Ohio politics during the Civil War period

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Preface

An attempt has been made in the following pages tO' set forth the attitude of Ohio on the great political questions of the civil war period. Issues purely local and having nothing to do with the war have been omitted. The important role which the state played in national affairs during this period through the prominence of her political leaders has seemed to make such a study well worth while.

Much use has necessarily been made of the newspapers. Owing to the personality of many of their editors, they reflected the opinion of the various political factions to a marked degree. While newspaper accounts are not always to be relied upon, they have been carefully sifted and fortified by information derived from other sources.

The material for a study of the war period exists in a somewhat fragmentary condition. Many local newspapers have not been preserved, v/hile a number oi public reports and other documents have either been destroyed or are not accessible to the student. There is great need of a Public Archives Commission to undertake the work of preserving and arranging the historical material of the state.

During the progress of my research, I have been greatly assisted by many persons who have manifested an interest in the subject. Mr. C. B. Galbreath, of the Ohio State Library, has rendered invaluable service both in aiding me to secure material and in making suggestions on the treatment of various topics. I am also greatly indebted to- Mr. Daniel J. Ryan for permission to use the proof-sheets of his Civil War Literature of Ohio; to Col. Webb C. Hayes for 141] 5

PREFACE permission to examine his father’s papers; to Mr. W. H. Cathcart for the use of material in the library of the Western Reserve Historical Society; to Mr. xA.. D. Wilt and Mrs. W. D. Bickham, of Dayton, for assistance in obtaining material and for permission to use some unpublished letters ; to Minnie E. Porter for a critical reading of the manuscript; and to Mr. C. N. Vallandigham, of Boston, for copies of unpublished letters of C. L. Vallandigham.

The study was undertaken at the suggestion of Professor W. Dunning, of Columbia University. To him my thanks are due for many suggestions made during the progress of the work and for assistance in preparing the manuscript for the press.

George H. Porter.

New York City, April 24, 1911,

CHAPTER I Ohio Politics at the Opening of the War

PAGE

Review of Political Aj^airs Prior to 1859 12

Wealth and population of the state 12

Influence of population elements on politics 16

State elections, 1832-1859 16 .

