CHAPTER XXXV.

THE STATE OF OHIO.

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THE knowledge necessary to delineate the twenty-six states of the great American confederacy is possessed by but few Americans, and certainly by no foreigner. Should I notwithstanding attempt it in this place, by making use of many aids at my command, the constant sameness of the general descriptions would only fatigue the reader, and the enumeration of slight differences would take up far too much room. But as I have arranged my previous communications according to their subjects, and have brought under one head what related to each of them in the several states, it cannot well be inappropriate, if I sketch, by way of counterpart to the foregoing, the figure of one state as an individual whole. I choose for this purpose none of the better known Eastern states, but the queen and wonder of the West, the republic of Ohio.

Sixty years ago, the whole country consisted, partly of a primeval forest, scarcely accessible even to wild beasts; and partly of a level prairie, where bears, panthers, wolves, and foxes bore sway, rather than the few and scattered Indians. Single travellers had ventured down the Ohio, or landed on the shores of Lake Erie; but nothing was yet said of permanent settlements. On the 16th of April, 1781, was born the first white child within the present limits of the state of Ohio. In April, 1788, about forty persons settled on the Ohio, and called their settlement Marietta, after the unfortunate queen, Marie Antoinette. It was not till the year 1794, the period of the worthy General Wayne's victory over the Indians, that the immigrants enjoyed the requisite repose and security; and in the year 1802, with the beginning of the nineteenth century, they adopted a constitution and formed a

state.

And even then how small were their beginnings, how toil

some their way of life, how apparently insuperable the obstacles and difficulties that beset them on all sides! The judges had still to travel on horseback, to take with them their own provisions, and at night to sleep in the woods;-there was neither shelter, nor roads, nor bridges!

It

Nature offered much, it is true; but men seldom know how to improve her gifts, and never in so short a time has so much been accomplished, I may say created, as in the state of Ohio. extends from 3° 30' to 7° 40′ west longitude from Washington, and from the 38th to the 42d degree of north latitude. Although the similarly situated portions of Europe (between Palermo and Rome) have a warmer climate, Ohio can still be compared in this respect with Southern Germany. Of 40,000 English square miles, or 25,600,000 acres, seven eighths are excellent for the cultivation of wheat, and of course for other purposes. Its treasures of wood, turf, salt, and iron are immense; and it has been computed that there is a supply of coal in the eastern part sufficient for the wants of sixteen millions of people (the number of the population of England and Wales) for 10,000 years. The most convenient water-communication with the whole world is opened on the south and west by the Ohio, on the north by Lake Erie, and on the east by the Erie Canal.

As mind moves the mass (mens agitat molem), we must first speak of the constitution and administration of the state. For although all has not been effected through the contents of the former and the conduct of the latter, still without the foundation of free institutions, the results we are about to communicate would have been wholly impossible.

The first general ordinance for the establishment of the relations of civil society, drawn up by Nathan Dane of Massachusetts and Jacob Burnet, and adopted on the 13th of July, 1787, is distinguished by moderation and good sense. It contained the important, though seldom recognised principle, that no future law should interfere with private contracts previously made.

More important and comprehensive is the constitution of the 30th of April, 1802. It founds two legislative chambers, a house of representatives and a senate. The former contains

not fewer than thirty-six, nor more than seventy-two members; the senate not fewer than one third nor more than one half the number of the representatives. The senators are elected for two years, and the representatives for one, by ballot. Of the former one half go out annually. Every citizen who is twenty-one years of age, who is subject to pay taxes, and has been a resident for one year, is entitled to vote. A representative must be twentyfive years old, subject to taxation, and a resident for one year; a senator thirty years old, subject to taxation, and a resident for

two years. The governor, who is elected for two years, must be thirty years old, twelve years an inhabitant of the United States, and four years of Ohio. No member of either house can fill any other office during the period for which he is elected. Each one receives a compensation of two dollars per diem. The judges of the higher courts are chosen by both houses for seven years, by ballot. Many other officers are elected by the citizens of the counties and towns; e. g. justices of the peace for three years, sheriffs and coroners for two years, &c. Militia officers are partly elected by the men, and partly appointed by the state authorities. Both houses nominate by ballot the highest officers in the army, and all the other important state officers; the town-officers are elected by the citizens in common. Bills may be originated in either house, and must be read and debated three times before their final passage.

The governor is commander-in-chief of the army and militia, appoints some of the lower officers, proposes measures to the legislature, and requires and receives reports from the public officers. He also possesses the pardoning power; but has no veto upon the acts of the two houses.

