and arrangement, who shall report to the convention all such verbal amendments as they shall deem expedient, not changing in any manner the substance of such article: Provided, however, That this rule shall not be so construed as to prevent a majority of the convention from taking up the report of the said committee and making any alterations or amendments thereto. "Twenty-first. No standing rules or order of the convention shall be changed or rescinded without one day's previous notice being given of the motion therefor. Nor shall they be altered, changed, rescinded, or suspended unless upon the vote of two-thirds of the members present." On motion of Mr. Secor the convention adjourned. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1847 Prayer by the Rev. Mr. Read. The journal of yesterday was read and corrected. The President laid before the convention a communication from the Secretary of the territory in accordance with a resolution adopted on yesterday, as follows: HON. M. L. MARTIN, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF WISCONSIN TERRITORY, MADISON, December 17, 1847. President of the Convention, Madison, W. T. SIR-I have the honor herewith to transmit an abstract of the votes cast on the sixth day of April last, in this territory, on the question of the adoption of the constitution, and of equal suffrage to colored persons, in compliance with a resolution passed by the convention over which you preside, on yesterday. With great respect, your obed't servant, JOHN CATLIN, Secretary, Wisconsin Territory. ABSTRACT Of the votes given at an election held on the 6th day of April, A. D. 1847, in the several counties of the territory of Wisconsin, for and against the adoption of the constitution and for and against equal suffrage to colored persons. Equal suf * One district. One district, and returned from the district and not from each county. OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF WISCONSIN TERRITORY, I certify the foregoing to be a true abstract of the vote given on the sixth day of April, A. D. 1847, in the territory of Wisconsin, for and against the constitution, and for and against equal suffrage to colored persons, as appears from the returns made to the executive office. JOHN CATLIN, Secretary, Wisconsin Territory. Mr. Gale moved that the same be printed. Mr. King moved that the motion be laid upon the table, which was agreed to. "Resolved, Mr. A. G. Cole introduced the following resolution, to wit: That 150 copies of the rules adopted for the government of this convention be printed in pamphlet form for the use of the members thereof." Mr. King moved that the same be laid upon the table, which was agreed to. And a division having been called for, there were 42 in the affirmative, negatives not counted. "Resolved, That Mr. Lovell introduced the following resolution, to wit: the following rules be adopted and inserted among the rules before the fifth rule, viz.: 'Fifth. That no resolution shall be acted upon the same day upon which it is presented. ""Sixth. That 100 copies of all reports, petitions, and resolutions ordered to be printed, [be printed] for the use of the convention without further order.'" Mr. Chase introduced the following resolution, to wit: "Resolved, That a committee of three be appointed to define the duties of the officers of this for, there were 30 in the affirmative and 6 in the negative. convention." And the question having been put on the adoption of the same, it was decided in the affirmative. And a division having been called Mr. Kilbourn introduced the following resolution, which was adopted, to wit: "Resolved, That the sum of $5.00 be paid to Erastus D. Brown as messenger of this convention.” Mr. Wheeler introduced the following resolution, to wit: Resolved, That the fireman be authorized to employ some suitable person to act as assistant fireman to this convention." Mr. Judd moved that the same be laid upon the table, which was agreed to. The resolution introduced yesterday by Mr. Chase, relative to the appointment of a committee to present articles for the action of the convention, was then taken up. [Mr. Chase remarked that he was of opinion that it was better to refer the whole subject of a constitution to a large committee than to divide it up and refer it to small ones. And as the gentleman from Milwaukee (Mr. Kilbourn) had submitted the propositions for this purpose, he would move to lay the resolution on the table. Mr. Kilbourn hoped the gentleman would withdraw his motion to lay on the table and that the resolution would be passed and the committee appointed. He hoped his resolutions would not be acted upon without proper consideration. Mr. Chase withdrew his motion.