From the County of Sullivan, Thomas B. Springer. From the County of Tippecanoe, Thomas W. Andrew. From the County of Vanderburgh, Otto G. Geiss and Charles C. Schreeder. From the County of Vigo, Frank B. Hay and John F. Joyce. From the County of Wabash, Fred I. King. From the County of Warrick, Joseph H. Madden. From the County of Wells, Joseph Burns. JOINT REPRESENTATIVES. From the Counties of Benton and Warren, Edward L. Zeis. From the Counties of Blackford and Grant, Charles O Fleming. From the Counties of Brown and Monroe, Walter E. Hottel. From the Counties of Cass and Fulton, George Rentschler. From the Counties of Clark and Washington, Robert C. Brown. From the Counties of Clay and Owen, Temple G. Pierson. From the Counties of Crawford and Perry, John Sweeney. From the Counties of Dubois and Pike, Peter L. Coble. From the Counties of Fayette and Wayne, Richard N. Elliott. From the Counties of Franklin and Union, Thomas B. Barkley. From the Counties of Hamilton and Tipton, Horace D. Read. From the Counties of Jennings and Scott, Thomas W. Brolley. From the Counties of Kosciusko, Huntington and Whitley, Newton F. Watson. From the Counties of Lagrange and Steuben, Luman K. Babcock. From the Counties of Lake and Newton, Schuyler Colfax Dwyer. From the Counties of Laporte and Porter, Gus H. Grieger. From the Counties of Martin and Orange, Abraham W. Porter. From the Counties of Miami, Carroll and Howard, Charles E. Scholl. From the Counties of Ohio and Switzerland, Henry B. Steele. From the Counties of Pulaski, Starke and St. Joe, Charles C. Kelley. From the Counties of Vanderburgh, Gibson and Knox, Charles O. Baltzell. From the Counties of Vigo and Vermillion, Daniel C. Johnson. From the Counties of White and Jasper, Curtis D. Meeker. From the Counties of Tippecanoe and Montgomery, J. Frank Simison. The members-elect being present and sworn as such, the Secretary of State, Fred Sims, announced that the first thing in order was the election of a Speaker. Whereupon Mr. Hanna of Hendricks County put in nomination for that office Emmett F. Branch of Morgan County. Mr. Behymer of Madison County placed in nomination for that office, Thomas J. Honan of Jackson County. The roll being called. Those who voted for Mr. Branch were: Messrs. Andrew, Babcock, Baker, Baltzell, Benson, Billingsley, Bowlus, Carmichael, Caylor, Condo, Cox, Daily, Dwyer, Edwards, Elliott of St. Joseph, Elliott of Wayne, Eschbach, Fitch. Furnas, Geiss, Grieger, Hanna, Honan, Hays, Holloway, Johnson, Johnston, Keller, Kelley, King, Louden, McClaskey, Meeker, Morgan, Morton, Norwood, Olive, Porter, Ratliff, Read of Tipton and Hamilton, Scholl, Schreeder, Simison, Slimp, Springer, Stults, Ulrich, Volz, Watson, Weaver, Woodfill, Zeis, Zook. Total, 53. Those who voted for Mr. Honan were: Messrs. Barkley, Behymer, Branch, Brolley, Brown, Burns, Coble, Cravens, Downey, Faulkner, Fleming, Fruechtenicht, Trump, Garrard, Green, Hay, Hostetter, Hottel, Jackson, Joyce, Kimmell, Kleckner, Knisely, Lieb, Lutz, McCullough, McDonald, McEvoy, McKinney, Madden, Moon, Oberting, Parker, Pierson, Reed of Fountain, Rentschler, Simon, Sicks, Steele, Stephens, Strickland, Sweeney, Thornton, Vizard, Wade, Wells, White. Total, 47. Total number of votes cast, 100. Of this number, Mr. Branch received 53 votes, and Mr. Honan received 47 votes. Whereupon the Secretary of State, Mr. Sims, declared Mr. Branch duly elected Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Sixty-fifth General Assembly, and appointed Messrs. Hanna and Honan to conduct the Speakerelect to the chair. The Speaker-elect being introduced by the Secretary of State, spoke as follows: The Constitution of the State, established in convention at Corydon, on the 29th day of June, 1816, provided: That the first session of the General Assembly under the state government, commence at Corydon on the first Monday in November, 1816. By statute approved the twentieth day of January, 1824, the seat of government was re moved from Corydon to Indianapolis, and the General Assembly was for the first time in the history of the state convened at Indianapolis on the tenth day of January, 1825; in other words, eighty-two years ago today was convened the first General Assembly ever held in the city of Indianapolis. To the people of Indiana, that was a memorable session. So will this one be-memorable as having accomplished much for the state, or having failed. What that verdict of the people will be when the session is brought to a close, will depend entirely upon ourselves. Nominated by political parties, elected, in the main, by the parties which nominated us, yet, when we take the oath of office it should be as Representatives of the people, and not of any political party. Not that I mean that a man should have no politics about him when he comes here not that, for upon questions purely political a man should have his politics handy, but upon the great questions that are so vital to the welfare of the people we represent, we should be big enough to put patriotism above partisanship, and legislate for the people. In this body are represented the two great political parties of Indiana-both are necessary in our state government and, during the session, he who serves the people best will serve his party best. Both parties are pledged to the enactment of certain laws demanded by the people, and the opportunity is now before us to show the people that our parties are worthy of their confidence and respect, or unworthy of future trust. Which shall it be? It is a question for both indivodual and united consideration. Eighty-two years have made great changes in Indiana, and today we have one of the greatest and richest states in the Union. Rich in literature, art, railroads, natural resources, churches, schools, colleges and universities, and above all an enlightened and intelligent people. We are their servants and must render unto them an accounting of our stewardships when our work here is ended, and, in my judgment, there never was a time in the history of the state when conservatism, prudence and economy were as neces sary in public expenditures as now. By that I do not mean we ought to be stingy to a fault with the state institutions, but that extravagance should be avoided. But it is not for me to call your attention to matters of legislation, or the needs of the state, for that is the duty of the Governor, and his message will be delivered to you at 2 o'clock. In conclusion, I wish to say that I thank you for the honor of serving you as Speaker, and to assure you one and all that I shall be the Speaker of the House and not of any political party, and it is my hope and wish that, when the session has closed, every member here can say, "I have received a square deal from the Speaker." In all probability I shall make mistakes, but they will be mistakes of the head and not of the heart. Feel free to come to me at any time if you think you have a grievance, and let us talk the matter over, and if you wish to talk with me about any matter of legislation, I shall be glad to meet with you, either as the Representative from Morgan, or as the Speaker of the House. Again I thank your for this honor and ask your confidence and support in the discharge of these important duties. Mr. Secretary of State, I am now ready to take the oath of office. His address being concluded, Mr. Branch was sworn to support the Constitution of the United States, the Constitution of the State of Indiana, and to faithfully and impartially discharge his duties as Speaker of the House of Representatives to the best of his ability, by Judge David Meyers, of the Appellate Court, after which the Speaker announced that nominations for Clerk of the House were now in order. Mr. Thomas D. Slimp of Washington, placed in nomin tion for that office M. S. Hastings of Daviess County. Mr. John B. Faulkner of Laporte County, placed in nomination for that office J. F. France of Laporte County. The roll being called. |