PRESENTATION OF PETITIONS. By Mr. Greusel: Resolutions of the Common Council of the city of Detroit relative to taxation of railroad property for municipal purposes. Referred to the committees on ways and means and railroads jointly. Resolution presented to the Common Council Tuesday, March 10, 1874, and unanimously adopted: WHEREAS, One-twentieth part of the taxable property, and probably onefourth of the available river front of the city is owned by railroad corporations, which pay no city taxes; and WHEREAS, Our file and police departments extend protection over the property of said corporations, and the cost of maintaining said departments during the past year was $234,371 26; and WHEREAS, The Legislature has seemingly stood in awe of something in the Constitution of the State when appealed to on the subject; therefore Resolved, That as the Legislature is now in session for the purpose of making a revision of the Constitution, we call upon our representatives to secure the passage of such amendments as will enable us to secure just and equitable legislation on the subject. Resolved, That we do not recommend an alteration of the present State Constitution, so far as to subject the property of railroads to taxation for general purposes, but we earnestly recommend such an amendment to section 14, of the present Constitution, as to allow a portion of the specific State taxes to be applied to municipal purposes when any considerable portion of the property of railroad corporations lies within the limits of the city or incorporated village, and has the benefit of the protection of municipal institutions. Adopted. CHAS. H. BORGMAN, City Clerk. By Mr. Bartholomew: Petition of Mr. D. P. Mayhew, G. B. Stebbins, Miss Frances B. Clark, Miss Lizzie F. Ward, and 87 others of Detroit, in favor of female suffrage. Referred to the committee on elections and State affairs jointly. REPORTS OF STANDING COMMITTEES. By the committees on State affairs and elections: The committees on State affairs and elections, to whom was referred Joint resolution proposing an amendment to Sec. 1 of Article VII. of the Constitution, in relation to the qualification of electors, Respectfully report that they have had the same under consideration, and have directed us to report the same back to the House without amendment, and recommend that it do pass, and ask to be discharged from the further consideration of the subject. The reasons which have influenced the committee in recommending an amendment so radical and sweeping in the changes which it will create, if finally adopted by the people, are briefly these: The question of granting the right of suffrage to women equally with men, is one that has been seriously and widely agitated for years; and while, like other political reforms which change in any considerable degree the old and established order of things, it has met with strong opposition, on the other hand it has been ably advocated by men and women, distinguished alike for their intellectual ability and their excellent judgment. Although we believe that there should be certain necessary and proper restrictions to the exercise of the elective franchise, we are of the opinion that there are reasonable grounds to doubt whether the distinction of sex in the matter of voting is not in a large measure, a fictitious one. The interests of women in all matters pertaining to good government are certainly identical with those of men. In the matter of property their rights conceded by law are equal, and in some respects superior, to those of men; and if the principle of no taxation without representation is a just one as applied among men, it would seem that it might in justice be extended to women. As the reasons given above are strongly urged by the advocates of woman's suffrage, and as several petitions, numerously signed by citizens of the State, asking for some action on the part of the House in this matter, are in the bands of the committee, we have deemed it advisable, although not equally agreed as to the main question involved, to recommend the passage of the resolution by the House, in order that the people of the State may have an opportunity of expressing their will at the ballot-box, as to the expediency of extending the right of suffrage to women. SAM'L H. BLACKMAN, Chairman of Com. on State Affairs. JAMES BURNS, Chairman of Committee on Elections. Report accepted and committee discharged. The joint resolution was ordered printed in the journal, referred to the committee of the whole, and placed on the general order. The following is the joint resolution: Joint resolution proposing an amendment to Sec. 1 of Art. VII. of the Constitution, in relation to the qualifications of electors. Resolved, By the Senate and House of Representatives of the State of Michigan, That at the election when the amended Constitution shall be submitted to the electors of this State for adoption or rejection, there shall be submitted to such electors the following propositions, to be substituted in case of adoption, for so much of Sec. 1 of Art. VII. as precedes the proviso therein, in the present Constitution of this State as it now stands, and substituted for Sec. 1, Art. VII., in said amended Constitution, if the latter is adopted, to wit: SECTION 1. In all elections, every person of the age of twenty-one years who shall have resided in this State three months, and in the township or ward in which he or she offers to vote ten days next preceding an election, belonging to either of the following classes, shall be an elector and entitled to vote : First-Every citizen of the United States; Second-Every inhabitant of this State who shall have resided in the United States two years and six months, and declared his or her intention to become a citizen of the United States, pursuant to the laws thereof, six months preceding an election; Third-Every inhabitant residing in this State on the twenty-fourth day of June, one thousand eight hundred and thirty-five. Said proposition shall be separately submitted to the electors of this State, for their adoption or rejection, in form following, to wit: A separate ballot may be given by every person having the right to vote, to be deposited in a separate box. Upon the ballots given for said proposition shall be written or printed, or partly written and partly printed, the words "Woman suffrage,-Yes ;" and upon the ballots given against the adoption thereof, in like manner, the words "Woman suffrage,-No." If, at said election, a majority of the votes given upon said proposition shall contain the words "Woman Suffrage-Yes," then said proposition shall be substituted for so much of Sec. 1 of Article VII. as includes the proviso therein in the present Constitution of this State as it now stands, or substituted for Sec. 1 of Article VII. in said amended Constitution, if the latter is adopted. REPORTS OF SPECIAL COMMITTEES. The joint committee of the Senate and House, appointed to draft resolutions upon the death of Senator Sumner, have duly