If this proportion obtained for all the delegates, it means that over half, or fifty-five per cent, were the possessors of considerable property, and forty per cent were without worldly goods. It may be stated that the Convention was composed of the substantial, propertied classes. The delegates were largely men of means, whose individual wealth ranged from $10,000 to over a million dollars. Such men are inclined to be conservative, to plan their future on the tried basis of their past. Such men desire stability

rather than change.

A survey of the political complexion of the Convention shows that all except seven of the delegates were Democrats. Six delegates were Republicans and one was termed a Liberal.24 Eleven of the Democrats had been Whigs, one a Unionist, and one a Liberal Republican.25 Two of the Democrats later became Republicans.26

The public life of the delegates divides itself into two phases for the purposes under consideration, first, their career prior to 1875, and second, after 1875. The record. of the delegates during these two periods is commendable. The delegates occupied many positions of honor and responsibility. Nearly all were at some time public servants and they performed well the duties of office holding. It is true, however, that compared with the framers of Missouri's first Constitution, they do not stand so high in public life. After 1875, none reached the Cabinet, none became a United States Senator, none sat in the gubernatorial chair of any commonwealth; only a small per cent were sent to Congress, and only one influenced the legislation of any state except Missouri. The 1820 Convention included the first United States Cabinet official appointed from west of the Mississippi river; three men who later represented Missouri and Wisconsin in the United States Senate; four, who entered

24 The six Republicans were: Eitzen, Gottschalk, H. B. Johnson, Johnston McKillop, and Mudd. Fyan was a Liberal, and later became a Democrat.

These eleven delegates were: Allen, Broadhead, Chrisman, Letcher, McCabe, Norton, Ray, Shackelford, Switzler, A. R. Taylor, and Wallace. Gantt had been a Unionist, and Pulitzer a Liberal Republican in 1870.

28 Hale and J. W. Ross.

the lower house of Congress; two who sat in the gubernatorial chair of Wisconsin and of Missouri; one, who became a Lieutenant-Governor; two, who held the office of Secretary of State; two, that of State Auditor; two, who sat on the Missouri Supreme Court Bench; and twenty-three, who influenced the legislation of five American commonwealths.27 The comparison does not detract from the high merits of the delegates of 1875, since the Convention of 1820 was composed of a body of men of exceptional ability in the field of politics.

Of the sixty-eight delegates, only sixteen had not held some political office prior to the Convention, and three of these had been candidates for public office. 28 Of the fiftytwo delegates with prevous public office holding experience, only three had served in either the United States or the Confederate Congress. Hyer had sat in the Confederate Congress and W. P. Johnson in the Confederate Senate. Johnson had been elected to the United States Senate but was expelled. Norton had been elected twice to the United States Congress as Representative but had been counted out once.

Five delegates had held important positions on the bench. W. P. Johnson, Norton and Pipkin had been circuit judges; Adams had served on the Missouri Supreme Court; and Bradfield had served in Texas as a district judge under the Confederacy.

Twenty-eight delegates, or two-fifths of the total number, had legislative or high state executive experience. Three had served in the Missouri Constitutional Convention of 1845, and one in the Missouri Constitutional Convention of 1865.29 One other, Rucker, had sat in the Montana Constitutional

27Shoemaker, Missouri's Struggle for Statehood, p. 149ff.

28These held no political office: Black, Boone (?), Chrisman, Crews, Conway, Dryden, Dysart, J. C. Edwards, Hammond (?), Holliday, McAfee, Maxey, Nickerson, Rider, Rippey, and J. W. Ross, Crews and McAfee had been candidates for Congress, and J. W. Ross for prosecuting attorney. Of these sixteen, twelve were lawyers, and one each was a banker, farmer, doctor, and editor.

29Broadhead, Massey and Pipkin sat in the 1845 Constitutional Convention; Switzler in the 1865 body.

Convention. Nine had been elected to the memorable Missouri State Convention of 1861-1863.30 Twenty had seen service in the Missouri Legislature-twelve in the House, three in the Senate, and five in both bodies.31 H. B. Johnson had been Attorney-General of Missouri, and Massey had been twice elected Secretary of State of Missouri. Broadhead, Lay and Gantt had been United States district attorneys, and Halliburton had been receiver of public money for the Chariton land district.

