deportment are properly appreciated. But somehow or other a burnt child will dread the fire, and the wary bird will shun the Fowler's big with this reflection, I stood at least three inches taller in my shoes, and looking down upon my co-editors with a sort of patronizing air, as much as to say, "I am sorry for you gen-net. tlemen, but it can't be helped. I have got I hope, Mr. President, that the few desultory the vantage ground of you this time, and no remarks I have had the honor to submit on this mistake." Well sir, the speech being con- occasion, may not be construed into a desire on cluded, I took my gentleman by the arm, and my part to cover up or hide from my constitumarched him down in town, and, after some re-ents, anything that I may do or say as a memfreshments at my expense, repaired to my room to re-write out the speech. After laboring over it for more than an hour, he finally succeeded in writing out about one page of foolscap; and on glancing my eye over what he had written, I found it but a miserable caricature of the able and eloquent address I had just been listening to. But consoling myself with the reflection that I should be able to draw upon the resources of my own memory, to dress it up and make it passable, I urged him to continue his labors. He soon, however, complained of lassitude, and of being nervous, in consequence of the heat and labors of the day, and proposed to adjourn to some restaurat or coffee house, to recruit his strength, by the application of proper stimulants. I remonstrated with him, and proffered to go myself and bring him whatever he might want. But my remonstrances were all in vain. Go he must, and go he did-but he never returned;-and that was the last I saw of him. Now, was ever editorial wight in such a fix, before or since? There I was, with Mr. Clay's great speech before me, reported at large, by a practical Stenographer of large experience partially written out, but the great body of it still in hieroglyphics. Of what avail would it be to me or my readers? Neither the one nor the other would ever be any the wiser for it. It was to me all Pottawattamie, and I doubt whether the genius of Champoleon himself, would have been able to decipher it, and render it into intelligible English. ber of this Convention. No sir, I have nothing to conceal from them, and in all I may do or say, will endeavor to act as though they were present, and looking in upon me from every quarter of this lobby, scrutinizing my conduct with a jealous eye. The place I occupy here was wholly unsought by me. My election to a seat in this body was the unsolicited and freewill offering of as noble and generous a constituency as any gentleman on this floor has the honor to represent. And as such I esteem. it the more highly; and so long as I sustain my present relation to them, will endeavor, in all things, to prove myself worthy of their generous confidence. And what better evidence need be adduced of their noble generosity, their political magnanimity, and as some would doubtless infer, of their sterling good sense, than is to be found in the presence on this floor of my worthy democratic colleague, now sitting on my right, representing as he does a county claiming a popular political majority of at least 500 against that party to which he belongs? And why did they send him here? Why, casting aside all political considerations, and overleaping all the great barriers of party, why did they endorse him up hither, clothed with the high and responsible functions of a representative delegate? It was, sir, because they had great and important interests to subserve, reaching far beyond and above all the mere political and party conflicts of the day. It was that they believed he would look to the subservance of those interests with the broad and comprehensive eye of the patriot, and not with the narrow and contracted vision of the mere partizan. It was that they believed, in his representative character, he would rise superior to the behests of party, and frown indignantly upon every attempt that might be made to sow the seeds of political dissension in our midst, come from what quarter it may. Sincerely do I trust, that neither he nor I, political antipodes though we And here, Mr. President, allow me once for are, may never for a moment lose sight of that all, to disclaim any other than the kindest feel-duty which we owe to our common constituings towards the worthy gentleman, who has been selected to report the debates of this convention. I would not for the world, for I could not, insinuate any thing derogatory to his character or qualifications. I doubt not he is a gentleman of eminent qualifications in the line of his profession; and that he is able to render entire satisfaction to any deliberative body,where talents of a high order, joined to a gentlemanly The next morning I heard of my worthy friend in one of the lowest doggeries of this city, gloriously drunk, and hallooing, "hurra for Van Buren!" Being deeply mortified at the result, and knowing that I should be bored to death by my brother editors, who enjoyed the joke amazingly, I ordered my horse and buggy, and left the town, fully determined in my own mind never again to employ a Stenographer to report a speech for me. ents, or forfeit that confidence which they have reposed in us, by lending ourselves here to the accomplishment of political or party ends, either present or prospective. Now sir, I do not pretend to know what course my honorable colleague has taken