PRATT, BABER, ROOT, POWELL, WHITE OF B., ETC.

The question was upon the amendment of Mr. CARBERY, to add further instructions to the motion to re-commit.

Mr. PRATT. I move to further amend by instructing the committee to reject all bids at a higher rate than that of J. G. Adel, already made.

The question was upon the amendment of Mr. Pratt; and upon a division, ayes 50, noes 32, it was agreed to.

The question was upon the amendment of Mr. CARBERY, as amended.

[WEDNESDAY,

motion to re-commit. In view of the facts now in the possession of the Convention, I think the proper course to pursue is for the Convention to take this matter into their own hands, and act according to the individual sense of right of each member of the Convention. If this matter is re-committed to the committee, I do not see what further they can do to enlighten this Convention. We are now, I presume, in possession of all the facts in relation to the subject matter under consideration, that the committee are able to give us, and they could only make such Mr. BABER. I hope the amendment of the recommendations as would be matter of private gentleman from Hamilton [Mr. CARBERY] will judgment, from the facts which they possess in not be adopted. I think if this matter is to be common with others. I am, therefore, in favor re-committed to the committee, it would better of taking this matter into our own hands, and be without these amendments. I hope the in-acting upon our own responsibility in view of structions moved by the gentleman from Ham- what has transpired in relation to it. ilton, together with those which have already been adopted, still further hampering the committee, will not be adopted by the Convention. We have a very competent Committee on Reporting and Publication. Two gentlemen upon that Committee are practical printers, and my friend from Hamilton, JUDGE HOADLY, I understand, is practically acquainted with phonography. I do not think we should trammel the committee with instructions such as have been offered.

I impute to no one, whether he be a member of the committee, or whether he be one of the parties competing for this work, any improper conduct, or improper motive. But from what has transpired, we can see that a wrong may be committed by our action; and the effect of it will be the same, no matter what may be the motive which prompted the action that results in the wrong. In view of this consideration, and in the light of all the facts and surrounding circumstances as presented to us, I am prepared now to vote for the substitute of the gentleman from Cuyahoga [Mr. FORAN.] Let the blank be filled with such an amount as we propose to pay the reporter, and then proceed to elect him as we elect other officers of the Con

Mr. ROOT. I think we should instruct the committee. They have made their report, and we have overruled it; set it at nought. Now, why send back to them the work which they have once performed to the best of their ability, without telling them what will suit us? Ivention. think the instructions have been considerably improved since they were first offered. I think it would be hardly courteous to the committee to send this report back to them, without telling them what kind of a report we expect from

them next time.

Mr. POWELL. I am in favor of some instructions. I think, however, if we adopt the instructions offered by the gentleman from Hamilton [Mr. CARBERY], that the bids should be confined to those who may have a report from the commencement of our proceedings, which would confine the bids only to one individual, and put ourselves in exactly the position suggested by the gentleman from Logan [Mr. WEST]. I think the bids should be confined to the bids for the performance of the work from the time when the contract is made. The work from the commencement of the session up to this time, or up to the time when the contract is entered upon, is another transaction, which the Convention should settle in some other way. There may be only one, or there may be two or three persons capable of giving to us a report of our proceedings from the commencement up to this time; but that question should be left open, and the instructions relate only to other matters, with regard to finding out a person who may be capable of reporting our proceedings in future, and the lowest price therefor.

The question was then taken upon the amendment of Mr. CARBERY as amended, and it was not agreed to.

The question recurred upon the motion of Mr. Cook to re-commit with certain instruc

tions.

Mr. HITCHCOCK. I ask for a division of the question, and that the vote be first taken on the motion to re-commit, and then, if that be adopted, upon the instructions.

I wish to add one remark to what was said by the gentleman from Brown [Mr. WHITE], although it may not be, perhaps, in the same general direction. It seems to me that the Convention itself is the body to determine this question, and that it has not yet determined it. There has been no one single vote which has indicated the opinion of members of this Convention upon the report of the committee. They have merely amended one of the resolutions embraced in that report, so as to provide that the reporter to be now employed shall be for the future proceedings, and the gentleman from Hamilton [Mr. HOADLY] has given notice to the Convention that he proposes to follow that by a resolution which will relate to the proceedings which have already transpired. There has been no vote whatever which has indicated that the sense of the Convention is against the report of the committee. It seems to me that we should, properly, take the vote upon the motion to re-commit. If the Convention shall refuse to re-commit, then we shall come at once to the adoption of the report of the committee. That report may require further amendment. I would like to offer one or two amendments. Mr. WHITE, of Brown. I am opposed to the But it seems to me that we should first deter

Mr. COOK. My motion was to re-commit to the Committee on Reporting and Publication, with instructions to re-open the entire matter, and to receive sealed proposals for a report of the proceedings of the Convention.