An important Bill of Rights is annexed to the constitution. It establishes the entire freedom of the press and of religion, publicity of judicial proceedings and trial by jury, a mild criminal code, no imprisonment for debt after a fair surrender of property, no outlawry, no corporal punishment in military service, no quartering of troops, no standing army, no hereditary prerogatives or distinctions whatever, no slavery, no poll-tax, the equal right of all citizens to bear arms, the right to attend all schools and colleges (the poor not excepted), and the right of the people to assemble peaceably and petition for the redress of grievances.

With regard to future changes of the constitution, it declares that every free republican government rests upon the sole authority of the people; and that its grand object is to protect their rights and liberties, and to secure their independence. On this account the people have at all times full power to alter, transform, and abolish their government, whenever they may deem it necessary. But to prevent this from being done in an arbitrary and informal manner, the following provisions are subjoined. When two thirds of the members of both houses recommend an alteration, and not before, the proposal shall go before the whole body of voters. If a majority of these approve of it at the next election, the legislature shall call a convention composed of as many persons and chosen in the same manner as that body itself. What this convention determines or adopts shall have the power of law, without further action on the part of the people.

Persons brought up in the views and doctrines of certain

European schools, and thoroughly persuaded of their truth, will absolutely condemn these regulations, and censure them as dangerous, anarchical, destructive, jacobinical, revolutionary, &c. It would be labor in vain, to endeavor to convince them by theoretical demonstration, or even to show that some things are natural and wise under certain circumstances that would not be so under others. I will candidly admit, that even well informed Americans have doubted whether the power of the governor was not too small, that of the young voters too great, the change of legislators and public officers too frequent; whether the meetings of the people will not become dangerous, and the facility of constitutional changes prove destructive. It is true that evils have arisen from some of the above named circumstances; they must however have become still greater, had the directly opposite course been pursued. Besides, the most serious apprehensions have not been realized. The people, for example, who by frequent elections place those persons at the head of affairs and in public offices in whom they have confidence, have shown no inclination whatever to call extraordinary meetings and interfere with the course of public business. Although they have also the right to originate such changes of the constitution as they please, still in forty-two years no amendment has been proposed, much less adopted. So peaceful, so steady, so conservative has the young democracy remained; while a thousand changes have taken place in the circumstances that surround them, from which the necessity of alterations in the constitution might have been deduced. With this quiet, this contentment, and this temperate use of boundless power, contrast the tumult, the discontent, the changes, the extravagant demands, and the senseless refusals with which the history of so many European states has been filled for more than half a century.

These public rights and the constitution are poised by an administration which assigns and intrusts to each individual place and person a right of self-government almost entirely without control. An adequate defence against caprice and arbitrary power is found in the principles of private law, criminal law, and the forms of legal proceedings; all of which are derived from English precedents, but are carried farther by appropriate adaptations. Every attorney must possess a good moral character, must be a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Ohio for one year. He must have studied law for at least two years, and have undergone an examination before two judges of the supreme court. In every county there are annually chosen from the body of voters 108 persons to serve as jurymen. The grand jury consists of fifteen persons (of whom twelve must agree); the petty jury, of twelve persons. In capital cases the accused can challenge twenty-three

jurymen. There are cases where the court for sufficient reasons can order a second trial by jury or a second process at law. The punishments are, for:

murder in the first degree,

second degree,

death.

imprisonment for life. 1-10 years imprisonment.

1-7 66

3-10 66

counterfeiting,

adultery, imprisonment not over 30 days and

boxing, imprisonment not over 10 days or
cruelty to animals or bull-baiting,
cock-fighting,

selling ardent spirits to Indians,

. 50
100

The following persons are privileged from arrest, except for treason, felony, and breach of the peace:

Members of both houses and their officers, during the session;
Voters, during election,

Judges, during the session;

Militiamen, while on duty.

Divorces are granted for wilful abandonment for three years, or habitual drunkenness, great cruelty, impotence, fraudulent dealing (for instance, feigned pregnancy), and gross neglect of duties.

Let us now see how the laws and public institutions thus very briefly set forth have operated, or at least what has taken place under them. In the year 1790, Ohio was not yet a state, and its population was not included in the census. The number of its inhabitants was:

which number in the year 1844 had risen to 1,784,000, and will soon reach two millions.† Among the population of 1844 there were 764,000 Germans. In the year 1840 there were employed in mining, agriculture,

†The climate is healthy; there is one death only in 35 or even in 39 inhabitants.