of
Muscatine County Iowa
1911
| History of Muscatine County Iowa 1911 | |
Source: History of Muscatine County Iowa, Volume I, 1911, pages 37-40
THE CELEBRATION OF THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CONSTITUTION OF lOWA.
BY JOHN C. PARRISH. In the year 1907 the state of Iowa closed the first half century of existence under the constitution of 1857. In April, 1906, the general assembly, looking forward to the suitable celebration of so important an anniversary, passed an act appropriating seven hundred and fifty dollars to be used by the State Historical Society of Iowa, in a commemmoration of the fiftieth anniversary of the constitution of 1857. It was eminently desirable that the celebration should occur at Iowa City, for it was at that place, then the capital of the state, that the constitutional convention of 1857 was held. And it was particularly fitting that the exercises should be placed under the auspices of the State Historical Society of Iowa, for the same year, 1857, marks the birth of the society. While the convention was drafting the fundamental law of the state in a room on the lower floor of the Old Stone Capitol, the sixth general assembly in the legislative halls upstairs in the same building passed an act providing for the organization of a State Historical Society. Thus the event of 1907 became a celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the State Historical Society as well as a commemoration of the semi-centennial of the constitution of 1857.
In due time plans were matured for a program covering four days, beginning on Tuesday, March 19, and closing on Friday, March 22, 1907. It consisted of addresses by men of prominent reputation in constitutional and historical lines, together with conferences on state historical subjects. On Tuesday evening Professor Andrew C. McLaughlin, of Chicago University, delivered an address upon " A Written Constitution in Some of its Historical Aspects." He dwelt in a scholarly way upon the growth of written constitution, showing the lines along which their historical development has progressed.
The speaker of Wednesday was Professor Eugene Wambaugh, of the Harvard Law School, one of the leading authorities in the country upon questions of constitutional law and formerly a member of the faculty of the college of law of the University of Iowa. Professor Wambaugh, taking for his subject The Relation Between General History and the History of Law, outlined the history of the long rivalry between the civil law of Rome and the common law in their struggle for supremacy, both in the old world and the new. In closing, he referred to the constitution of Iowa as typical of the efforts of the Americal people to embody in fixed form the principles of right and justice.
Thursday morning was given over to a conference on the teaching of history, Professor Isaac A. Loos, of the State University of Iowa, presided, and members of the faculties of a number of the colleges and high schools of the state were present and participated in the program. In the afternoon the conferenct of historical societies convened, Dr. F. E. Horack, of the State Historical Society of Iowa, presiding. Reports were read from the historical department at Des Moines and from nearly all of the local historical societies of the state. Methods and policies were discussed and much enthusiasm was aroused looking toward the better preservation of the valuable materials of local history.
The history of the Mississippi valley is replete with events of romantic interest. From the time of the early French voyagers and explorers, who paddled down the waters of the tributaries from the north, down to the days of the sturdy pioneers of Anglo Saxon blood, who squatted upon the fertile soil and staked out their claims on the prairies, there attaches an interest that is scarcely equaled in the annals of America. On Thursday evening, Dr. Reuben Goldthwaites, superintendent of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, delivered an address upon "The Romance of Mississippi Valley History." He traced the lines of exploration and immigration from the northeast and east and drew interesting pictures of the activities in the great river valley when the land was young and the ways full of wonder to the pioneer adventurer.
Friday's program closed the session. On this day Governor Albert B. Cummins attended and participated in the celebration. At the university armory before a large gathering, he spoke briefly on the constitution of the United States, paying it high tribute and at the same time showing the need of amendment to fit present day needs. He then introduced Judge Emlin McClain, of the supreme court of Iowa, who delivered the principal address of the day. Judge McClain took for his subject "The Constitutional Convention and the Issues Before It." He told of that memorable gathering at the Old Stone Capitol in Iowa City fifty years ago when thirty-six men met in the supreme court room to draft the fundamental law for the commonwealth.