Mr. POWELL. That I am in favor of.

mine whether we will approve of this report, and not assume now that it is disapproved of by the Convention.

The question was then taken on the motion to re-commit, and it was not agreed to.

The question recurred upon the substitute moved by Mr. FORAN, which had been accepted by Mr. DORSEY, as follows;

Resolved, That this Convention immediately proceed to elect an official reporter or stenographer, whose duty it shall be to make a verbatim report of the debates and proceedings thereof; and that said stencgrapher, or official reporter, receive as payment for his services--for each thousand ems of matter written out and properly prepared for publication; and that the said reporter be subject to such further conditions as the Convention may see fit to impose.

Mr. ROOT. I will not move to amend but I will suggest to gentlemen that in order to make this matter clear and to present disputes, they should state in their propositions what measure they will adopt, for there is a great difference between measuring the copy and measuring the printed matter as printers measure it.

Mr. O'CONNOR. I will suggest an amendment to the author of this substitute. It does not provide for our proceedings up to this time. I would suggest that it should provide that the reporter should furnish a verbatim report of the debates and proceedings of this Convention

from its commencement.

Mr. FORAN. I do not accept the amend

ment.

Mr. O'CONNOR. Then I move to amend by inserting after the words "proceedings thereof," the words "from their commencement."

Mr. HALE. If I have kept the run of these proceedings down to the present time, we are informed by the paper which was read from the clerk's desk, and which emanated from one of the candidates for reporter, that but one reporter has a verbatim report of the proceedings from the commencement till now. If that be so, then by adopting this substitute, as proposed to be amended, we will be simply saying that we will elect that reporter to be the reporter of this Convention, because, of course, he will withhold his report from the others. Now I do not regard it as of any importance, whatever, that our proceedings of the first day or two, relating to the organization of this Convention shall be reported verbatim. The Journal of our proceedings will be all that we will need of the first two or three days of our sessions. Now if the object is to confine this to one single reporter, then I am opposed to the amendment. If we are to have competition let us have it in proper shape.

Mr. CLARK, of Jefferson. I move that the rules be suspended and that the Convention take a recess until three o'clock.

Mr. CLARK, of Ross. I move that the Convention now adjourn. This matter has got into such a shape that we had better take some time to think it over.

The motion to adjourn was not agreed to. The question recurred upon the motion to suspend the rule and take a recess.

Mr. TOWNSEND. I would inquire of the Chair if it is competent for this Convention, under the rule we have adopted, to take a re

Mr. TOWNSEND. The resolution we have adopted is that we shall have but one session a day. If we now take a recess until three o'clock, we will be having two sessions. Yet I think that under the resolution it is entirely competent for this body to take a recess whenever we see proper to do so.

The PRESIDENT. The Chair is of opinion that the order of the Convention can be suspended for this purpose.

The question was then taken upon the motion of Mr. Clark, of Jefferson, and it was not agreed to.

Mr. O'CONNOR. In behalf of the amendment that I proposed to the substitute offered by the gentleman from Cuyahoga [Mr. FORAN], I have a few words to say. I know that every minute of time spent here costs the State of Ohio three or four dollars, and I do not propose to infringe upon the rights of the tax payBut I am ers by consuming very much time. unwilling, by virtue of any vote I may give here, to trespass upon the rights of gentlemen who have voluntarily performed duty here, without knowing at the time whether they would be compensated for it or not. Now after that duty has been performed for a series of days, without any express or definite understanding, and when it was yet very much in doubt whether any reporter would be employed at all by this Convention, to open the door and avail themselves of the journal of the Secretary, let persons come in to bid against them, and and what they can pick out of the reports that have been published in the papers, for the purpose of making up a report of our proceedings heretofore, is in my opinion unjust and unfair to these gentlemen who have volunteered, and, upon their own risk, performed this work from the very first hour of our session until the present time. I would mete out equal and exact justice to men who will take risks of that kind.*

