whether for good or evil. Should not the Democratic papers of the territory see to it that they speak forth manfully and in all truth upon every point which shall arise in the progress of this constitutional question? By so doing, whatever may be the result, they will escape the blame of their friends and leave the party unharmed and whole, a thing which all must most anxiously desire. REASONS FOR SUPPORTING THE NEW CONSTITUTION We place before our readers today the constitution which is the result of the labors of the last seven weeks at Madison. We do not propose at the present time to enter upon a lengthy examination of its merits but merely to call the attention of our citizens to its various provisions and throw out a few of those reflections which to us seem proper in forming an opinion of it as an entire instrument. To those who have noticed the debates in the convention it is apparent that nothing of a party coloring has been given to any of its features; and upon examining those few articles that were capable of receiving such a tinge, nothing we apprehend will be met with to offend the most fastidious in this respect. This result might have been expected, when we know that such a thing as a party vote can scarcely be found in the journals of the convention, and in view of the spirit of compromise and fairness which characterized all its deliberations. One thing at least is certain-the people of Grant County have infinite reason to rejoice over its superiority to the constitution of 1847, and to feel satisfied with the reproof which they gave at the polls to that instrument. We repeat it-the improvement is a matter of rejoicing to those who were heedless of the argument last spring that we could not obtain a better constitution by a new effort. The result is before us; and we are now able to demonstrate the expediency of abiding by the right. We do not mean by this to say that we have got in the present instrument all that the citizens of Grant deemed necessary to form a perfect constitution, but that we have rid ourselves of many of the most odious features of the old constitution and, by compromise, secured some wholesome modifications of other less objectionable parts. The west has not only maintained her rights in the convention, but she has secured many of them permanently in the present constitution. No part, perhaps, of the rejected constitution was more objectionable to the citizens of the county than the boundary which it gave us on the northwest, from the evil effects of which we are now secured. We have not only now all that we asked for before, but even more; and we may feel thankful to the exertions of our western delegation, who did not forget the source of their authority. Nor is this all; believing that industry, integrity, and confidence between man and man are essential to the best interests of every society, and that every obligation and trust which is entered into among men should be sacredly and to the extent of their means fulfilled, the citizens of Grant County did not deem it necessary to destroy the foundations of human credit or to shield men from the performance of their duty and reward them for their indolence and villainy. They thought that domestic confidence and the preservation of those relations between man and wife which God himself has ordered from our very nature important to the well-being of every community, and did not deem it necessary to change the offices of the sexes or place man under the tutelage of petticoats. In these two latter particulars, the rejection of the article on exemption and the rights of married women, we deem ourselves particularly fortunate and we thank the convention for having left the matter to the discretion of future legislation as well as for the compliment which they have paid to the people of Wisconsin in their just appreciation of their character. The legislative article is a decided improvement on the old one, if for no other reason than the one that it is considerably smaller in its organization. Had it been still fewer in numbers, it would doubtless have suited many better; but we must regard it as a very just compromise of the two extremes that are found for large and small representation. The important article on the suffrage may not coincide in all respects with the views of the citizens of Grant County; but we have come to a conviction which in the minds of the well-thinking is perhaps of more importance, and that is that it is in coincidence with the wishes of a majority of the people of our territory. Whatever may have been thought at the close of the old convention, there can be no question now that a large majority of the voters of the territory are in favor of provisions for suffrage at least as liberal as those embodied in the present instrument. We might speak in the same manner of other articles: for instance, the judiciary and those on state indebtedness and internal improve ments. The decided superiority of the present judicial system over the old one, in every particular, will render it satisfactory to all who care for this head; and as for the others, they have the approval of a large majority, no doubt. But we have no time for lengthy comment now and only wish to hint at some of the reasons for giving our approval to the new constitution. We presume that no one is so unreasonable as to look for an instrument in all particulars suited to his own conceptions and that all are willing to grant as much to others as they ask from them. We approve the constitution because we believe it to be accordant with the views of a decided majority of the citizens of our territory; and we cannot conceive a better reason for giving it our hearty support-which we shall give in the confident hope of its adoption. We shall hereafter give our views upon the various provisions of the constitution, separately, and at some length. SELECTIONS FROM THE PRAIRIE DU CHIEN PATRIOT VIRTUES OF THE CONSTITUTION [February 15, 1848] This document which has been so anxiously looked for since the meeting of the last convention has finally been promulgated to the people, and as we gave it to our readers we felt to congratulate ourselves and the citizens of Wisconsin, generally, that though the spirit of progress was manifested in the former convention, it was more rationally evinced in the latter. The change from a territorial to a state government is a very important one; and upon those principles which we adopt as the fundamental ones of our state, depends the question whether we improve our condition in removing our dependence upon the general government and assuming state sovereignty. With this fact the citizens of Wisconsin seem to have been forcibly impressed, as is shown by the large majority by which the old constitution was voted down. The old constitution contained articles that were locally and generally obnoxious, having some valuable principles; but these were so merged in those of an evil tendency that their good qualities were scarcely to be seen. It was rejected and thus arose the democratic principle-shall our delegates act according to the will of the people? Hence the great interest in the convention that has just closed its labors. Circumstances were every way more auspicious to a favorable result in the last convention, containing more talent, fewer members, less partisan feeling, and the will of the people impressed upon their minds as a guide to their deliberations. The end has shown this, in forming a constitution that we hope and believe will be adopted by a very decisive vote. It is needless for us to point out the many excellencies in the present constitution before the people, as they are to read and judge for themselves; but upon perusal we find none of those ultra radical principles which so signally condemned the former one. The existence of the article on the "rights of married women" terminated with the election on the sixth of April last; nor did the last convention see proper to raise it from the dead. The provision in relation to banks is where it should be left to legislation and the people. By a majority of the votes of the state approving banks, the legis lature may form a charter for a bank; and if upon its being submitted to the people they approve it, a bank may be established. No exemption article is embraced in the present constitution; but it is provided that the privilege of the debtor to enjoy the necessary comforts of life shall be recognized by wholesome laws, exempting a reasonable amount of property from seizure on sale for the payment of any debt thereafter contracted. The principle of exempting a reasonable amount of property from seizure by the creditor is recognized in every state; and this same principle we see is engrafted as a fundamental one in this constitution, though the details are wisely left to future legislation. The suffrage article seems to us liberal and wise. All white male persons twenty-one years of age, residents of this territory and citizens of the United States, and those who have declared their intentions to become citizens, may vote for or against the constitution, on the second Monday, the thirteenth of March next. And every male person is a qualified voter at any election who is of age and has been one year resident here and belongs to any of the following classes: white citizens of the United States; whites of foreign birth who have declared their intentions to become citizens; persons of Indian blood declared citizens by Congress; civilized persons of Indian descent, members of no tribe. Inasmuch as the constitution is a fundamental law and should not be subject to frequent changes, the article on amendments provides that no amendment can take place unless it is the express wish of the people; by being proposed by two successive legislatures and such specified amendment approved by the votes of the people; or if a majority of both houses of the legislature recommend a convention to revise the constitution, and [this] is approved by the people, then such convention is called. Thus we see that fundamental changes are placed beyond the reach of any sudden ebullition of feeling, prompted by whatever motive; and the deliberate action of both legislature and people is required to effect a change so important. Judges are made elective by the people; and the assertion that freemen are not as well qualified to elect their judges as other officers seems to have obtained but little credit in convention. This we esteem as a decided improvement upon the formation of the judiciary and an increased confidence in the acts of the people. We are not aware that any state has a better organization in any de |