THE PREVIOUS QUESTION. MR. STEDMAN. I move the previous question. THE PRESIDENT. The question is: Shall the main question be now from her otherwise fair features shall gradually disappear the Mongolian THE PRESIDENT. The question is upon the adoption of the Con- has been said time and again, by all classes and conditions of society. It stitution. Adopted. PRESENTATION TO THE PRESIDENT. MR. JOHNSON. Mr. President: I am commissioned by my fraters, on the floor of this Convention, to rise to a question of privilege. It is a matter, sir, which concerns vitally the feelings of this body, and as they believe, and so I believe, yourself as the President. In its retrospect it dates back to the organization of this Convention. In its prospect it reaches forward to the approaching close of our labors, when we shall bid a long adieu to this hall and return to our respective homes. Five months and more have passed away since we came to these halls comparative strangers. Here was the young man, just from college, crowned with the fragrant benedictions of Alma Mater; the matured lawyer, the victor of many forensic triumphs, fresh from his briefs; the old statesman, still well preserved and displaying all the fire, vivacity, and intellectual acumen, of which we have heard our seniors speak aforetimes. There were others representing other professions, other pursuits, and the dignity of labor. was whispered it may be many years ago by some one on this floor, For who, to dumb forgetfulness a prey, This pleasing anxious being e'er resigned; It Mr. President, I have nothing farther to say on this question of privilege. "Finis" is written on the parchment roll which contains the new Constitution; that word which has been said so often and by so many in this changing kaleidoscopic life of ours; that word which is destined to intensify the bitter sorrow of so many hearts in time to come, whether they beat in the breasts of prince or peasant, the learned or the unlearned, must now be said by the Delegates of this Convention. My fraters say, I say, we all say, FAREWELL TO MR. PRESIDENT. [Applause.] PRESIDENT HOGE. Mr. Chairman: I return to you, and the gentlemen you represent, my most grateful thanks for the kind and flattering terms in which you have caused this gift to be presented to me. overpowers me. Mr. Chairman, I hope you will believe me when I say I am essentially a modest man. [Laughter.] The terms in which you have presented this very elegant, and to me, most appropriate gift, almost destroys the power of reply. I have endeavored, in the position in which this Convention in its kindness placed me, to perform its duties faithfully, impartially, and with the honest purpose of advancing the deliberations of this body and conducting them to a successful termination. If, therefore, in the exercise of those duties, I have succeeded in winning your appropriation, I am well rewarded. I shall treasure this beautiful gift for all time. Every time I look into its pages it will bring back pleasant memories of hours that we spent together here; and when I am gone they will be handed down to my children, to remind them, in after years, that their father had merited your kind consideration and approbation. Gentlemen, we are now about to part, many of us, perhaps, to meet no more; I beg, therefore, that you will hold me in kind remembrance, and I assure you that I shall hold you all in pleasant memory. I wish you a happy return to your homes and a prosperous future. [Continued applause.] MORE RESOLUTIONS. In that motley group there came also one, the observed of all observ- We came together, many of us at least, as I said before, as strangers; I might have added, with preconceived antagonistic notions. After the constant attrition to which our views have been subjected for the last five months, I doubt not here at this late day we entertain more respect for one another, and have abated some of the overweening confidence which we had in our formulas, and in our own peculiar opinions, as constituting the only safety of the State. The State! what shall I say of her-this beautiful land of the Occident? Long after we shall have passed away, and nothing shall remain of us but The broken arch, the ruined wall, The chambers desolate, the portals foul, May our goodly mother, the State, survive and flourish. [Applause.] Her fresh young face was beautiful three hundred years ago, when the white sails of Drake fluttered in San Francisco Bay; still later, it retained its beauty during the gentle sway of the Mission Fathers, with their depasturing flocks; despite the Mongolian blotch it is beautiful now, with the changing colors of the orange, the olive, the grape, the waving cereals, and with the cultivated look of her proud metropolis. But it will be more beautiful when, by the adoption of the new Constitution and its practical workings, labor shall be requited for all its pains, and Resolved, That the thanks of this Convention is hereby tendered to its several ANOTHER PRESENTATION. missioned by the members of this Convention to present you, as the MORE RESOLUTIONS. 1526 DEBATES AND PROCEEDINGS CONS'T CONV'N. MONDAY, Mar. 3, 1879. MR. LARUE. I move that the thanks of this Convention be returned I can say to you, because you have said it, that I have endeavored to to the Pages and Porters of this Convention. Adopted. MR. MURPHY. I would like to have thanks returned to everybody and everything-except President Hayes. [Laughter.] MR. WINANS. Mr. President: I am requested by the Porters of this Convention to present to you this beautiful golden gavel as a token of their esteem. MR. VAN VOORHIES. I move that the thanks of this Convention be returned to the "silent members." THE PRESIDENT. The resolution is unanimously adopted. [Laughter.] ADJOURNMENT SINE DIE. THE PRESIDENT. Gentlemen: I am now about to perform the last official act of my position, and before doing so I wish to express my thanks for the confidence which you have reposed in me, and for the manner in which you have assisted me in performing its arduous duties. perform the duties impartially, with the sole view of aiding you in your |