JOURNAL OF THE MISSOURI STATE CONVENTION, Held in Jefferson City, June, 1863. FIRST DAY. MONDAY, June 15, 1863. The Convention met in the Hall of the House of Representatives at the Capitol in the City of Jefferson, at 10 o'clock a. M., in pursuance of the following call of the Gov ernor: EXECUTIVE DEP'T, JEFFERSON CITY, The subject of Emancipation has now for some time engaged the public mind, and it is of the highest importance to the interest of the State that some scheme of Emancipation should be adopted. The General Assembly at its late session being embarrassed by Constitutional limitations upon its power, failed to adopt any measure upon the subject of Emancipation, but clearly indicated a wish that the Convention should be called together to take action upon the subject. Therefore, I, Hamilton R. Gamble, Governor of the State of Missouri, by virtue of the authority vested in me by the Convention, do hereby call the said Convention to assemble at the Capitol, in the City of Jefferson, on the FIFTEENTH DAY OF JUNE NEXT, then and there to consult and act upon the subject of Emancipation of slaves, and such other matters as may be connected with the peace and prosperity of the State. H. R. GAMBle. above mentioned. By the Governor: M. OLIVER, Sec'y of State. The roll was called, and the following members answered to their names, viz: Messrs. Birch, Bogy, Breckinridge, Bush, Douglass, Dunn, Flood, Hitchcock, Holt, Hough, How, Howell, Leeper, Linton, McClurg, McDowell, McFerran, Norton, Orr, Rankins, Ray, Scott, Shanklin, Sheeley, Smith of Linn, Smith of St. Louis, Vanbuskirk, Waller, Welch, Woodson, and Mr. President―31. There being no quorum present, on motion of Mr. BoGy the Convention adjourned until 4 o'clock P. M. EVENING SESSION. The Convention met pursuant to adjournment. The roll was called, and the following members answered to their names, in addition to those already present, viz: Messrs. Bass, Bast, Broadhead, Bridge, Drake, Eitzen, Gantt, Hall of B., Hall of R., Henderson, Holmes, Holt, Kidd, Mar vin, Matson, Meyer, Morrow, Phillips, Ritchey, Ross, Shackelford of St. L., and Woolfolk. Mr. HENDERSON presented the credentials of Solomon R. Moxley as a delegate elect from the Second Senatorial District. Mr. SMITH of St. Louis presented the credentials of Charles D. Drake as a delegate elect from the Twenty-ninth Senato rial District. Mr. McCLURG presented the credentials of William Baker as a delegate elect from the Twentieth Senatorial District. Mr. GRAVELLY presented the credentials of Claudius B. Walker as a delegate from the Eighteenth Senatorial District. Mr. STEWART presented the credentials of Wm. J. Duvall as a delegate from the Twenty-second Senatorial District. Mr. HOUGH presented the credentials of Henry J. Deal as a delegate from the Twenty-fifth Senatorial District. Mr. ORR presented the credentials of H. J. Lindenbower as a delegate from the Nineteenth Senatorial District. On motion of Mr. PHILLIPS, the credentials of each of said delegates were referred to a committee of three, consisting of Messrs. Phillips, Douglass and Henderson. On motion of Mr. HALL of B., Resolved, That a Committee of three be appointed by the Chair to inform the Governor of the State that a quorum of this Convention is present and prepared to receive any communication he may think proper to make. The PRESIDENT appointed Messrs. Hall of B., Bogy and Breckinridge said committee, who shortly after reported that the Governor would communicate with the Convention in writing. On motion of Mr. HOWELL, Resolved, That the Secretary of this body furnish each member with three daily newspapers during the sitting of the present session, and that the cost of the same be paid as other expenses of this Convention. The PRESIDENT laid the following communication before the Convention : JEFFERSON CITY, June 15, 1863. Hon. ROBT. WILSON, President of the Convention. DEAR SIR: Mr. Vincent Marmaduke, a member elect from the Saline District, having been under military arrest for disloyalty, and now on parole about the city of St. Louis, has applied for an extension of his parole to the city of Jefferson, for the purpose of enabling him to attend the present session of the Convention. The Commanding General of this military department has instructed me to submit the matter to the Convention, and if it should appear that there is no objection on the part of that body to his taking his seat, his parole will be extended accordingly. Respectfully your ob't servant, JAS. O. BROADHEAD, Prov. Mar. Gen. of Dep't of Mo. On motion of Mr. FOSTER, Resolved, That the Convention now proceed to the election of Doorkeeper, Sergeant-at-Arms and Chaplain. Nominations for Doorkeeper being in order, Mr. SCOTT nominated Mr. C. M. Ward, of Cole county. Mr. COMINGO nominated Mr. W. H. Bates, of Cole county. Mr. DOUGLASS nominated Mr. T. M. Winston, of Cole county. Mr. GRAVELLY nominated Mr. Fred. Buehrle, of Cole county. No other nominations having been made, the roll was called, when there appeared For Mr. Ward-9. "Mr. Bates-3. "Mr. Winston-41. "Mr. Buehrle-3. Mr. Winston, having received a majority of all the votes cast, was declared elected Doorkeeper. On motion of Mr. FOSTER, Mr. W. T. Porter was elected unanimously Sergeant-atArms. On motion of Mr. FLOOD, Mr. J. A. Welch was declared unanimously elected Chaplain. Mr. PHILLIPS, from a Special Committee, made the following report: To the Hon. ROBT. WILSON, President of the Convention. SIR: The Committee on Credentials, to whom were referred various credentials of members elected to fill vacancies in the Convention, beg leave to report that they have examined the certificates presented and find the following gentlemen to be prima facie entitled to seats in the Convention, from the Districts named, to-wit: William Baker, from the Twentieth Senatorial District. Sol. R. Moxley, from the Second Senatorial District. to consult and act upon matters of the highest interest to the State. The subject named in the call as that which, in my judgment, chiefly demands your attention, is that of the emancipation of slaves. In my message to the General Assembly I expressed to that body my general views upon the subject in this language: "Having always lived in States where slavery existed, I have had no such prejudice against the institution as is felt and expressed by many. But I have long entertained the opinion that the material interests of Missouri would be promoted, and her resources would be more rapidly developed, by the substitution of free labor for slave labor. Entertaining this opinion, H. J. Lindenbower, from the