in those informal meetings of the party, out of doors, alluded to on yesterday, by the honorable gentleman from Tippecance; (Mr. Pettit.) nor have I any desire to penetrate the secrets He desired to know whether the gentleman's of that inexorable inquisition, where the bud-remarke were in order? Cries of go on, go on ding hopes of some of the young democracy-hear him out. were cut down so ruthlessly and withered in an hour. I do not know what agency, if any, my democratic colleague had in these ultra movements of the party; but this I do know, that his constituents and mine will be gratified to learn that the weight of his influence was thrown against the attempt made to rear the standard of political intolerance in the organization of this body, by which the few whigs upon this floor were virtually disfranchised in the election of our officers. Mr. GREGG continuing. Doubtless the gentleman from Allen is becoming a little restive. But I hope he will bear it patiently. When I was interrupted, Mr. President, I was going on to remark, that when I see gentlemen rising on this floor, and hear them talk about forming democratic constitutions-when I hear them talking about employing none but democratic printers, at democratic prices-which being interpreted means 25 per cent, above what it is intrinsically worth in short, sir, when I see And why was it necessary for the Democrat- honorable gentlemen who have filled high plaic party to meet in secret conclave, in their ces in the councils of the nation, rising upon star-chamber court below, to determine who this floor, and with unblushing effrontery proshould or who should not be candidates before posing to take the election of our officers from this Convention? The whigs did not pretend this body where it rightfully belongs, and comto offer a single candidate for any office what- mit it to the arbitrament of an irresponsible ever, not even as a hewer of wood and drawer of cabal out of doors, wholly unknown to our water. They were perfectly willing to con- laws and political institutions; when I see cede to you all the offices of honor and profit such things as these enacted in the broad light which it was within the power of this Conven- of day, I confess, sir, that it stirs the old Adam tion to bestow. Nor were they found acting in me-it warms up my whig blood, as of yore with any degree of concert, as between the--and I feel somewhat as did Fitz James when he various rival candidates of the democratic party who were pressing their claims upon our consideration. Then why drive this unpretending minority into a position of political antagonism? Why treat them as though they had no political rights upon this floor, but were mere interlopers, having no interest in common with our democratic friends in the election of good and faithful officers? Why, I say, thus needlessly arouse their just indignation and resentment, by forcing them into a position where they must necessarily feel and acknowledge their political inferiority ?-Nay, that is not exactly what I mean-but their numerical weakness on this floor, for that is all the inferiority they are willing to admit. The whigs of this body, sir, claim to be your equal in intelligence your equal in patriotism-your equal in a high and holy regard for the best interests and honor of our common country-your equal in all the essential elements that go to make up the man. In short, sir, your equal in all and everything but mere brute force. And let me admonish you, that before this Convention closes, you may have occasion to learn that they are fully your equal in a proper vindication of their rights upon this floor. encountered Rhoderick Dhu and his clan upon the mountain. But I trust that the effervescence of party, which has manifested itself here, will soon subside, and we shall hear no more of it. And although some of the old Hunkers of the party may endeavor to keep the political cauldron boiling, still I hope there may be found among the young democracy a sufficiency of genuine salt to preserve this body from political putrescense. Before leaving this subject, allow me to make a single suggestion to our democratic friends, and that is this. They should by all means hold another grand pow-wow in the court room below, in order to settle the important matter as to who should wear the collar, and take precedence in the order of business here. Upon this subject there seems to be a very active rivalry going on, especially between the gentleman from Tippecanoe, on my left, and the gentleman from Allen, on my right. It is therefore highly important, if not necessary to the future harmony of this body, that this question should be settled at once. Let us know upon which of these rival candidates for honors present and prospective, the mantle of greatness is to fall. (Mr. Pettit remarked that he surrendered to Sir, I came up to this Convention, determined the gentleman from Allen.) Well, sir, I think to forget, as far as it was possible for me to for- he has somewhat the advantage of you, if the get, that I was a whig. I came here deter- frequency of his appearance upon the stage is mined to forget that I ever had been a warm to form any criterion by which we are to judge. political partizan -and to know nothing save In the light of the great future to which we the great and paramount interests of the peo- are looking, he will doubtless have the advantple about which we have assembled here to de-age of you.