Legislation on the negro, 1802-1855 19

Personal Liberty laws 21

Repeal of Personal Liberty laws 22

Enactment of “Visible Admixture law” 22

Interpretation of the word “white” by supreme court 22

Relations with the Border States During 1859-1860 ....... 23

The Oberlin- Wellington rescue case 23

Analysis of the legislature elected in 1859 26

The John Brown raid 27

Election of a U. S. Senator in i860 30

Visit of Kentucky and Tennessee legislatures 31

Attempts to reenact Personal Liberty laws, i860 . 32

Attempts of the Democrats to restrict negro immigration ... 34

Legislature on the John Brown raid 35

Extradition of Brown and Merriam 38

The Lago case 40

The Kennedy case 41

Party Conventions and the Campaign of 1860 42

Democratic convention, January 5, i860 42

Republican convention, March jst 43

Republican nominating convention, June 13th 44

Democratic convention, July 4th 44

Breckinridge revolt 45

Constitutional Unionists 46

Campaign of i860 48

CONTENTS

PAGE

Attitude of Ohio on Secession and Compromise - . 49

Opinions in the North on secession . . 49

Opinions in Ohio on secession 50

Democratic convention, January 23, i860 52

Legislature on questions of compromise . 55

Resolutions of January 12th 58

Question of unconstitutional legislation 61

The extradition question in the legislature 62

Selection of delegates to the Peace Conference 64

Question of calling a national convention 68

Attempt at ratifying proposals of Peace Conference 68

The extradition question again 69

Request for Ohio to guarantee U. S. bonds 70

Election of Sherman to U. S. Senate 70

Growth of the spirit of compromise in the state 71

CHAPTER II ‘ The Union Party in Ohio : Organization and Work

Genesis of the Union Party 73

Enthusiasm at the outbreak of the war 73

Change of sentiment 74

Abandonment of party feeling . 74

The million-dollar appropriation. 75

Protection of southern border of the state 76

Other acts of the legislature for support of the war . 77

Difficulties in the way of union movement 78

Call for Democratic state convention 79

Plans for union movement 80

Resolution of Republican state central committee 81

Democratic sentiment on union movement 81

Attitude of the Abolition element 82

Democratic state convention, August 7, 1861 83

Jewett’s letter of acceptance. 84

Call for Union mass convention . . 86

Question of platform and candidate 87

The Union convention, September 5, 1861 88

Work of the First Union Legislature 91

Governor Tod’s inaugural 92

p Lack of harmony among the Union members . . 93

Retrenchment 95

145] CONTENTS 9

PAGE

Reapportionment of state for congressional purposes g6

Question of immigration of the negro 96

Attempt to elect a U. S. Senator 98 v/^

The Political Campaign of 1862 100

Desire to revive the old party 100

Union state convention, August 21st 102

The Democratic ticket 102

Issues in the campaign ' 104

Effect of the defeat on the Union party 108^

Efforts to Strengthen the Party after the Defeat of 1862 109

Meeting of the legislature, 1863 no

Message of Governor Tod. no

The Senatorial question ... in

No legislative expression on Emancipation Proclamation . ... 112

Soldiers’ voting law. ■ 113

Resignation of state auditor Taylor. 113

Low tide of the Union party. 115

Resolutions of Ohio regiments 115

f Organization of Union Leagues 116

Question of a Union candidate in 1863 117

The Brough boom .... 119

Union state convention 120

The Union Party in the Campaign of 1864 121

Result of the election of 1863 ... 122

Rescinding of ratification of Corwin Amendment 122

Action of the legislature on a Presidential candidate ..... 122 v

Ohio in the Baltimore convention 125

Union party continued after the war 126

CHAPTER III Vallandigham and the Peace Democracy

The Peace Democracy During the Early Part of the War 128

The Peace Democrats defined 128

Vallandigham as leader in the West 128

Other leaders in Ohio. . . 133

Attitude of Democratic leaders toward the Union movement . 134

Revival of the party after the election of 1861 136

Ohio Democrats in Congrees, 1861-1862 137

Effect of the Democratic Address on Ohio politics 138

Democratic state convention, July 4, 1862 139

10 CONTENTS [146

PAGE

Effect of the Election of 1862 on the Peace Democracy 144

Jollification meetings 144

Ohio Democrats in Congress, 1862-1863 145

Vallandigham’s speech, January 14, 1863 147

Disposition of the Peace Democrats in Ohio 148

Olds escorted to Columbus • 149

Jackson Day banquet, January 8, 1863 149

Attitude of the Democrats in the legislature 150

Dresel resolutions on military arrests 151

Modification of kidnapping act of 1835 153

Attempt to expel Dresel 154

Democratic agitation against negro immigration. . . ... 155

Democratic meetings during spring of 1863 155

Mobbing of Crisis office 156

Arrest of Governor Tod. 157

Arrest and Trial of Vallandigham .... 159

Assignment of General Burnside to Department of Ohio .... 159

General Order Number 38 160

The Mount Vernon meeting 161

Arrest of Vallandigham 162

Trial before a military commission 162

Application for writ of habeas corpus 162

Finding of the commission 165

General opinion of the arrest 165

The Campaign of 1863 .... 167

Effect of the arrest of Vallandigham. 167

Protest of the New York Democrats 168

The Democratic state convention, June nth 170

The state-sovereignty faction . . . < 173

Lincoln and the Ohio committee 174

Arrival of Vallandigham in Canada 177

The campaign 178

Convention of War Democrats . 181

Democratic press on causes of defeat 184

Effect of the defeat on Vallandigham 185

Violence during the year 1863 185

Activity ot the Knights of the Golden Circle 187

The dime fund . . 188

New church movement 189

The Democracy in the Campaign of 1864 190

Condition of the Democracy at the beginning of 1864 190

Attacks on Democratic newspaper offices 191

147] CONTENTS II

PAc*E

Democratic state convention of 1864. 192

Return of Vallandigham 194

Convention of state-rights Democrats 197

The Democracy during reconstruction 198

Conclusion 198

CHAPTER IV The Question of Negro Suffrage in Ohio

Politics of the Year 1865 200

Sentiment on negro suffrage at the opening of the war 201

Ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment 202

Repeal of “ Visible Admixture law ” ... . 202

Support of President Johnson 203

Attitude of the Democracy toward Johnson 203

Call for Union state convention 204

Question of suitable Union candidate for governor 205

Union state convention, June 21st 206

Nomination of General Cox . . 207

Compromise platform adopted 207

General Cox’s Oberlin letter 210

Reply of Judge Dickson 21 1

John Stuart Mill’s opinion on negro suffrage sought 212

General Sherman boomed by the Democrats for governor • . . 213 Convention of state-sovereignty Democrats, August 17th .... 214