Nineteenth I looked to the rapid increase of free popuSenatorial District. Henry J. Deal, from the Twenty-fifth Senatorial District. Charles D. Drake, from the Twenty-ninth Senatorial District. William J. Duvall, from the Twentysecond Senatorial District. Claudius B. Walker, from the Eighteenth Senatorial District. Your committee, therefore, present the accompanying resolution, and recommend its adoption. JOHN F. PHILlips, Chairman. Resolved, That the following delegates elect, holding certificates of election, are prima facie entitled to seats in the Convention, and that they be admitted accordingly, to-wit: Wm. Baker, for the Twentieth District. Henry J. Deal, for the Twenty-fifth District. Charles D. Drake, for the Twenty-ninth District. lation and its excess over the slaves as sure, in time, and by ordinary laws that govern commercial interests, to effect a change in our labor system. Taking no part in public affairs, I have been content to let the whole subject take its natural course, without mingling in the discussion which has arisen." "The necessity for action at this time grows out of the present condition of the country. A great rebellion against our Government exists, and its primary object is to inaugurate a government in which slavery shall be fostered as the controlling interest." "If the leaders of this rebellion do really desire to have our State within their pretended confederacy, there can be no more effectual mode of extinguishing that desire than by showing our purpose to clear the State ultimately of the institution which Wm. J. Duvall, for the Twenty-second forms the bond of cement among the rebelDistrict. H. J. Lindenbower, for the Nineteenth Districts. Sol. R. Moxley, for the Second District. District. Which resolution was adopted. The following message was received from the Governor by his Private Secretary, Mr. Bailey: GENTLEMEN OF THE CONVENTION: Under the power conferred upon me by your body, I have called you together again lious States." Such being my views, and being bound by the Constitution "to recommend to the consideration of the General Assembly such measures as I should deem necessary and expedient," I suggested to that body a scheme of gradual emancipation. The General Assembly was prohibited by the Constitution from passing any law for the emancipation of slaves without the consent of their owners, or without paying them, before such emancipation, a full equivalent for the slaves so emancipated. The prostrated condition of the finances of the State rendered it impossible for the State to pay the equivalent required by the Constitution. The certainty of obtaining money from the United States for that purpose was not sufficiently clear to form the basis of legislative action. The plan I recommended would have reduced the compensation required to an insignificant amount; an amount which, in fact, might have been provided by the State. The General Assembly failed to act upon the subject. The importance of the subject, in its relation to all the interests of the State, demanded, in my judgment, very speedy action by a body capable of finally disposing of it, by the adoption of some wise and just scheme of emancipation. The Senate passed a joint resolution requesting me to call the Convention together, and also a bill for the election of delegates to a new Convention, provided your body should not, before the first day of July next, adopt a scheme of emancipation. Although neither of these measures was acted upon in the House of Representatives, yet the friends of emancipation in the House exhibited the greatest earnestness in endeavoring to have the bill which came from the Senate acted upon by the House, and were only foiled by the application of stringent parliamentary rules. This action in the Assembly gave strength to my own conviction, that you should be called together, rather than wait until the Assembly should again convene in November next, and then initiate measures of emancipation, which might require some time before they could have effect. It is under these circumstances that you have been called to assemble, and the subject of the emancipation of slaves is commended to your attention, as a subject of the highest interest to the State, and involving questions the most delicate and difficult that you can be required to solve. I will not undertake the labor of developing any scheme and recommending it to you for adoption. The whole subject of emancipation is one upon which the minds of men will differ, as they are affected by prejudice, or inflamed by passion, or controlled by reason; and among those who favor emancipation under the guidance of reason alone, there is such a variety of opinions about schemes and the details of schemes, that there is no probability of any scheme devised by a single mind meeting with the ready approval of other minds in all its details. I will not, therefore, undertake the task of recommending any given scheme. This, however, I may be allowed to say, that if a body of intelligent and patriotic men will approach the subject with a deep. conviction that it is of the highest importance to the State that the subject should be disposed of, they will be able to dispose of it by agreeing upon some measure, although it may not, in all its details, be the exact expression of the will of any individual who sustains it. I will venture to say, farther, that in this, as in all other cases in which a State, for its own benefit, deprives any of its citizens of property, political morals require that the citizen shall be deprived of his rights no farther than is necessary to make the public benefit certain and secure. While, then, emancipation is necessary for the public good, the period at which it shall be made effectual and complete admits of great diversity of opinion. This question of time is one on which those who agree in respect to the main point can, by mutual concession, harmonize their views. In my communication made to you at your session in June last I submitted to you a brief statement of what I had done up to that time to put the State in a condition of defence, so that she might be protected against enemies, external and internal. The latter class consisted of bands of robbers and assassins, who, scattered over the country in smaller or greater numbers, made the existing state of war a cover for their schemes of plunder and murder. It became manifest that the regularly organized forces in the service of the United States were not as well adapted to the work of ridding the country from these |
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