-Tri-Weekly Express, Dec. 18, 1847.] Mr. Judd moved to amend the same by striking out all after the word "Resolved" and inserting: "That a committee of nine be appointed to prepare and submit a plan for the progress of the convention, the number of committees to be appointed, and such other suggestions as they shall deem proper and expedient"; which was accepted by Mr. Chase as a modification of the original resolution. The resolution, as modified, was then adopted. The resolution introduced by Mr. Wheeler yesterday, relative to printing, was then taken up, when Mr. Fox moved to amend by striking out all after the word "Resolved" and inserting: "That H. A. Tenney be employed to do the printing for this convention, and that a committee of five be appointed by the president, to fix a price to be paid for said printing"; which was accepted by Mr. Wheeler as a modification of his resolution. By substituting the resolutions introduced Mr. Richardson moved that the same be laid upon the table. And the question having been put, it was decided in the negative. And the ayes and noes having been called for, those who voted in the affirmative were [affirmative 30, negative 35; for the vote see Appendix I, roll call 2]. Mr. King moved to amend by striking out “H. A. Tenney" and inserting "W. W. Wyman." Mr. Beall moved to amend the amendment by substituting the resolutions introduced by him yesterday in relation to printing. [Mr. Fox said he was placed in a peculiar situation in reference to this matter. As a member from Dane County, he had to decide between two offices of the same party. He had hoped the matter would have been decided upon in caucus last evening. He was himself a working man; he wanted good pay for his labor and he was willing to pay well for work done. He was opposed to the picayune business of getting work done cheaper than it could be afforded and he thought this resolution calculated to have this effect. He did not think it was proper to support two Democratic offices in this place and was in favor of having one killed off. Peculiar circumstances led him to support the Argus. The Democrat office had the printing of the last convention; and it was but proper to give it to the Argus this time. He was not willing to give the printing to a Whig office, as it could not be expected that a Whig paper would support Democratic principles. After a few remarks by Mr. Sanders in favor of the resolution, Mr. Judd said he had not intended to have taken any part in the debate and would not have arisen but for the remarks of the gentleman from Dane (Mr. Fox). That gentleman had referred to a caucus held last evening for the purpose of deciding this matter of printing. He said he was chairman of a caucus last evening, but no action calculated to determine the matter of printing was submitted; and he never would act as presiding officer of a caucus or have anything to do with one which was designed to dictate on matters for legislative action. He was willing to meet his Democratic brethren in caucus for the purpose of designating persons to fill offices already created, but was unwilling to caucus for the creation of offices.-Tri-Weekly Express, Dec. 18, 1847.] And the question having been put on adopting the same, it was decided in the affirmative. And the ayes and noes having been called for, those who voted in the affirmative were [affirmative 38; negative 27; for the vote see Appendix I, roll call 3]. Mr. Chase moved that the resolution be referred to a committee of three with instructions to report thereon at the next meeting of the convention, which was agreed to. The President announced the appointment of the following committee to whom said resolution was referred, to wit: Messrs. Wheeler, Chase, and Bishop. The resolutions introduced by Mr. Kilbourn yesterday were taken up, when Mr. Lovell moved that the sixth resolution be referred to the committee of nine to be appointed under the resolution of Mr. Judd, which was agreed to. The seventh, eighth, and ninth resolutions were on motion of Mr. Kilbourn laid upon the table. Resolution No. 10, introduced yesterday by Mr. Larrabee, was taken up, when Mr. Larrabee asked leave to withdraw the same. Leave was granted. The resolution introduced by Mr. Richardson yesterday, relative to the number of resolutions, etc. to be printed, was taken up, when Mr. Chase moved that the same be laid upon the table, which was agreed to. Mr. Fenton introduced the following resolution, to wit: "Resolved, That the secretary be authorized to employ, when necessary, suitable assistance to do the writing of this convention." Mr. King moved that the same be laid upon the table, which was disagreed to. [The question was then put on the adoption of the resolution, and was decided in the negative.] [Mr. King moved to lay the resolution on the table to await the report of the committee on printing; as, if that was to be let out by contract, he saw no reason why this should not be done in the same manner; which was lost. Mr. Featherstonhaugh said he had been informed by the secretary that assistance was needed; he had his word for it and was willing to give it. He could not see how this matter could be compared with that of printing; if this principle prevailed, he should expect a proposition to let out the chaplaincy by contract. |