When submitted to the people the Constitution of 1846 was vigorously
opposed by the Whigs who insisted that it was a party instrument.
Their attitude and arguments are nowhere better set forth than in the
address of Wm. Penn Clarke to the electors of the counties of
Muscatine, Johnson, and Iowa. Mr. Clarke had come to the conclusion,
after reading the proposed code of fundamental law, that its
ratification would "prove greatly detrimental, if not entirely ruinous
to the nearest and dearest interests of the people, by retarding the
growth of the proposed State, in population, commerce, wealth
and prosperity." This conviction led him to oppose the adoption of the
Constitution of 1846.
First, he objected to the Constitution "because it entirely prohibits
the establishing of banking institutions,"--institutions which are
absolutely essential to the economic welfare and industrial
development of the State. He contended that this "inhibition of banks
is not an inhibition of bank paper as a circulating medium. . . . .
The question is narrowed down to the single point, _whether we will
have banks of our own, and a currency of our own creation, and under
our own control_, or whether we will become dependent on other States
for such a circulating medium . . . . By prohibiting the creation of
banks, we but disable ourselves, and _substitute_ a foreign
currency for a home currency. The effect of the article on
Incorporations will be to make Iowa the _plunder ground_ of all banks
in the Union."
Secondly, Mr. Clarke opposed the adoption of the Constitution of 1846
because of the provisions in the eighth and ninth articles. He
maintained that the article on State Debts was "tantamount to an
inhibition" of the construction of Internal Improvements by the State
government; while the article on Incorporations aimed to prohibit the
people from making such improvements.
Thirdly, he protested against the "experiment" of an elective judicial
system, since the election of the judges "is calculated to disrobe our
Courts of Justice of their sacred character." Mr. Clarke would
not "deny the right or the competency of the people to elect their
judicial officers;" but he pointed out that the effect would be "to
place upon the bench _political partisans_," and "to elevate to the
judiciary second or third rate men in point of talents and legal
acquirements."
Fourthly, the Constitution should be rejected because it contains no
provision securing to the people the right to elect their township and
county officers. Furthermore, it is "entirely silent with reference to
county and township organization."
Fifthly, Mr. Clarke argued against the adoption of the Constitution
because "not a single letter can be stricken from it without calling a
Convention." He declared that the Democrats, after incorporating into
the Constitution "partizan dogmas," so formulated the article on
Amendments as to make their creed permanent.
In the closing paragraphs of this remarkable arraignment of the
proposed Constitution, Mr. Clarke referred to local interests in
connection with the location of the State Capital. Iowa City, he said,
had been founded "with a view to its being the permanent Capital of
the State." But the new boundaries, proposed by the Committee on the
Territories, would, if adopted, threaten the permanency of the Iowa
City location. Indeed, Mr. Clarke went so far as to intimate that the
relocation of the Capital was a part of Mr. Dodge's program in
connection with the solution of the boundary problem. Curtailing the
State on the North and extending it at the same time to the Missouri
on the West meant the ultimate shifting of the Capital to the
Raccoon Forks. Mr. Clarke concluded the prophecy by saying that "to
quiet the center, we shall probably be promised a State University, or
something of that character, and then be cheated in the end."
Such were the leading objections to the ratification of the
Constitution of 1846 as urged by the Whigs in the press and on the
stump. They were supported by the more conservative Democrats who
protested against the article on Incorporations and the article on
Amendments. A large majority of the people, however, were impatient
for the establishment of State organization. For the time they were
even willing to overlook the defects of the proposed Constitution.
Many voted for the instrument with the hope of remedying its
imperfections after admission into the Union had once been effected.
The Constitution of 1846 narrowly escaped defeat. At the polls on
August 3, 1846, its supporters, according to the Governor's
proclamation, were able to command a majority of only four hundred and
fifty-six out of a total of eighteen thousand five hundred and
twenty-eight votes.
On September 9, 1846, Governor Clarke, as directed by the Territorial
statute of January 17, 1846, issued a formal proclamation declaring
the ratification and adoption of the Constitution. In the same
proclamation, and in accordance with the provisions of the new
Constitution, the Governor designated "Monday, The 26th Day of October
Next" as the time for holding the first general election for
State officers. The returns of this election showed that the Democrats
had succeeded in electing Ansel Briggs, their candidate for Governor,
by a majority of one hundred and sixty-one votes. The same party also
captured a majority of the seats in the first General Assembly.
Following the directions of the Schedule in the new Constitution,
Governor Clarke issued a proclamation on November fifth in which he
named Monday, November 30, 1846, as the day for the first meeting of
the General Assembly. On December second the Territorial Governor
transmitted his last message to the Legislature.
It was on Thursday morning, December 3, 1846, that the Senators and
Representatives assembled together in the hall of the House of
Representatives in the Old Stone Capitol to witness the inauguration
of the new Governor. Here in the presence of the General Assembly
Judge Charles Mason, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of the
Territory, administered the oath of office to the first Governor of
the State of Iowa.
Twelve days after the inauguration of the State Governor at Iowa City,
Mr. Dodge presented to the House of Representatives at Washington a
copy of the Constitution of Iowa. The document was at once referred to
the Committee on the Territories, from which a bill for the admission
of Iowa into the Union was reported through Mr. Stephen A. Douglas on
December seventeenth. It was made a special order of the day for
Monday, December twenty-first, when it was debated and passed.
Reported to the Senate on the twenty-second, it was there referred to
the Committee on the Judiciary. This Committee reported the bill back
to the Senate without amendment. After some consideration it passed
the Senate on December twenty-fourth. Four days later it received the
approval of President Polk. The existence of Iowa as one of the
Commonwealths of the United States of America dates, therefore, from
the TWENTY-EIGHTH DAY OF DECEMBER, ONE THOUSAND EIGHT HUNDRED AND
FORTY-SIX.
The act of admission declares that Iowa is "admitted into the Union on
an equal footing with the original States in all respects whatsoever,"
and provides that all the provisions of "An Act supplemental to
the Act for the Admission of the States of Iowa and Florida into the
Union" approved March 3, 1845, shall continue in full force "as
applicable to the State of Iowa." The conditions contained in the
provisions of this act, which had been substituted by Congress in lieu
of the provisions of the Ordinance submitted by the Convention of
1844, were finally accepted by the General Assembly of the State in an
act approved January 17, 1849.