-For when the antiquarian shall liberate. But, Sir, when I am met at the very threshold with the rallying cry of democracy --when the bibroch of party is sounded in my ear. (Mr. BORDEN rose to a question of order. take down from its shelf the ponderous volume containing the debates of this Convention, and begin to turn over its ample leaves in search of the great man of this body who figured most conspicuously, his eye will incontinently fall upon the gentleman from Allen, as not occupying a prominent position in the foreground of the picture, but throughout the whole, from Alpha to Omega, from the beginning to the end, as being singularly conspicuous in all things. But, to return to the question under consideration. I believe, sir, the adoption of the resolution I have had the honor to present, will meet with the entire concurrence, not only of my immediate constituents, but of the whole people throughout the State. I honestly believe, sir, with me, they will regard the employment of a Stonographer here as a useless expenditure of money, and the publication of the debates of the Convention in an embodied form, as the consummation of human folly. Neither the one nor the other is at all necessary. For, as I before remarked, the newspaper press of our State, having able and efficient reporters here, will be competent to the task of keeping the people posted up in regard to our doings, and I, for one, am willing to trust my reputation in their hands. tor. But it may be argued that the publication of the debates of this Convention will be found eminently useful for future reference, in order to explain the meaning of certain provisions of the Constitution, which, to some, may appear dark and ambiguous. Why, sir, I would as soon think of looking into the Koran of Mahomet, or of consulting the sublime and beautiful vision of John in the Isle of Patmos, for an elucidation of the meaning of the ten commandments-a code of morals that adapts itself to the capacity of every mind, and fully explains itself without the aid of a commentaAnd so I trust it will be with the instrument that may emanate from our hands. Not that I would compare the frail works of man with the perfect works of the great Law Giver of the Universe. Not that I would be so irreverent as to compare the crude and imperfect Constitution which we may deliver to the people,for their future governance, with that divine and perfeet Constitution delivered to Moses amid the thunderings of Mount Sinai. No, sir, this would be like bringing down the full orbed glories of the sun to the common level and lustre of a farthing rush-light. But, sir, speaking relatively, after the manner of men, and comparing things temporal with temporal things, may I not hope that our Constitution, when fully digested, will be found so perfectly free from all ambiguity as to require none of those factitious aids to render it intelligible? May I not hope we shall all labor, with one mind and one spirit, to make it, as it should be, so perfectly plain, and simple, and consistent, in all its parts, that any child may understand it? And he who thinks it will be otherwise pays but a poor compliment to the common sense understanding of this intelligent body. Mr. KELSO said, he believed the proposition now before the Convention was to dispense with the services of a Stenographer.He was inclined to the opinion, however, that the gentleman from Jefferson, was more in jest than in earnest in offering this resolution. He could not believe that a man of his well known ability, and sound understanding, and experience, would, for a moment, desire to dispense with the services of such an officer in this body; and more especially, after the appointment had been directed by law, and made in conformity with that law. He apprehended that the gentleman wanted, merely to get a sly hit at the democratic members in this hall, and sought, rather ingeniously, to whip the democrats over the shoulders of the Stenographer. He did not blame the gentleman, for he had certainly been treated somewhat badly, he would confess, in the matter of the appointment of officers of the Conventionnot having been allowed to have the selection of a single officer. On that ground, he was willing to accord to the gentleman, all the satisfaction that he could derive from administering to the democrats a sound castigation.— He confessed they deserved every word of denunciation that the gentlemam had bestowed upon them. Now, said Mr. Kelso, a word in regard to the Stenographer. I am in favor of retaining that officer. I believe that we ought to have his services, and I regard it as a wise provision of the Legislature, that his appointment was prcvided for. The gentleman seems to think that by retaining that officer, we shall prolong the session of this Convention. I want that officer to remain here for the very opposite purpose; for I think the gentleman from Jefferson will want very few of such cayenne pepper speeches published as the one he has just made, and this, perhaps, will be the last one he will make, for I have no doubt that when he sees what he has said, published, he will be rather ashamed of it. He has done more in that speech to stir up party feeling and set the cauldron, that he speaks of, boiling, than any other gentleman in this Convention. He may have done it, however, without feeling the force of what he was saying. Now, my opinion is that when we know that our speeches are to go forth to the public, we will be a little more careful what sort of speeches we make. I insist on retaining this