Mr. ROWLAND. There may have been no dishonorable act committed by any one in this matter, but by a most unfortunate circumstance we are in a tangle; and I believe that this body and not the committee is the one to get us out of it. I thought the proposition of the gentleman from Hamilton [Mr. HOADLY] had great fairness in it, that each one of these competitorsand I understand that there are three who claim to have a verbatim report of the proceedings of this Convention-shall present to the committee his report of our proceedings up to this time, and that the committee shall select that one which is best. I ask this Convention how I, as a member of this body, am to determine upon the capability and reliability of these reporters unless I can see some evidence of it? No one can tell whether Mr. Pitman, or any one else here, is a competent reporter, so well as by an examination of the copy he may furnish of the proceedings of this body That is a fair test. These competitors claim to have a report of our proceedings. Now there is no injustice in requiring each to bring forward a specimen of his work, for that is the only fair test of their ability. I am in favor of adopting some course which will enable us to determine who is competent, without reference to the amount of pay. I do not want an inferior report at any price, or even at no price. The

FORAN, COOK.

Convention has already resolved that it will men desire that this matter shall be settled in have its proceedings reported and published. Convention the only question now left is first For one I want that report to be a first-class to fix the compensation and then to elect the report. Let each one of these contestants stand reporter. By the resolution which we passed upon his merits, and be judged by the record the other day, we resolved that there should be he may furnish of what has transpired. I say employed by the Convention a competent rethat would be just and equitable to all. porter, whose duty it should be to make an accurate and faithful report of the debates and proceedings of the Convention. We have established that by resolution. Then we say further that the official reporter shall be required to furnish to the printer, each day, the manuscript of his report of the debates and proceedings of the preceding day. We have also made a provision by which a member who has been inaccurately reported can have the corrections made. All that has already been determined by the Convention. And now if we adopt this substitute and say that we will elect a reporter whose duty shall be so and so, we will simply be repealing our former action or doing it over again in a more imperfect manner than we did it the other day. I think, therfore, that all we now have to do in this matter of providing a reporter is, first, to fix the compensation which we will pay, and then to elect the man to per

Mr. FORAN. With all deference I beg leave to differ with the gentlemen. When it was proposed here that our debates should be published, it was urged as a reason for so doing that they would throw light upon the fundamental law that was to be adopted here, and be a guide to future generations coming after us. Now I claim that up to this date there has been nothing here which will be of any material value to posterity. But hereafter when the reports of our Committees are made, and debates arise upon the questions involved, then our debates will be of value; but I do not care one snap of my finger to have a report of anything which has heretofore occurred.

Mr. COOK. We have adopted, upon the report of the Committee on Reporting and Publication, certain resolutions relating to the subject of reporting. At a former session of this Convention we determined to have a reporter, fixed what his duties should be, and agreed upon everything except the selection of that official reporter. That matter we referred to the Committee. Now to adopt the substitute under consideration, and say that we will elect a reporter with certain duties, will be to repeal what we fixed by resolution the other day. If gentle

form the duties.

Mr. BURNS. I move that the Convention do now adjourn.

The question was taken, and upon a division, Ayes, 43; Noes, 42, the motion was agreed to; and accordingly (at 1.30 P. M.) the Convention adjourned.

HILL, ROOT, HUMPHREVILLE, SCRIBNER.

THIRTEENTH DAY.

The Convention met at eleven o'clock, A. M. upon such statements as shall be furnished by The President in the Chair. the Secretary. I move to amend by adding the following;

HILL, SCOFIELD, ROOT, ALEXANDER, O'Connor.

the Convention, in the form of a resolution reported from the Committee on Accounts and Expenditures, I desire to call attention to the fact that, as it appears to me, this Convention, by a rule which has been adopted, has undertaken to do that which it has no power under the law to do; that is to restrict the members of this body from receiving the compensation provided for them by law. The ninth section of the Act under which this Convention has assembled provides as follows;

The delegates and officers of the Convention shall be entitled to the same compensation and mileage for their services, as allowed by law to members of the General Assembly.

