fered. I am not ambitious of having my substitute adopted. I have broken the ground of resisting the adoption of the bill of pains and penalties, and the amendment of the original report in any proper manner, or the adoption of the substitute, or the amendments of the gentleman from Walworth shall all or either meet my approving vote, so as to get out of committee with our proceedings into convention, when we shall have an opportunity on all occasions of recording our names on all and every proposition offered. Mr. President, I have done; I hope the vote will immediately be taken.-Democrat, Oct. 24, 1846.

TWO O'CLOCK, P. M.

The convention resolved itself into the committee of the whole on article No. 1, "Article relative to banks and banking," and the minority report thereon. And after some time spent therein the committee rose and reported the said article back to the convention with amendments. Mr. Ryan then moved to amend the report of the committee by striking out all after the third section and inserting as follows:

"[Section] 4. No person or persons, corporation, or institution whatever shall, under any pretence or authority whatever, in any manner or form whatever, make, sign, or issue within this state any paper money, or any bank note, promissory note, bill, order, check, certificate of deposit, or other evidence of debt whatever, intended to circulate as money; and any person or persons, or any officer or other agent of any corporation or institution so doing shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined in a sum not less than $10,000 and imprisoned in the penitentiary not less than five years.

"[Section] 5. No person or persons shall utter, pass, or pay, or give, offer, or receive in payment any paper money, or bank note, promissory note, bill, order, check, certificate of deposit, or other evidence of debt whatever, intended to circulate as money, which shall purport to have been issued in this state before or after the adoption of this constitution, by any person or persons, corporation, or institution whatever, and any person or persons so doing shall upon conviction thereof be fined in a sum not less than five times the nominal amount so ut tered, passed, or paid, or given or received in payment in each case.

[Section] 6. No corporation within this state shall exercise the business of receiving deposits of money, making discounts, or buying or selling bills of exchange; and any officer or other agent of any corporation so doing shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined in a sum not less than $5,000, and imprisoned not less than two years.

"[Section] 7. No branch or agency of any bank or banking corporation or institution of the United States or of any state or territory within the United States, or of any foreign country, or of any person or

persons doing banking business without this state shall be established or maintained within this state, or shall issue [any] paper money, bank note, or other evidence of debt whatever intended to circulate as money, or receive deposits of money, make discounts, or buy or sell exchange, or exercise any other banking power or privilege whatever in any manner or form within this state; and any officer of any such branch or other agent of any such bank, corporation, or institution, person or persons so doing shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined in a sum not less than $5,000 and imprisoned in the penitentiary not less than two years.

"[Section] 8. It shall be the duty of the legislature from time to time, as may be necessary, to pass all acts and acts requisite to enforce any provision of this article."

Mr. Ryan called for the ayes and noes on the adoption of said amend. ment, which was ordered.

Mr. Judd moved a call of the house, which was ordered, and Messrs. Bowen, Fitzgerald, Mills, and Pierce were found absent. Mr. Dennis moved that Mr. Bowen be excused from his attendance in the convention, which was agreed to. On motion of Mr. Magone, Mr. Fitzgerald was excused from his attendance in the convention. (On motion of Mr. Noggle, Mr. Mills was excused from his attendance in the convention.) Mr. Judd moved that further proceedings under the call be dispensed with, which was agreed to.

Mr. Doty called for a division of the question. And the question. having been put on striking out all after the third section of the report of the committee of the whole, 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 34, negative 73; for the vote see Appendix I, roll call 7].

Moses M. Strong moved to amend the report of the committee of the whole by adding the following as section 6, to wit:

"Section 6. No person or persons, corporation, or institution whatever shall, under any pretence or authority whatever, in any manner or form whatever, make, sign, or issue within this state any paper money, or any bank note, promissory note, bill, order, check, certificate of deposit, or other evidence of debt whatever intended to circulate as money, and any person or persons, or any officer or other agent of any corporation or institution so doing shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined in a sum not less than $10,000, and imprisoned in the penitentiary not less than five years.

And the question having been put on the adoption of the 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 34, negative 72; for the vote see Appendix I, roll call 8].

Mr. Noggle moved to amend the report of the committee of the whole by adding to the fourth section as follows:

"And the legislature shall, at the first session after the adoption of this constitution, provide by law for the punishment in the state prison and by fine [of] any person or persons whatever, who shall violate any of the provisions before mentioned in this article.'

And the question having been put on the adoption of 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 40, negative 63; for the vote see Appendix I, roll call 9]. Mr. Ryan moved to amend the report of the committee by inserting the following additional section, to wit:

"Section 6. No person or persons shall pass, pay, or give, offer, or receive in payment any paper money, bank note, promissory note, bill, check, order, certificate of deposit, or other evidence of debt whatever intended to circulate as money, issued without this state, after the year 1847, of any denomination less than $10 nor, after the year 1849, of any denomination less than $50."

