This action of the Democratic members had been foreshadowed for several days, but it was, nevertheless, something of a surprise. The Republicans understood that several of the Democrats had earnestly opposed such a course, and hoped that some of them would be governed by their own convictions, rather than by the mandate of their caucus. For a few moments after Mr. Slough concluded, the Convention sat, hushed and expectant. But no other Democratic member rose. It was evident that the caucus ruled. Then Judge Thacher, President pro tem., addressed the Chair, and in a speech of remarkable vigor and eloquence, accepted the gauge of battle thrown down. “Upon this Constitution,” he declared, “we will meet our opponents in the popular arena. It is a better, a nobler issue than even the old Free-State issue. They have thrown down the gauntlet; we joyfully take it up.” He then proceeded to defend, with great earnestness and power, the features of the Constitution objected to by Mr. Slough. “The members of the Convention,” he asserted, “have perfected a work that will be enduring.” The Constitution, he affirmed, would “commend itself to the true and good everywhere, because through every line and syllable there glows the generous sunshine of liberty.” It was and should be, he declared:
“Like some tall cliff, that lifts its awful form,
Swells from the vale, and midway leaves the storm;
Though round its breast the rolling clouds shall spread,
Eternal sunshine settles on its head.”
Read in the light of subsequent history, these declarations appear almost prophetic.
SIGNING THE CONSTITUTION.
The twilight shadows were gathering about Wyandotte when this debate closed, and the Convention proceeded to vote on Mr. Hutchinson’s resolution, which was adopted by 34 ayes to 13 nays—one Republican and four Democrats being absent. The roll was then called, and the Constitution was signed by all the Republican members except one, Mr. Wright, of Nemaha, who was absent, sick. The work of the Convention was completed, and after voting thanks to its officers, it adjourned without date.
TWO MISTAKES.
Each party, I think, was guilty of one blunder it afterwards seriously regretted—the Republicans in refusing to include the South Platte country within the boundaries of Kansas; the Democrats in refusing to sign the Constitution they had labored diligently to perfect. I speak of what I consider the great mistake of the Republicans with all the more frankness, because I was at the time in hearty sympathy with their action; but I feel confident that no Republican member is living to-day who does not deplore that decision. And I am equally confident that within a brief time after the Convention adjourned, there were few Democratic members who did not seriously regret their refusal to sign the Constitution.