of such sucurities up or down, as they pleased, and thus by the 'freezing out' process, well known in corporation circles, the number of stockholders would in due course of time be limited to the few manipulators, and at a financial sacrifice to those stockholders not in the official management.

"But the grant of such dangerous power as this proposed in the bill would enable railroad corporations to accomplish another great wrong, intended to be forbidden by the policy of our constitution and laws. Under the provisions of this bill, if it should become a law, any railroad company organized under the laws of this State, whose line of railroad runs into Chicago, for instance, or any other locality on the border of the State, and there connects or forms a continuous line of travel with railroads running through and organized in another State-might, from its accumulating surplus capital, purchase the stocks and securities of such 'connecting' or 'continuous' railroad in another State without limitation, until it could own the majority of such stocks and securities, and thereby own and control any one, or any number of these lines; thus, in fact, combining them into one vast and powerful monopoly by a consolidation of capital in fact-although formal consolidations of the corporations are expressly and wisely forbidden by law, particularly as to parallel or competing lines.

"I especially object to the last clause of this bill, which is as follows: 'And any purchases (i. e. of stocks or securities) heretofore made within the purposes of this act are hereby declared to be lawful.'

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The object of this clause is plain, and can not be mistaken. It is to quietly legalize confessedly illegal acts heretofore committed."

This was the first test Governor Hamilton had with legislation of doubtful import, and his emphatic disapproval of it met the hearty approbation of the people.

A joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution, giving the Governor power to veto objectionable portions of appropriation bills without impairing the validity of the whole act, passed both houses.

Although Governor Cullom, in retiring from the Executive chair, left the people in perfect peace, the adminis tration of his successor was soon disturbed by the outbreak

of a mob in the mining district of St. Clair county, and the Illinois National Guard was called out to aid in the enforcement of the law. In this conflict one of the disturbers of the peace lost his life, and in concluding an elaborate report to the General Assembly, concerning the use of the State militia on that occasion, Governor Hamilton said:

"I regret as much as any one the necessity which caused the shedding of blood and loss of human life. But in this State, men of all classes must seek redress for wrongs by peaceful and quiet means, and the remedies afforded to all people in the law. They must not attempt to defy the government, trample law under foot, and enforce their demands by violence and intimidation. There can be no objection to workingmen of any kind refusing to work, when dissatisfied with their wages, and thus peaceably demanding and obtaining higher wages, but they have no right to assemble themselves into a lawless mob of rioters, and go about the country taking possession of property not their own, and preventing other workingmen, who are satisfied and who want to work, from work, by abuse, assault, threats, intimidation and terrorizing, or by forcibly compelling them to cease work. The workingmen, just as all other citizens, must and shall be protected in all their natural and legal rights, so far as lies in my power, while chief executive of this State, but whenever they attempt to redress their grievances by violence and force, and thus place themselves beyond the pale of the law's protection, and in open defiance of its officers, then they will come into unequal contest with all the power of the government, civil and military, and must expect to get worsted in every such conflict. For the government must rule, law must be respected, officers obeyed while in the discharge of their duty, and the peace preserved at all hazards, without fear or favor.

This bold, yet calm and deliberate expression of a determination on the part of Governor Hamilton, that he intended to see that the majesty of the law was upheld, even though in order to do so he would have to use the whole power of the State, was opportune, and had the effect to put a sudden end to the mob spirit which was then stalking abroad in the State, and threatened the destruction of both life and property.

CHAPTER XLVI.

JOHN DEMENT.