Democratic state convention, August 24th 214

General Morgan nominated 215

Negro suffrage postponed by legislature 219

Election of U. S. Senator 220

Attitude of Ohio Toward the Quarrel Between President Johnson

and Congress 220

Congressional legislation, 1865-1866 221

Legislature holds aloof from quarrel on reconstruction .... 221

Governor Cox’s “ Johnson letter ” . . 222

Democratic state convention. May 24, 1866 223

Union state convention, June 20, 1866 226

Endorsement of the congressional policy 226

Call for national Union convention 227

Response of Johnson Unionists 227

Response of the Democrats 228

CONTENTS

PAGE

Vallandigham left off the list of delegates 229

The Johnson state convention, August 7th * 230

Ohio in the Philadelphia convention, September 3d 231

The campaign of 1866 232

Negro Suffrage Defeated 235

Ratification of Fourteenth Amendment 235

Negro suffrage amendment proposed by the legislature 236

Democratic state convention, January 8, 1897 238

Activity of the state-sovereignty Democracy 240

Difficulty of securing a suitable Union candidate 240

The Union state convention, June 19th 242

The “ Ohio Deserters’ bill ” 243

The campaign of 1867 243

Defeat of negro suffrage amendment 248

Rescinding of ratification of Fourteenth Amendment 248

Reenactment of “ Visible Admixture law ” .... 251

Election of Thurman as U. S. Senator 253

Rejection of Fifteenth Amendment 253

Ratification of Fifteenth Amendment 254

Bibliographical Note 255

CHAPTER I Ohio Politics at the Opening of the War

REVIEW OF POLITICAL AFFAIRS PRIOR TO 1 859

At the opening of the period covered by this study Ohio occupied an important position in national affairs both industrially and politically. The state was situated midway between the agricultural West and the manufacturing East and thus formed a debatable ground between the political tendencies of these two sections, while as the gateway leading from the South to the Northwest her commercial relations with the South through Cincinnati were such as to identify her interests with those of the border states. Her state elections assumed national importance from the fact that they were held in October, just a month before the presidential contests, and because a governor was chosen in the year preceding the national elections. This made the state a sort of “ political weather-gauge ” and led the twO‘ great political parties to' concentrate their efforts upon the Ohio elections to an unusual degree.

In wealth and population the state ranked third in i860. The value of her real estate and personal property amounted to over a billion and a half dollars.^ Notwithstanding the financial depression of 1857, the taxable property doubled in value during the decade ending in i860, and on the basis of this valuation taxes fon state and local purposes amounting to almost eleven million dollars were levied for the year 1861. This wealth arose for the most part from agriculture, manufacturing being then in its infancy.

The population increased from 1,980,960 in 1850 to

^ Report of the Ohio Commissioner of Statistics, i860.

2,339,511 in i860. It was largely rural, only one-ninth of the whole number of people living in cities. Fourteen per cent of the inhabitants were foreign born, the German element largely predominating.^ In forty-six counties over ten per cent of the population was foreign, while in eleven — for the most part those containing the larger cities — this was increased to twenty per cent. Internal migration also had a noticeable effect on the population. 1,529,560 persons who were residing in the state in i860 had been born within its borders. 593,043 who had been born in the state had removed, while 476,966 had come in from other states. Finally, there were included in the population of the state in i860, 36,673 colored people. While from 1800 to i860 the white population had increased fifty-one times, the colored had increased one hundred and eighty-seven times. There were very few colored people in the Reserve counties, Erie with one hundred and forty-nine and Geauga with seven being the two extremes. About three-fourths of the whole number of colored people lived south of the national road.^ During the early immigration intO' the Northwest Territory, there were five chief centres of settlement within the boundaries of Ohio. There was, first, the Ohio' Company’s purchase, including approximately the present Washington, Athens, Meigs and Gallia counties, settled by New Englanders. Secondly, the Symmes purchase, embracing a tract of land in the southwestern part of the state between the two Miami rivers, was settled by immigrants from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and the South. Next, there was the tract be-

^Ohio ranked second among the states in German population, third in English, fifth in Irish and Scotch and tenth in British American. Of the cities, Cincinnati had a foreign population of forty-six per cent of her total, Cleveland, forty-five per cent, and Dayton, twenty-eight per cent with German and Irish predominating.