officer for a further reason. It is provided by law that the instrument which is to be the work of our hands is to go forth to the people; and that they are to pass their judgment upon it, to decide whether they will accept or reject it. It is necessary, therefore, that the people should be advised from day to day of our proceediugs and of all the arguments advanced here, for or against such propositions as may be presented to us; so that they may, when the constitution is pre sented to them, act understandingly in regard to it. This is, in my opinion, a sufficient reason why this officer should be retained, and I hope that at an early day, provision will be made for the publication of our debates in the newspapers of this city, that they may go forth and be read by the people; so that by the time we shall have finished our work, they may be as well advised concerning it, as we are ourselves. I want him retained for that purpose, and I will risk the publication of what little I have to say, and let it go for what it may be worth. I hope this resolution will be voted down. I would move to lay it on the table, were it not that I despise such a motion, besides I want to hear all that may be said on either side. and commissioned by the Governor, as they would to dismiss this officer. A In regard to the question of economy, perhaps it would be well for them to look, as practical men ought to look, at the actual cost which this work was likely to entail upon them. Now, continued Mr. Owen, a Convention to amend the Constitution of the State does not meet every year, nor once in ten or twenty years. A generation has passed away since our present Constitution was made. generation will, in all human probability, pass away before we make another. Without going into a close examination of the actual cost of reporting our debates at the rate that is paid for reporting Congressional debates, let us suppose that the debates of this Convention will be about equal in length to the debates of the New York State Convention;— the expense of reporting will be, according to my calculation, about twenty-five hundred dollar Now, this sum, it will be recollected, is to be distributed over a space of at least twenty-five years-for it is not to be supposed that another Convention is to be held and another Constitution framed within a less time than twenty-five years. This will give an expense of one hundred dollars a year, to be borne by the people of this State, for a work which is to each man's hearthstone, and in every dwelling remain throughout all time, and to be read at within the State. Now, let us see how much each inhabitant of the State will have to pay inhabitants in this State at present, and supfor this work. There are about a million of Mr. STEVENSON said, that the Convention had a specified duty to perform, which was to form a Constitution, and they were not called on to regulate such matters as the pay of their officers, or their own pay; that was done by the Legislature. The Legislature had also authorized the employment of a Stenographer, that Stenographer was not an officer of this body, but an officer of the Legislature, or more properly speaking, an officer of the State. He had been appointed under authority of an act of the Legislature, and this Convention had no right to interfere in any way with that appointment. If it was right that the State should incur this expense, the Legislature alone was responsible. He did not believe that the Convention had any right whatever, to fix the amount of compensation to be given to this officer. That was a matter for the Legis- pose that at the end of twenty-five years there should be only the same number. lature to determine. They having provided dred dollars a year divided among a million that a Stenographer should be appointed for the purpose of giving the debates of the Con- will give to each individual the one-hundredth To a family of ten persons it vention to the country; it was their act and part of a cent. I certainthey alone were responsible, and not the Con- would be the tenth part of a cent. ly do not think that the inhabitants of the vention. This being the case, he for one was willing that the people, should have the bene-State will regard this expense as very burthenfit of the services of this officer; but he consome in view of the advantage they will derive from the proposed publication. tended that it was the duty of the Legislature to pay him, and he had no doubt they would do so with liberality. The Stenographer was here by virtue of his appointment and they could not get rid of him except by expulsion. He trusted he would discharge his duties faithfully. One hun Besides, by paying this expense we obtain a copy-right of the book, which we may sell if we choose; and I am not sure but the copyright will sell for one-half the price that we shall pay for the work; then, instead of the hundredth part of a cent, it will be but the two-hundredth part of a cent for each individual. Mr. OWEN said, he should not have added a word to what had been said by the gentle- Now, I am not in the habit of recommendman from Putnam, were it not that an arguing a thing because others have done it on ment had been made against retaining the the contrary, I generally have some good reaStenographer who had been appointed, on the son for what I propose. But I know of no ground of expense. The gentleman from Put- State in which a Convention has recently been nam had very properly stated that the Steno- held, which