION.
The Senate met at two o'clock P. M.
STATIONERY FOR THE SENATE.
Mr. BENNETT offered the following:
Resolved, That the State Librarian be authorized to furnish stationary for the use of the Senate and that the President of the Senate, each Chairman of a Committee for the Committee, and each Senator, be authorized to draw such stationery as he may need from the Librarian, upon his own order, not exceeding in value $20; that the Principal and Assistant Secretary be authorized to draw of the Librarian upon their own orders such stationery as they may need in their respective departments; that the Librarian shall keep an account of all such stationary, and three days before the adjournment of the Gen-
page: 12[View Page 12]Assembly, he shall make a report to the Senate showing the whole amount of stationery used during the session, the amount in value drawn by each Senator and officer of the Senate ; and for the purpose of carrying out the provisions of this resolution, the Librarian be authorized to employ a clerk.
Mr. MASON offered the following substitute:
Resolved, That the President of the Senate appoint a committee of three Senators who shall recommend the most suitable manner of supplying the members of the Senate with stationery during the session, and that all resolutions on the subject of stationery be referred to said Committee.
Mr. BENNETT. I think the Senate is just as capable to decide this matter as a committee would be. It is a matter that most of the Senators have probably thought about; and it is a matter that we have discussed a great many times in this chamber, and it always ended in adopting something like this. It is precisely the resolution of last session - it worked well last year, and I believe it is the better way.
Mr. MASON. It will not be improper to appoint a committee, and let them canvass the different modes of supplying stationery. If a member does not use $20 worth, he ought not to have it.
On motion of Mr. OYLER, the amendment was laid on the table.
The original resolution was adopted.
A MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE
announced the organization of that body, and that it was ready to receive communications from the Senate.
NEWSPAPERS FOR THE SENATE.
Mr. BONHAM offered the following:
Resolved, That the Doorkeeper be instructed to contract for and place on the desk of Senators, three copies of the Indianapolis Daily Journal, three copies of the Daily Herald, and three copies of the Daily Evening Gazette, two copies of each to be wrapped and stamped for mailing, provided the same will publish a correct report of the proceedings of the Legislature.
Mr. HANNA inquired if there were not German papers published in the city.M
Mr. CULLEN understood there is a Democratic paper published weekly, and a Republican daily. He moved to amend by including those papers - the Volksblatt and the Telegraph - and that all three copies be wrapped and stamped.
The amendment was agreed to.
The resolution as amended was adopted.
CONGRESSIONAL APPORTIONMENT.
Mr. BENNETT introduced a bill [S. No. 1,] for an act to divide the State into Congressional Districts.
It provides as follows:
SECTION 3. The counties of Posey, Vanderburg, Warrick, Spencer, Pike, Gibson, Knox, Davies and Sullivan shall constitute the First District.
SEC. 4. The counties of Perry, Crawford, Orange, Washington, Harrison, Floyd, Jackson,Lawrence, Martin and Dubois shall constitute the Second District.
SEC. 5. The counties of Clark, Scott, Jefferson, Switzerland, Ohio, Dearborn, Kipley, Decatur and Jennings shall constitute the Third District.
SEC. 6. The counties of Franklin, Union, Fayette, Hush, Shelby, Hancock, Henry and Wayne shall constitute the Fourth District.
SEC. 7. The counties of Brown, Bartholomew, Johnson, Morgan, Hendricks and Marion shall constitute the Fifth District.
SEC. 8. The counties of Vigo, Greene, Owen, Clay, Putnam, Monroe, Parke and Vermillion shall constitute the Sixth District.
SEC 9. The counties of Fountain, Montgomery, Boone, Clinton, Carroll, Tippecanoe and Warren shall constitute the Seventh District.
SEC. 10. The counties of Hamilton, Madison, Grant, Tipton, Howard, Cass and Miami shall constitute the Eighth District.
SEC. 11. The counties of Delaware, Randolph, Blackford, Jay, Huntington, Wells. Adams, Allen and Wabash shall constitute the Ninth District.
SEC. 12. The counties of Fulton, Kosciusko, Whitley, DeKalb, Noble, Lagrange and Steuben shall constitute the Tenth District.
SEC. 13. The counties of Benton, White, Pulaski. Jasper, Newton, Starke, Marshall, St. Joseph, Laporte, Porter and Lake shall constitute the Eleventh District.
The bill was read the first time and pass- to the second reading.
REGISTRY OF VOTERS.
Mr. THOMPSON introduced a bill [S. 2,] for an act to provide for the registry of voters and to declare their residence, and to punish fraudulent practices touching elections, and defining the duties of certain officers therein named, and providing compensation for the services of such officers; [the same bill introduced by him January 7, 1865, and numbered S. 64] which was read the first time and passed to the second reading.
SALARIES OF PROSECUTING ATTORNEYS.
Mr. BELLAMY introduced a bill [S. 3,] for an act regulating the salaries of Prosecuting Attorneys and repealing all laws inconsistent therewith.
It provides that the Circuit and Criminal Prosecutors shall receive $1,200 per annum ; and Common Pleas Prosecutors $1,000 in lieu of salaries and docket fees ; and all docket fees collected as heretofore provided, shall be for the benefit of the State.
The bill was read the first time and passed to the second reading.
A MESSAGE FROM THE HOUSE
announced the passage by that body of a resolution authorizing the appointment of a Joint Committee to wait upon the Governor, and ascertain the time that would suit his convenience for the delivery of his biennial message.
On motion by Mr. BENNETT the House resolution was concurred in.
The LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR appointed Messrs. Bennett, Oyler and Newlin, the Committee on the part of the Senate.
page: 13[View Page 13]PRAYERS.
On motion by Mr. MILLIGAN, it was -
Resolved, That a Committee of three be appointed to act with a similar committee on the part of the House, to invite some minister of the gospel to open the session of the General Assembly with prayer, immediately before the delivery of the Governor's message.
The LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR makes the Senate Committee to consist of Messrs. Milligan, Niles and Gifford.
COMMUNICATION WITH THE GOVERNOR.
Mr. BENNETT, from the Joint Committee appointed to wait on the Governor, and inform him of the organization of both Houses, and ascertain at what time he would be pleased to deliver his message, reported that they had performed that duty, and that His Excellency has designated tomorrow, at 2 1/2 o'clock P. M., as the time of such communication, in the Hall of the House of Representatives.
And then the Senate adjourned till tomorrow at 2 o'clock P. M.
