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is expressly permitted. In this way the Constitution framers sought to protect the people of the Commonwealth in their fundamental rights of life, liberty, and property.

The organization and development of each department of government is taken up in a separate study and traced through the constitutional conventions of 1844, 1846, and 1857. An attempt has been made to give an impartial and interpretative account of the more important debates of these conventions and the methods whereby the Constitution framers arrived at what should constitute the organization and functions of the departments of government in Iowa.

Constitutions are not the products of a single convention nor the work of any select group of men. On the contrary they are the outcome of a process of gradual growth and development. The Constitution drawn up for the proposed State of Iowa in 1844 was largely taken from the older State Constitutions. This Constitution though twice rejected by the people of the Territory of Iowa, became the basis for the Constitution of 1846 under which Iowa was admitted to the Union. The present Constitution of Iowa, drawn up in 1857, is but an enlargement of the Constitution of 1846.

A number of amendments have been ratified since the adoption of the Constitution of 1857. Wherever they have directly affected the departments of government, they have been discussed from the standpoint of the causes which brought about the change. While reforms might have been suggested in these studies, an attempt has been made only to give an impartial and accurate account of the work of the Iowa constitutional conventions, and the constitutional changes which have since taken place that directly relate to the departments into which the powers of government have been separated.

The writer is greatly indebted to Professor Benj. F. Shambaugh, Superintendent and Editor of the State Historical Society of Iowa, under whose guidance and direction these studies were prepared. Likewise to Dr. George F. Robeson for the many helpful suggestions and interest he has shown in this work. Acknowledgements are also due to Dr. Ruth A. Gallaher, Librarian of the State Historical Society of Iowa, who critically read and edited the manuscript, and to Mr. J. A. Swisher, who assisted in the verification of the notes and references.

CARL H. ERBE

IOWA CITY IOWA

1925

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