has not provided for the reporting grapher was a commissioned officer of the of their debates; and I doubt very much State, and that he was here in virtue of his whether any publication will be read with commission. He conceived they would have more interest by the people of this State than as good a right to dismiss the Secretary of the reports of our debates. It cannot be deState or any other officer, authorized by law, nied that they will be eminently useful, as a commentary upon the Constitution which we hiring a more commodious hall for the use of are about to form. The debates which occur- the Convention; and if such a hall should be red in the Convention that formed the Consti- procured, he supposed they would have a right tution of the United States, are always read to pay for it under the general powers conferwith much interest. I will not say that ours red upon them. If it could, without practical will be as valuable as those debates are, but inconvenience, be left to the Legislature, he they will be as important to Indiana as those should have no objection; but he did not think are to the United States. I repeat, sir, that I it would be a proper treatment of this officer, think, in the first place, we have no right to who had come a very considerable distance to reverse the decision of the Legislature in re-discharge the duties he had been appointed to gard to this matter; and in the second place, if we have the right we ought not to exercise it. perform, if the question of his compensation should be delayed. He supposed the proper plan would be, for the President of the Con Mr. PETTIT moved that the resolution bevention to inform himself what was the price laid upon the table. The motion was agreed to. Mr. OWEN then offered the resolutions which he had before proposed as a substitute for the resolution offered by the gentleman from Jefferson (Mr. Gregg.) Mr. KELSO said, he doubted whether they had a right to fix the compensation of the Stenographer; he would therefore move to amend the resolution by striking out so much as related to the price to be paid for reporting, so as to leave it to the Legislature to fix the price. Mr. PETTIT said, he would suggest that a { difficulty would arise in case the proposition of the gentleman should prevail. How would the President of the Convention know how much to certify for, unless the price should be determined? Mr. KELSO. I move, sir, to strike out the second resolution. I do not think it can be shown that we have the power or the right to fix the amount of remuneration which the Stenographer shall receive. Mr. DOBSON said, that, from the reading of the act, he supposed the Governor had the power to make a contract for the reporting; if so, he could see no necessity for the resolution. usually paid for reporting by Messrs. Blair & Rives, and Gales & Seaton, of Washington City. So far as his own recollection went, he believed that the compensation of a stenographer for taking notes and writing out his report and preparing it for the printer, was five dollars per column of two thousand words. Mr. REED of Clark said, he believed it would be agreed upon all hands that some action in reference to the compensation of the Stenographer should be taken, and he thought the better way would be to let the question be determined by a committee. He would move, therefore, that the subject be referred to a select committee of seven. Mr. KELSO withdrew his motion to amend, and The question being taken upon the motion of the gentleman from Clark, it was agreed to, and The resolution was referred to a select com mittee. Mr. BRIGHT moved to take from the table the Stenographer, and refer the same to the the resolution of Mr. Gregg on the subject of select committee of seven ; Which was decided in the affirmative. Whereupon the Chair announced the committee of seven on the resolution of Mr. Gregg in regard to a Stenographer, and the resolution of Mr. Owen on the same subject, to consist of the following gentlemen: Messrs. Owen, Morrison of Washington, Maguire, Pepper of Ohio, Nofsinger, Clark of Tippecanoe, and Niles. On motion of Mr. TERRY, it was Ordered, That three hundred copies of the Constitution of the State of Indiana be printed for the use of the Convention. Mr. OWEN said, that there was no contract, as he was informed, and it was quite evident that there must necessarily be some resolution or specification in regard to the compensation to be paid to the Stenographer, for it was necessary that he should be paid from time to time as he did the work. If the gentleman considered the compensation here proposed to be too large, he would be glad to hear some proposition from him in regard to it. He would have been glad if the Legislature had determined the amount of compensation, and relieved the Convention from all responsibility upon that point; but as they had not done so, if the work was to be executed, it was certain-lowing resolution : ly incumbent on the Convention to make the Resolved, That a committee of seven memnecessary arrangement for the payment. As to their power to do so, he thought there could be no doubt. A committee had been raised yesterday upon the motion of the gentleman from Wayne, (Mr. Rariden,) to negotiate for PUBLICATION OF THE AUTHORIZED REPORTS. bers be appointed by the President, and author{ized to make such arrangements with the publishers of newspapers in this city, as will insure a correct daily published report of the proceedings of this Convention, for the use of the |