land, never desire to owe another allegiance. Sir, if I may judge, there is no class of people amongst us who have a greater admiration of our institutions, a greater love of our country, who will work for her, pray for her, fight for her, die for her, with truer, readier allegiance than the great body of foreign emigrants—the men who perform the same part in the destinies of the West that your fathers did in the destinies of the East. And if you adopt this article, the allegiance you require as a condition of the suffrage you confer will be kept in true hearts and by strong arms. Sir, I will say of myself what I believe to be true of us all. There is no man here loves his native land better than I mine; few, I am bold to say, as well; for misfortune draws the ties of patriotic affection closer than Americans can know, and long may it be so. Sir, with all my love, all my ties, all my pride, all my hope for the land of my birth and of my fathers, all those feelings pale before the allegiance I have sworn and the love I have acquired and which has grown stronger in my heart with years and experience for the land which received me an emigrant and adopted me a citizen; and were my native land, against all hope, once more free, and stood she forth amongst the nations, in the language of her own inspired son-redeemed, regenerated, disenthralled-I would exult as man cannot often exult; but my allegiance of duty and of love is here, and I would never, not even then, be tempted to change it.

Such, sir, is the love of the great body of foreign emigrants here; and it tells well for them and for the institutions of the country that such an attachment is engendered by human institutions and finds a fruitful growth in the hearts of all who seek and find an asylum under those institutions; and long may it continue so.

The convention adjourned.-Argus, Oct. 27, 1846.

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 1846

Prayer by the Rev. Mr. Miner.

The journal of yesterday was read.

Mr. Reed presented the petition of M. J. Bovee asking to be allowed to contest the seat of Mr. Burchard, a member from Waukesha County, and moved that the said petition be referred to a select committee of five. Wm. R. Smith moved to amend the motion by adding, "and that said committee have power to send for persons and papers."

Mr. Burnett moved to amend the amendment by striking out all after the word ["and"] and inserting "that said committee have power to examine under oath any competent witnesses, or to examine any other legal evidence that may be produced by either of the parties, which was agreed to. And a division having been called for, there were 46 in the affirmative and 18 in the negative.

Moses M. Strong moved to amend by inserting as follows: "And that said committee, before they act upon the petition, give to Chas. Burchard, whose seat is contested, fair opportunity to contest the fact alleged in the petition of Mathias J. Bovee," which was agreed to. The motion as amended was then agreed to.

W. R. Smith moved to amend the amendment by adding "and the committee shall have power to send for persons and papers." He thought it a strange mode of precedure on the part of the petitioner to wait until the convention had been in session near three weeks, before presenting his claims. He also adverted to the novel character of the petitioner, which he viewed in this light: "That the petitioner had received fewer votes than the member who now occupied the seat, and he wished the convention to inquire into the reason why he had not received as many votes as his colleagues on the same ticket."

Mr. Burnett then offered an amendment to General Smith's amendment, to the effect that the interested parties should be responsible for the costs of obtaining evidence in the case.

W. R. Smith opposed this amendment as unjust to Mr. Burchard, as he had duly presented his credentials in the same manner as every other member of the convention, and had been admitted to the seat which a new claimant now appeared to oust him from.

The question was put on Mr. Burnett's amendment, and it was carried. The question then recurred upon General Smith's amendment as amended, which was also carried.—Express, Oct. 27, 1846.

The Speaker announced the appointment of the following committee to whom said petition was referred, to wit: Messrs. Burnett, Wm. R. Smith, Burt, Parkinson, and Brace.

Leave of absence was asked for and granted as follows:

By Asa Kinne for Mr. Cooper; by Wm. R. Smith for Mr. Goodsell; by Mr. Baker for Sewall Smith and Topping; by Moses M. Strong for himself.

Mr. Prentiss, from the committee on the act of Congress for the admission of the state, reported No. 11, "Article relative to the act of Congress for the admission of the state."

"The committee on the act of Congress for the admission of the state respectfully report to the convention, for its adoption, the following article:

"Section 1. The propositions of the Congress of the United States as made and contained in their act of the sixth day of August one thousand eight hundred and forty-six, entitled 'An Act to enable the people of Wisconsin Territory to form a constitution and state government, and for the admission of such state into the Union,' are hereby accepted, ratified, and confirmed; Provided, nevertheless, That nothing in this constitution or in the act of Congress aforesaid shall in any manner prejudice or affect the right of the state of Wisconsin to 500,000 acres of land granted to said state, and to be hereafter selected and located by and under the act of Congress of the United States, approved September fourth, one thousand eight hundred and forty-one. "Section 2. The state shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil within the same by the United States, nor with any regulations Congress may find necessary for securing the title in such soil to bona fide purchasers thereof; and no tax shall be imposed on land the property of the United States; and in no case shall nonresident proprietors be taxed higher than residents.