considered the duty confided to them, and respectfully report the following: In Memoriam, CHARLES SUMNER. DIED MARCH 11, 1874. WHEREAS, The Legislature of Michigan has heard, with profound sorrow, of the death of Hon. Charles Sumner, United States Senator from Massachusetts; therefore, Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives, That, occupying as he has a foremost place in the history of this country for the past quarter of a century, Charles Sumner stands forth in that history a man of grand intellectual power, great learning, and exalted character, whose every labor and almost every thought were devoted to the service of his country. An opponent of slavery from his youth, a champion of freedom, whose standard never for a moment wavered,—a great Statesman whose mind has left its impress upon the legislation and public sentiment of the country, and whose record is as clear and spotless as it is conspicuous, we contemplate his career with pride and admiration, and deeply lament its close. Resolved, That as a mark of respect for the illustrious dead the National flag be displayed at half-mast until the day of the funeral. Resolved, That the foregoing resolutions be ordered engrossed, signed by the presiding officers of the two Houses of this Legislature, and the Governor be requested to transmit the same to the Governor and General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. We recommend that the resolutions be adopted by a rising vote in the respective Houses, and ask to be discharged from the further consideration of the subject. H. H. HINDS, C. V. DELAND, W. F. HEWITT, Committee on the part of the Senate. W. H. WITHINGTON, JAMES CAPLIS, A. J. DOVELL, H. D. EDWARDS, GILBERT STRIKER, Committee on the part of the House. Report accepted and committee discharged. Pending the adoption of the report, Mr. Withington addressed the House as follows: MR. SPEAKER-1 will not occupy the time of the House in any extended remarks, but I should not do justice to my own feelings, or feel quite true to the State which bore me, if I let the occasion pass without a word. I am the more moved to this because some things in Mr. Sumner's course for the past two years have tended to alienate him somewhat from his old political associates and admirers. However much of such alienation or estrangement may have existed when we recall the past, when we consider what he was and what he has done, this feeling will all vanish, and the sense of his worth, and our loss, will deepen as we contemplate it. How he is held in the hearts of the colored people we know, and even from the people of the South, formerly so hostile to him, and who a few years ago would have received the news of his death with joy, come expressions of regret, and testimony that he was a great statesman, an honest man, and as he forgave them, so they long ago forgave him. Thus the sorrow is universal, and when his remains are conveyed to their last resting-place, I tell you, sir, the great heart of the nation will beat heavily at the portals of his tomb. MR. SPEAKER-The age or the country which produced such a man as Charles Suminer may well feel proud of him. They are not the product of every age. He challenges attention by the contrast between the grandeur of his powers and the lowliness of the race for whom they were chiefly expended. We see in him a man of rich natural endowments, great breadth and depth of culture and attainments, and high social position, all consecrated to the redemption of a despised and downtrodden race. An aristocrat, as we should say, certainly aristocratic in birth, culture, and taste,-he makes the civil rights of the lowest order in our body politic the object of his earliest and latest efforts. Taking up their cause under obloquy and scorn, and pursuing it with a steadfastness which wearied out many who started with him, but which, in the order of his mind, could not cease until the logical and ultimate end was attained. But it is not alone as an anti-slavery champion that he stands before the country. Upon almost every great subject of legislation his voice has been heard, and his influence felt; and wherever there was a balancing between expediency and right, no doubt ever existed where Charles Sumner would stand. High as he has been held by his cotemporaries, his reputation is one which will grow with coming years. Defects will be forgotten, and the qualities. which have challenged the admiration even of his opponents will stand boldly out in history. His exhaustive and statesmanlike discussion of every subject will cause his speeches, like Burke's, to be read and admired by the student as. long as the English language is read. Mr. Sumner's very appearance was indicative of his greatness. Majestic in figure, feature, and voice, who that has seen him rise in his place to address the Senate, but has instinctively felt he was a very Saul among his associates, head and shoulders above them all? Mr. Speaker, I think this House will do itself honor by joining its tribute. with the voice which is coming from all parts of the country in honor of the dead. The resolutions were then unanimously adopted by a rising vote. MESSAGES FROM THE SENATE. The Speaker announced the following: To the Speaker of the House of Representatives: SENATE CHAMBER, Lansing, March 12, 1874. SIR, I am instructed by the Senate to inform the House that Senators Crosby and McGowan have been appointed a committee on the part of the Senate, to act with a like committee on the part of the House on arrangement and phraseology of the constitution. Very Respectfully, The message was laid on the table. JAMES H. STONE, SENATE CHAMBER, To the Speaker of the House of Representatives: SIR-I am instructed by the Senate to return to the House the following concurrent resolution : Resolved (the Senate concurring), That a committee of five on the part of the House, to act with a committee on the part of the Senate, be appointed to draft appropriate resolutions on the death of Hon. Millard Fillmore and Hon. Morgan Bates. In the passage of which the Senate has concurred, and to inform the House that Senators Wilber, Mitchell and Beattie have been appointed such committee on the part of the Senate. Very respectfully, JAS. H. STONE, The message was laid on the table. SENATE CHAMBER, To the Speaker of the House of Representatives: current resolution: Resolved (the Senate concurring), That a committee of five on the part of the House, to act with a like committee on the part of the Senate, be appointed to draft resolutions upon the death of the Hon. Charles Sumner. In the passage of which the Senate has concurred. And to inform the House that Senators Hinds, DeLand, and Hewitt have been appointed as such committee on the part of the Senate. Very respectfully, JAMES H. STONE, The message was laid on the table. MOTIONS AND RESOLUTIONS. Mr. Hoyt moved to take from the table Joint resolution proposing amendments to Art. IV. of the Constitution of the State of Michigan, entitled Legislative Department; |