The statute now in force upon this subject, and which is to be found in volume 66 of the Session Laws, page 5, an act passed on the 20th of January, 1869, the act being supplemental to an act passed April 2d, 1867, fixing the compensation of members and officers of the General Assembly, provides in the second section as follows;

The words "actual attendance" used in the preceding section, and in the act to which this is supplemental, shall be construed to include all days from the opening to the close of the session, except such days of absence as are not excused by the House to which the officer or member belongs.

Now I take it that under the statute which convenes this body, every member of it is entitled to the per diem provided by law, except when he is absent without leave; and it is not in the power of this Convention to deprive any member of the compensation to which he is entitled, except under the restrictions provided by law. That law provides that compensation shall be paid even when a member is absent, unless that absence is not excused. It does not follow, because he is absent without leave at any time, that he might not thereafter show sufficient cause to induce the Convention to excuse his absence; and in such a case as that he would be entitled to compensation under the law.

Mr. HILL. The ninth rule adopted by this Convention seems to be imperative in its directions concerning the action of the Committee on Accounts and Expenditures. The duty placed upon that committee by the Convention is certainly an unpleasant one. We are not desirous, of course, of questioning any member as to his absence, or his reasons for his absence. But the committee are of the opinion that so long as this rule requires us to discharge a certain duty, we ought to have the means of doing it. As to the law of the question, that is another matter entirely. All we desire is to have a proper basis upon which to act. If the Convention should deem it proper to excuse every member who may be absent, it is a matter of no consequence to us. We wish to close our accounts at the end of the session, so as to give satisfaction to the people who have sent us here, as well as to the Convention who have given us charge of those accounts.

Mr. SCOFIELD. I move that the resolution be referred to the Committee on Rules, so that the rules of the Convention and the resolution may be made to conform with the law.

Mr. ROOT. I make the same objection to this motion that was made a short time since by the gentleman from Medina [Mr. HUMPHRE

[THURSDAY,

VILLE] to a resolution which I offered; that is, that there must be one day's notice of such a radical change of a rule as that.

The PRESIDENT. The motion is to refer the resolution to the Committee on Rules and Order of Business.

Mr. ROOT. Precisely; but it contemplates a change of the rule.

The PRESIDENT. The chair is of opinion
that the point of order is not well taken.
Mr. GARDNER, I move to lay the resolu-
tion on the table.

agreed to.
The motion to lay upon the table was not

The motion to refer was then agreed to.

PROPOSITIONS OF AMENDMENT.

The following propositions were then introduced, read a first time, and under the rule laid on the table and ordered to be printed:

89] to amend Section 2 of Article XV of the By Mr. ALEXANDER. A proposition [No. Constitution, so as to read as follows;

SECTION 2. The printing of the laws, journals, bills, legislative documents, and papers for each branch of the General Assembly, with the printing required for the executive and other lowest responsible bidder by the executive offidepartments of the State, shall be let to the cers of the State government; but that said contracts shall be so let that the State reserves the right to cause any of such work to be done, in whole or in part, in the deaf and dumb asylum, or any of its institutions, as may be prescribed by law.

to amend Section 6 of Article XII of the ConBy Mr. O'CONNOR. A proposition [No. 90] stitution, as follows;

Be it Resolved by the Constitutional Convention of the State of Ohio, That section 6 of Article XII be so amended as to read:

The General Assembly shall never authorize any county, city, town or township, by vote of its citizens or otherwise, to become a stockholder in any joint stock company, corporation, or association whatever; or to raise money for or loan its credit to or in aid of any such company, corporation, or association; and no county, city, town, or township shall give, grant, lease or convey to any railroad, joint stock company, corporation, or association whatever, any avenue, park, market place, or any other grounds that may have been purchased in whole or part with funds raised by taxation. But such avenues, parks, or market places, when no longer needed for public use, as originally designed, may be sold at public sale to the highest bidder, and the proceeds thereof be paid into the county, city, town, or township treasury that was originally taxed to purchase the same, and placed to the credit of the general fund of the county, city, town, or township.

By Mr. O'CONNOR. A proposition [No. 91] to amend Section 26 of Article II of the Constitution, as follows;

Be it Resolved by the Constitutional Convention of the State of Ohio, That section 26 of Article II of the Constitution, be so amended,as to read as follows;

SEC. 26. All laws shall be of a general nature, and shall have a uniform operation