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ment take into consideration the propriety of incorpor-
ating into the constitution a provision requiring the Leg-
islature to cause the laws of this State to be codified at
the expiration of every ten years, said codes to embrace
all the acts of the Legislature of a general nature, all the
British statutes recognized as now in force in this State,
and a short digest of the decisions of the Court of Ap-
peals upon the various articles embraced in said codes.
On motion of Mr. Nicolai, the rules were suspended,
and the special order, being the report of the committee
on the declaration of rights, was taken up.
Mr. Stoddert moved to recommit the report, which was
decided in the negative, by yeas 38, nays 57.
The consideration of the report was then proceeded
with, article by article.
Mr. John H. Barnes moved to strike out article 1, and
substitute article 6 for article 1, with an amendment.
The article proposed to be struck out is as follows:
Art. 1. That all government of right originates from
the people, is founded in compact only, and instituted
solely for the good of the whole; and they have at all
times the inalienable right to alter, reform or abolish
their form of government in such manner as they may
deem expedient.
The article proposed to be inserted as article 1 is as
follows:
All just powers of government are derived from the
people, and all persons invested with the executive or leg-
islative powers of government are trustees of the public,
and as such are accountable for their conduct; wherefore,
whenever the ends of government are perverted and pub-
lice liberty manifestly endangered, and all other means
of redress are ineffectual, the people may, and of right
ought to, reform the old or establish a new government;
that the doctrine of non-resistance against arbitrary
power and oppression is absurd, slavish, and destructive
of the good and happiness of mankind.
Mr. Carter did not propose to enter upon an elaborate
discussion of the relative merits of the two propositions.
The phraseology adopted in article 1, as reported by the
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