And pending the question on the adoption of said amendment, Mr. Dennis moved a call of the house, which was ordered, and Messrs. Burnside and Pierce reported absent, when, on motion, further proceedings under the call were dispensed with.

The question was then put on the adoption of the said amendment, and was decided in the affirmative. And the ayes and noes having been called for and ordered, those who voted in the affirmative were [affirmative 56, negative 49; for the vote see Appendix I, roll call 10].

Mr. Beall then moved further to amend the report of the committee by inserting the following as a substitute therefor:

"Section 1. The legislature of this state shall not have power to grant any special bank charter or confer any special banking privileges whatever.

"Section 2. All banks are, and all banking of any description whatever, either general or special, is forever prohibited within this state (except such as is hereinafter provided for).

"Section 3. No law authorizing banking in any manner or under any pretext whatever shall ever be passed by the legislature of this state, except the said law be general in its terms, and conveying rights equally to every citizen, and shall be adopted in the following manner: The proposed law shall pass through the ordinary forms of legislation, the yeas and nays being taken and entered at large upon the journal of the legislature, and if adopted by them shall be published fully and distinctly in six weekly newspapers located in different sections of the state for thirteen weeks in succession next preceding any general election, and shall then be submitted to the people, and, if approved by a majority of the electors of this state at such election, made to appear by the return to the proper office as shall be provided for the election of members of Congress of the United States, then the said act shall become a law of the land, subject to be repealed, altered, or amended in the same manner as is provided for enacting the same,

and no other way. Provided, always, the private and individual property of the stockholders of any and all banks established under this article shall be liable for all debts contracted or notes or bills issued by the corporation or institution of which they shall be stockholders, in like manner and to the same extent as for other indebtedness, and for the term of one year after the transfer of their stock shall have been made.

"Section 4. No person or persons, corporation, or institution within this state (except such as are expressly authorized by law herein provided) or any agent of any institution, corporation, or person of any other state or territory or of any foreign country shall issue within this state any bills, promissory notes, certificates of deposit, or other evidence of debt whatever intended to circulate as money, under the penalty of the forfeiture of an amount equal to the amount so issued, and such other penalty as shall be by law provided.

"Section 5. No corporation within this state, other than those provided for in this article, shall receive deposits of money, make discounts, or buy or sell bills of exchange.

"Section 6. The legislature of this state shall have full power to pass all necessary laws to carry into effect the provisions of this article."

And pending the question on the adoption of the said amendment, Moses M. Strong moved to adjourn to seven o'clock this evening. On motion of Mr. Magone the convention adjourned.

Mr. Beall got the floor after much trouble and offered his amendment, whereupon ensued a scene of disorder and confusion which we imagine but rarely occurs in such august bodies as conventions for the framing of constitutions, and which we sincerely hope never to witness again during this session. Mr. Beall retained the floor, when Moses M. Strong rose to a question of order; the Chair decided Mr. Strong's question was not entitled to raise a point of order; Mr. Beall insisted upon his right to offer his amendment; Mr. Strong appealed from the decision of the Chair; the Chair altered his views upon the question in dispute, and upon motion the convention adjourned.-Express, Oct. 20, 1846.

BANKS AND BANKING

(Speech of A. W. Randall, October 15, 1846)

MR. CHAIRMAN: The question before the convention is one of some importance. It is a question which has occupied much of the attention of the great political parties-and the question of no banks by legislative chartering has been one of the watchwords of the great Democratic party. The majority report of the committee on banks and banking, with its proposed amendments, however, deserves serious consideration. This report presents to us a perfect anomaly in the history of banking restrictions. It has been conceded on all hands and is now conceded that an article should be incorporated in the constitution of the state of Wisconsin prohibiting the legislature from granting bank charters or special banking privileges. In the county which I have the honor in part to represent the Democratic party have taken this ground, and as far as I have been able to ascertain from the public prints and other sources, this is the ground universally taken by the Democratic party in this territory. This position, assumed by the Democrats in every section of the country, I fully accord to. Thus far will I go and no farther. Sir, I was not here at the meeting of this convention or on the first week of its session. I have no personal knowledge of the differences and difficulties that arose among the members of the convention in the election of officers or appointment of committees, and therefore know little of the true causes of the personal and sectional prejudices that have arisen here, and which seem peculiarly to have shaped the course and conduct of members. A partition wall has been builded up here which appears to keep asunder certain parties. Sir, I know little of these divisions, and I care less. I was not sent here to build up a particular political party, or to attach myself to either wing of the party to which I belong. I care nothing and know nothing of your "hards," "softs, Tadpoles, Old Hunkers, Barnburners, or any other political branch of this body. I was sent here to assist in framing a constitution-a fundamental law for the state of Wisconsin