^ These statistics of population have been taken from the U. S. Census of i860.

I^i] POLITICS AT THE OPENING OF THE WAR

tween the Little Miami and the SciotO' rivers, which Virginia had reserved to provide bounties for her Revolutionary soldiers, and which consequently was settled by people from Virginia and Kentucky. The Seven Ranges, comprising the first land surveyed by Congress in the Northwest Territory and including the border counties along the Ohio river north of the Ohio' Company’s purchase, formed a fourth district, which was settled largely by Germans and Sco'tch-Irish from Pennsylvania and Virginia. Lastly, there was the Western Reserve, including the twelve counties in the northeastern corner of the state beginning with Erie and Huron; this had been withheld by Connecticut when she ceded her western land claims to the government, and was settled almost entirely by New Englanders.

As the other sections of the state were opened tO' settlement by Congress, and with the construction of Zaire’s road and later the national road, settlers came into the Scioto valley from Pennsylvania, Virginia, Kentucky and the states farther south, the southern immigrants being made up for the most part of the non-slave-holding democratic element. Large numbers of these settlers were Scotch-Irish and Germans, the former locating mostly in the southern part of the state and the latter in the central and eastern counties. Considerable numbers of Quakers drifted in from the South, particularly from Virginia and the Carolinas, settling in Greene and Warren counties and other anti-slavery sections. The colored population of the state was being constantly recruited before the war, not only by the harboring of runaway slaves, but also by the settling of freed slaves on little farms purchased for them by their masters in anti-slavery sections of the southern part of the state. ^

^For a discussion of the sources of Ohio’s population see Chaddock, Ohio Before 1850; in Columbia University Studies in History, Economics and Public Law, vol. xxxi.

The political complexion of Ohio was determined largely by the location of these various population elements. The Reserve was strongly Whig until 1850, when Cuyahoga, Medina, Portage, Trumbull and Erie counties went Democratic and remained so until 1854, while Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula were carried by the Free Sobers. All, however, joined in the Republican movement, and in i860 this was the centre of radical Republicanism in the state. The section included in the Ohio Company’s purchase was sometimes called politically the “ Reserve of the South.” While modified somewhat by southern influence, it was, next to the northern Reserve, the most radical antislavery section of the state. In the southwestern part lay a third section, extending from Marion county on the north, Franklin on the east, Warren and Clinton on the south and the state line on the west, which was dominated by the Whigs and later by the Republicans, yet owing tO' the fact that it was settled largely by Kentucky Whigs whose principal exponent was Thomas Corwin, it was much more conservative than the two sections before mentioned. The counties included in the Seven Ranges and those immediately to the west formed a debatable ground between the two parties. Owing tO' the mixture oh the population, elections were usually close. The other sections of the state, with the exception of Lucas county, were usually Democratic, due to the large element of Scotch-Irish and Germans.

In 1832 Jackson carried the state by 4,707 majority while four years later Harrison’s majority was 8,720. During the decade from 1834 to* 1844 the state elections alternated between the Whigs and Democrats- by majorities ranging from 2,000 tO' 16,000. Then the Whigs held control until 1851, when, with a full Free Soil ticket in the field, the Democrats won by a majority of 26,106 in a total vote which was 15,089 less than that of 1849. The Free Sobers in that year polled 16,910 votes, nearly three-fourths of which came from the Reserve. In 1852 Pierce carried the state by a majority of over 16,000, while Hale received 31,682 votes. In the next year the Democrats carried 69 counties, their total vote being 147,663 as against a Whig vote of 85,857 and a Free Soil vote of 50,346, the last named party carrying Ashtabula, Lake, Geauga, Clinton, Lorain and Summit counties of the Reserve and Clinton in the southwest.