Col. John Dement, who died at his home in Dixon, on the 16th of January, 1883, was born in Sumner county, Tennessee, April, 1804. He came to Illinois with his parents in 1817; he soon won the confidence of the people of his adopted State, and was elected sheriff of Franklin county in 1826; he represented that county in the General Assemblies of 1828-30; he participated in three campaigns against the Indians; in the first he was aid-de-camp to Gov. Reynolds, with the rank of Colonel; in the second he was a Captain; in the third he was a Major, and commanded a battalion, which had a hotly contested engagement with Black Hawk and his entire band at Kellogg's Grove, in which that noted warrior was repulsed; and Black Hawk is reported to have said that Col. Dement was the bravest man he ever faced in a battle. In 1831, the General Assembly elected him State Treasurer; he was twice re-elected, but resigned the office in 1836, to serve the people of Fayette county as a Representative in the General Assembly, but failing in his efforts to prevent the removal of the capital to Springfield, he resigned his seat in that body and removed to the lead mines in the northern part of the State. In 1837, he was appointed by President Jackson Receiver of Public Moneys, and held the office through the Administration of Presi dent Van Buren, but in 1841, President Harrison removed him. In 1844, he was district elector for Polk and Dallas; in 1845, President Polk reappointed him Receiver of Public Moneys; he was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of 1847; in 1849, President Taylor removed him from

the office of Receiver of Public Moneys; in 1853, President Pierce reappointed him to that office, which he continued to hold until it was abolished; in 1861, he was elected a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and was made president pro tempore. In 1870, he was again elected a delegate to the Constitutional Convention, and again made president pro tempore. Although living in a strongly Republican district, he was always sure of an election whenever he consented to be a candidate. In his reminiscences, Linder relates the following incident of Col. Dement, which illustrates, to some extent, the character of the man. He says:

"Colonel Dement was not only brave, but in the face of danger he was cool, cautious, and prudent. That I am a living man to-day, I owe, perhaps, to his friendship, bravery and prudence. In 1837, after I was elected to the office of Attorney-General of Illinois, I got into a difficulty with a very desperate man, who was a member of the Senate, and he challenged me, and General James Turney was elected by him as his second, and he delivered the challenge to me. I accepted it, and referred him to Colonel John Dement as my second, who would fix the distance and select the weapons. Having expected this before I received the challenge, I had informed my friend Dement that I expected to be challenged, and that I should select him for my second, and should place my honor and life in his hands. He said to me: 6 Linder, I will take charge of both; and, without letting your honor suffer, will take good care that you never fight; for if you do, he will be sure to kill you, for he is as cool and desperate as a bandit.' I replied, that the matter would be placed in his hands, and I should refer his second to him (Col. Dement) as my second, to arrange the distance and select the weapons with which we would fight. Accordingly, when Gen. Turney called upon Col. Dement, Dement informed him that we would fight with pistols at close quarters, each holding one end of the same handkerchief in his teeth.

'My God!' replied Gen. Turney, 'Col. Dement, that amounts to the deliberate murder of both men.'

It don't matter,' said Dement, 'your principal is cool, desperate and deliberate, while my friend is nervous and

excitable, and if he has to lose his life, your friend must bear him company.'

"Gen. Turney being a very humane and honorable gentleman, and really as much my friend as he was his principal's, said to Col. Dement: 'Colonel, this meeting must never take place; so let you and I take this matter in hand and have it settled in an amicable way, honorable to both parties.'

""The very thing,' said Col. Dement, 'that I have desired to bring about. Linder is a young man, and has just been elected Attorney-General of the State, and has an interesting wife, and little daughter only four years old, who have only been in this town (Vandalia) but a few days, and it would be next to breaking my heart to have the one made a widow and the other an orphan.'

"They agreed that a hostile meeting should not take place; and the matter was amicably and honorably arranged between the Senator and myself. We met, made friends, shook hands, and to the last day of his life we were the best of friends."

In every public trust Col. Dement filled the full measure of the law; he was able, honest and faithful. As a man he was modest and unassuming; as a citizen, no man stood higher; as a friend, he was warm and true. Politically he was a Democrat, but during the war for the Union he was an active supporter of the war; and his only son, Henry D. Dement, the present Secretary of State, was one of the first volunteers in the three years' service, enlisting in Company "A," Thirteenth Regiment infantry. The death of Col. Dement was deeply mourned by the community in which he had lived so long, and the General Assembly passed resolutions of condolence, and had them spread upon the journals, and a copy sent to the bereaved family.