The members of the convention of 1857 were from various occupations. The representatives of the legal profession led in numbers with fourteen members, among whom were many men of prominence. William Penn Clarke, Edward Johnstone and J. C. Hall were there. James F. Wilson, afterward so prominent in national politics, was a member, then only twenty-eight years of age. J. C. Hall was the only delegate who had served in either of the preceding constitutional conventions of the state, having represented Henry county in the convention of 1844. There were twelve farmers in the convention of 1857--rugged types of those men who settled upon land and built into the early history of the state its elements of enduring strength. Among the remaining members were merchants, bankers and various other tradesmen. They were a representative group of men and they attacked the problems before them with characteristic pioneer vigor.
The convention of 1857 chose for its presiding officer, Francis Springer, an able farmer and lawyer from Louisa county. Many were the discussions that stirred the convention. One of the first was over the proposition to move the convention bodily to Dubuque or to Davenport. The town of Iowa City it seems had not provided satisfactory accommodations for the delegates, and for hours the members gave vent to their displeasure and argued the question of a removal. But inertia won and the convention finally decided to remain in Iowa City and settled down to the discussion of more serious matters.
The constitution of 1846 had prohibited banking corporations in the state. But there was strong agitation for a change in this respect, and so the convention of 1857 provided for both a state bank and for a system of free banks. The matter of corporations was a prominent one before the convention. So also was the question of the status of the negro. The issues were taken up with fairness and argued upon their merits. The convention was republican in the proportion of twenty-one to fifteen. The delegates had been elected upon a party basis. Yet they did not allow partisanship to control their actions as members of a constituent assembly. On the 19th of January they had come together and for a month and a half they remained in session. They adjourned March 5th and dispersed to their homes.
That the members of the convention did their work well is evidenced by the fact that in the fifty years that have followed only four times has the constitution of 1857 been amended. Nor did these amendments embody changes, the need of which the men of 1857 could have well foreseen. The first two changes in the fundamental law were due to the changed status of the negro as a result of the Civil war. In 1882 the prohibitory amendment was passed, but it was soon declared null by the supreme court of Iowa because of technicalities in its submission to the people and so did not become apart of the constitution. The amendments of 1884 were concerned largely with judicial matters, and those of 1904 provided for biennial election and increased the number of members of the house of representatives.
With these changes the work of the constitutional convention of 1857 has come down to us. Fifty years have passed and twice has the convention been the subject of a celebration. In 1882, after a quarter of a century, the surviving members met at Des Moines. Francis Springer, then an old man, was present and presided at the meeting. Out of the original thirty-six members, only twenty responded to the roll call. Eight other members were alive but were unable to attend. The remainder had given way to the inevitable reaper. This was in 1882. In 1907 occurred the second celebration. This time it was not a reunion of the members of the convention, for only one survivor appeared on the scene. It was rather a commemoration of the fiftieth birthday of the constitution of the state. Only one member of the convention, John H. Peters, of Manchester, Iowa, is reported to be now living.
The celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of the adoption of our fundamental law was marked by a unique feature. There were present and participated in the program three aged pioneers of the state, a survivor of each of the three constitutional conventions. These three conventions met in 1857, in 1846 and 1844 respectively, fifty, sixty-one and sixty-three years ago. On the opening day of the celebration, J. Scott Richman appeared upon the scene. Sixty-one years ago he had come to Iowa City as a delegate of the convention of 1846. Eighty-eight years old, with patriarchal beard and slow step, he came as the only living member of the convention that framed the constitution under which Iowa entered the Union. On Thursday there came from Marion, Samuel Durham, a tall pioneer ninety years of age, the sole survivor of Iowa's first constitutional convention--that of 1844. His memory ran back to the days of Iowa's first governor, Robert Lucas, for he had reached Iowa from Indiana in the year 1840. On the last day of the program these two old constitution makers of 1844 and 1846 were joined by a third, John H. Peters, who had come from Delaware county as a member of the last constitutional convention of fifty years ago. They sat down together at the luncheon on Friday noon and responded to toasts with words that took the hearers back to the days when Iowa was the last stopping place of the immigrant.
Thus the celebration was brought to an end. From every point of view it was a success. Probably never again will the state see the reunion of representatives of all three constitutional conventions. Time must soon take away these lingering pioneers of two generations ago, but the state will not soon forget their services, for they have left their monument in the fundamental law of the commonwealth.
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