With the organization of the Republican party, the state shows a readjustment to the new political conditions. In the election of 1855, Belmont, Darke, Franklin, Montgomery, Ross and SciotO' of the odd Whig counties went over to the Democrats, while Columbiana, Williams, Hardin, Knox, Morgan and Paulding left the Democratic ranks for the new party. The Republican majority over the Democrats in that year was 15,751, while the Know- Nothings polled 24,276 votes. In regard to this Know- Nothing vote, the state could be divided by a line drawn from the point on the east where the Ohio' becomes the boundary across to the northern limit of Darke county. Of the 41 counties north of this line, only six, Mercer, Richland, Huron, Cuyahoga, Summit and Ashtabula, gave over 100 votes, while of the 47 counties south of this line, only 8 did not give that number while 17 gave over 300. The largest numbers given by individual counties were; Hamilton 6538, Belmont 1003, Gallia 1099, and Highland 1256. Two counties, Madison and Gallia, were carried by this party. In the election of 1856, the Know-Nothings polled 28,126 votes, the greatest gains being made in the northwestern quarter of the state and in the river counties from Columbiana to Scioto. By 1857 the movement had spent itself, and Van Trump, the candidate for governor, received only 10,272 votes. In Ohio as in the other states.

this organization furnished a temporary home for some of the Whigs who were not especially hostile to slavery. In 1855 Salmon P. Chase was elected governor on the Republican ticket by a majority of 15,751, and was reelected two years later by the narrow margin of 1,281 votes. In 1859 Dennison, the Republican candidate, was elected over Ranney, his Democratic opponent, by a majority of 13,236. Omitting the vote of 1857, which was not normal, the average majority of the Republicans in the state elections from 1855 to i860 was 17,000.^

The questions uppermost in Ohio politics at the beginning of the war period were, of course, those concerning the negro. The state had occupied an important position throughout the whole slavery controversy, both through the activity of the “ Underground Railroad,” and by the prominence of her political leaders. Because of the various elements in the population all shades of opinion on the subject were represented among the people, from the radicalism of Wade, Chase and Giddings, through the conservatism of Corwin and Ewing to the most extreme state rights doctrines of the Democracy. Not only were these questions of prime importance at the beginning of the period, but they were tO' continue tO' be such throughout the war, first in the matter of the immigration of negroes into the state, then as to the abolition of slavery as an incident of the war, and finally in regard tO' extending the franchise tO' the colored population of the state.

The negro', in i860, was without political privileges in Ohio'. Throughout the half century of the state’s existence there had been a sentiment against granting such privileges, though at the time of the adoption of the first constitution in 1802 this was not very marked. A motion in the con-

^The above election statistics have been taken from a compilation made by the secretary of state and published in his report for 1875.

vention to strike out the word white ” from the report of the committee on electoral qualifications was lost by a vote of fourteen to nineteen, while a proviso' was actually passed giving suffrage to all male negroes and mulattoes of voting age then residing in the state. This was rescinded later only by the deciding vote of the president of the convention.^ As adopted, the constitution limited the franchise to “ all white male inhabitants above the age of twenty-one years, having resided in the state one year next preceding the election, and who have paid or are charged with a State or county tax.” ^ A proposition to allow limited slavery in the state was defeated by only one vote.

During the next few years, however, a great increase in the immigration of free negroes occurred, and through the predominance of the southern element in the legislature, a law was passed, January 5, 1804, forbidding any black or mulatto person to settle in the state unless he could furnish a certificate from some court of the United States of his actual freedom, and requiring all such persons then resident in the state, to' register with the county clerk. It was made a penal offense to employ a negro unless he could present a certificate of freedom, and to' harbor a fugitive • slave or aid in his escape from the state.^ In 1807 this law was strengthened by prohibiting any negro from settling in the state unless he could within twenty days give bond to the amount of five hundred dollars as a guarantee of his good behavior and support. The fine for harboring a fugitive was increased, and negroes were forbidden to give evidence in court in a case in which a white person was a party.^ Further acts passed during the years from 1824 to 1831 prohibited the negro from jury service, deprived

’ Cf. Journal of the Convention. ^ Laws of Ohio, vol. ii, p. 63.

^ Article iv, sec. i. ^Ibid., vol. V, p. 53.

him of poor maintenance and excluded him from the public schools/ It was these acts taken together which constituted the so-called “ Black Laws ” of Ohio, and by them the colored people of the state were put in the position of residents by toleration.