Which was read the first and second times, referred to the committee of the whole, and ordered printed.

Resolutions were introduced and read as follows, to wit:

By Mr. Chase, "Resolved, That it is expedient for this convention to limit the amount of real estate which any person may own and hold within the state of Wisconsin."

By Mr. Burnside, "Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed to take into consideration the propriety of reporting an article to be engrafted in the constitution, to the effect that citizens of the state of Wisconsin shall not be compelled to do military duty until they shall have attained their majority."

Moses M. Strong moved a call of the convention, which was ordered, and the following members reported absent, to wit: Messrs. Chamberlain, Dickinson, Gilmore, Hill, Inman, Prentiss, and Sewall Smith. Mr. Judd moved that all further proceedings under the call be dispensed with, which was agreed to.

The unfinished business of yesterday, it being the report of the committee of the whole on No. 2, "Article on suffrage and the elective franchise," was then taken up.

The question having been put on the adoption of the amendment offered by Mr. Burchard, it was decided in the negative. And the ayes and noes having been called for and ordered, those who voted in the affirmative were [affirmative 12, negative 91; for the vote see Appendix I, roll call 31].

Mr. Baker said he was personally in favor of free suffrage, but as he well knew that the majority of his constituency were opposed to it felt it his duty to vote against it here although he should have voted for it at the ballot box.

Messrs. Granger and Beall first voted in the affirmative, but afterwards obtained leave to change their votes, which they said had been given under a misapprehension of the question. Here there was something said on the other side of the house about "crawfishing."-Express, Oct. 27, 1846.

A. Hyatt Smith moved to amend the report by inserting in the first section thereof between the words "taken" and "and" in the ninth line the words "before any officer authorized to administer oaths," which was agreed to.

Mr. Bennett moved to amend the said report by striking out all of section first to the word "election," and inserting:

"Section 1. Every white male citizen of the age of twenty-one years and upwards who shall have resided in the state three months next preceding any election, and all [every] white male persons [person] who shall be of lawful age, and who shall have declared his intention to become a citizen in conformity with the laws of Congress regulating the subject of naturalization, and shall have taken and filed in any court of record in this state or in the office of the clerk thereof an oath to support the Constitution of the United States and of this state, and who shall have resided in the state twelve months next preceding any election."

And the question having been put on said amendment, it was decided in the negative. And the ayes and noes having been called for and ordered, those who voted in the affirmative were [affirmative 14, negative 83; for the vote see Appendix I, roll call 32].

Horace Chase moved to amend the report by striking out the first section and inserting: "Section 1. Every white male inhabitant of this state of the full age of twenty-one years who shall have been a resident of this state six months and of the county in which he claims his vote ten days before the election shall be entitled to vote for all officers that now are or hereafter may be elective by the people, by taking the following oath or affirmation: 'You solemnly swear (or affirm) that you will support the Constitution of the United States and of this state." "

Mr. Strong called for the previous question, which was ordered. And the question having been put, "Shall the main question be now put?" it was decided in the affirmative.

The President stated that under the rules the question would be on the adoption of the amendment offered by Mr. Chase. And the question having been put, it was decided in the negative. And the ayes and noes having been called for and ordered, those who voted in the affirmative were [affirmative 10, negative 88; for the vote see Appendix I, roll call 33].

The report of the committee as amended was then adopted.

The question having been put on ordering the said article to be engrossed for a third reading, it was decided in the affirmative. And the ayes and noes having been called for and ordered, those who voted in the affirmative were [affirmative 80, negative 21; for the vote see Appendix I, roll call 34].

Moses M. Strong moved that the convention adjourn until Monday morning next at ten o'clock. Mr. Baird moved to amend the motion by striking out the words "Monday morning next at ten o'clock" and inserting "until two o'clock P. M." And the question having been put, it was decided in the negative. And a division having been called for, there were 32 in the affirmative and 49 in the negative.

Mr. Hunkins moved that the convention adjourn, which was [dis] agreed to. And a division having been called for, there were 28 in the affirmative, negative not counted.

The question then recurred on the motion of Moses M. Strong. And having been put, it was decided in the affirmative. And the ayes and noes having been called for and ordered, those who voted in the affirmative were [affirmative 53, negative 48; for the vote see Appendix I, roll call 35].

o'clock A. M.

So the convention adjourned until Monday morning next, at ten

So the convention stood adjourned to Monday morning. (The alleged cause for this unnecessary waste of time and public money was to allow the superintendent to perfect some