However, in the interpretation of these laws, and of the constitutional provision, the courts repeatedly held that the word “ white comprehended all persons having more white than colored blood.“ In some of the counties, persons having even a preponderance of negro blood exercised the voting privilege, and the sentiment of the people was such as not to interfere. In 1849 the Free Soilers held the balance of power in the legislature, and by a combination with the Democrats to elect Chase to the United States Senate, these “ Black Laws ” were all repealed except those relating to the jury service and poor maintenance.^

In the midst of the excitement over the Federal legislation of 1850, a convention assembled to draft a new constitution for the state. Notwithstanding the presentation of a number of petitions praying for the enfranchisement of the negro, the fundamental law was not changed in this respect, principally because of the feeling that any such change would prevent its ratification at the polls. The franchise was conferred on “ every white male citizen of the United States of the age of twenty-one years ” who' possessed certain residence qualifications. One concession was made to the negro in that he was to be included in determining the apportionment for the state legislature.

In the election of 1855 the new Republican party ob-

^ Laws of Ohio, vol. xxvi, p. 43; vol. xxvii, pp. 35 and 72; vol. xxix, p. 94.

'^Ohio Reports, vol. iv, p. 53; vol. xi, pp. 372 and 376; vol. xii, p. 237.

^ Schuckers, Life of Chase, pp. 90 et seq.

*Art. V, sec. i.

tained a majority in both branches of the legislature, and proceeded to enact a series of Personal Liberty laws. The first of these forbade the confinement in any of the prisons or jails of the state, of “ any person or persons charged with simply being a fugitive from slavery.’^ ^ A second forbade the bringing into the state of any person with the intention of holding him as a slave, and declared that ‘‘ every person coming within this State otherwise than as a person held to service in another State under the laws thereof and escaping into this State, shall be deemed and held in all courts as absolutely free.” Any person seizing or arresting another upon pretense or claim that he was a fugitive from justice, was to be deemed guilty of false imprisonment, and if anyone attempted to remove a person out of the state for the purpose of holding him as a slave in some other state, he was to be held liable for the crime of kidnapping. Nothing in the law was tO' apply fo' any act done by any persons under authority of the Constitution of the United States or any law made in pursuance of it.^ A third act provided that no person should attempt to arrest or kidnap any free black with the intention of carrying him out of the state, and that no negro claimed as a fugitive should be kidnapped or carried out of the state without being first taken before the proper court and the proof established according to the laws of the United States that he was property.®

This legislation, while presuming not to interfere with the execution of the Federal laws, yet furnished an opportunity to hamper the return of fugitive slaves wherever possible. It was not permitted tO' remain long in operation, however, for in the election of 1857 the Democrats carried

^ April 16, 1857. Laws of Ohio, vol. liv, p. 170.

^ April 17, 1857. Laws of Ohio, vol. liv, p. 221.

22 OHIO POLITICS DURING THE CIVIL WAR [i^g

both branches of the legislature, and at the first session of the new Assembly in 1858 the first two of these acts were promptly repealed/ An act known as the Visible Admixture law ” was passed which provided that the judges at any election should reject the vote of any person whenever it shall appear to such judge or judges that the person so offering to vote has a distinct and visible admixture of African blood.” It was made the duty of the judges of the courts of common pleas to give this act especially in charge to the grand jury at each term of court.^ Throughout the period of the struggle over slavery the Democratic party stood on the sentiment expressed in this act. In the state platform of 1858 it was endorsed as “ eminently wise and judicious and calculated tO' promote the best interests of the state and the prosperity of the people,” and the party was placed on record as “ opposed to negro suffrage and negro equality without reference tO' shade or proportion of African blood.”

This attempt of the legislative department to put an interpretation on a clause of the fundamental law of the state was not allowed to go unchallenged by the Republicans, who still retained control of the Supreme Court. In a case which went up to it from the Democratic county of Butler, where the election judges had rejected the vote of a man of one-eighth African blood in the presidential election of 1856, the court held, February 14, i860, that though the clauses concerning suffrage were worded differently in the two constitutions, there Avas no change in the meaning, and as the clause of the first constitution had been interpreted to include persons having a preponderance of white blood, it remained only for the judges to abide by these decisions and hence to declare the person entitled to vote.

^ Laws of Ohio, vol. Iv, pp. 10 and 19.

As to the “ Visible Admixture law,” the court held that it was not within the “ scope of the legislative power to give to the courts an authoritative construction of a provision of the Constitution of the State.” The simple question for the court to determine was, in what sense the word ‘ white ’ was used in the Constitution, and in that sense, when ascertained, we suppose it to be obligatory both upon us and the General Assembly of the State.” ^ With the coming-on of the war, other questions came into^ prominence, but after the close of hostilities, negro suffrage became a vital political issue in the state.^