Thirty-six delegates had held some county or local public office. These offices were usually such as prosecuting attorney, councilman, county assessor, clerk, judge, surveyor, school commissioner, probate judge and justice of the peace32.

The public life of the delegates after 1875 is more notable but less general than their careers before the war. Forty-one members, or sixty per cent of the sixty-eight delegates held no public position of state-wide eminence after the Convention. Twenty-three of these held no political or public civil office, and eighteen held only purely political party or minor civil offices.33

Of the remaining twenty-seven delegates, seven sat in Congress, thirteen in the Missouri General Assembly (including one who was later a Congressman), one became Lieutenant-Governor of Missouri, two sat on the Supreme Court Bench of Missouri, one served as judge of the St.

30In the 1861-1863 convention were:

Broadhead, Eitzen, Gantt, Norton, Pipkin,

J. P. Ross, Shackelford, Shanklin, and J. W. Ross.

"Former House members were: J. F. T. Edwards, Hale, Hardin, W. P. Johnson, Letcher, Mabrey, Mortell, Mudd, Pipkin, Pulitzer, Roberts, and Switzler. Former Senate members were: Gottschalk (president pro tem), Massey and Priest. Delegates who had served in both bodies were: Broadhead, Brockmeyer Halliburton Hyer, and Watkins (speaker of the House, also).

**The thirty-six delegates were: Allen, Alexander, Brockmeyer, Carleton, Cottey, Davis, J. F. T. Edwards, Farris, Fyan, Gantt, Gottschalk, Halliburton, Hardin, H. B. Johnson, W. P. Johnson, Johnston, Lackland, Letcher, Mabrey, McKee, McKillop, Mortell, Mudd, Norton, Pipkin, Priest, Pulitzer, Ray, J. P. Ross, Shanklin, Shields, A. R. Taylor, J. H. Taylor, Wagner, and Wallace.

The twenty-three delegates were: Adams, Chrisman, Crews, Dysart, Hardin, Hyer, H. B. Johnson, W. P. Johnson, Johnston, Letcher, Mabrey, McKee, Massey, Mortell, Pipkin, Ray, Roberts, J. P. Ross, Rucker, A. R. Taylor, Wagner, Wallace, and Watkins.

The eighteen members were: Allen, Boone, Bradfield, Conway, Crockett, J. C. Edwards, J. F. T. Edwards, Holliday, McAfee, McCabe, Nickerson, Rider, J. W. Ross, Shackelford, Shanklin, Spaunhorst, J. H. Taylor, and Todd.

Louis Court of Appeals, one sat in the Oklahoma Constitutional Convention of 1908, one was consul to Stuttgart, one became Assistant Attorney-General of the United States and agent and counsel of the United States Chilian Claims Commission, and one became chief of the bureau of statistics of the United States Treasury Department.34 Of these twentyseven, four served as circuit judges, one as a member of the French Spoliation Claims Commission, and later as minister to Switzerland, and a number held local civil positions.35

This resume on office holding shows clearly that fewer delegates participated in public life after 1875 than before. It also shows, however, that after 1875 more delegates reached higher offices, such as Congress, the Bench, and the United States administrative and diplomatic service. It should also not be forgotten that some attained high eminence in their vocations, which were largely of a public nature. The law and the press are at least semi-public. Some of Missouri's ablest lawyers were in this Convention and enjoyed almost a nation wide reputation after 1875. Certainly one of Missouri's most eminent journalists, Joseph Pulitzer, sat in this body, and finally reached the pinnacle of fame and power in his field after 1875. The Convention seated no such great public men as a Bates or a Barton, but it did have such remarkable men as a Broadhead, a Brockmeyer, and a Pulitzer.

The Missouri Constitutional Convention of 1875 was composed of delegates of ability, education and experience.

34The seven Congressmen were: Alexander, Broadhead, Davis, (three terms), Fyan (three terms), Hale, Lay, and Pulitzer (from N. Y.).

The thirteen assemblymen were: Carleton (three terms as representative and one term as senator), Cottey (both as representative and as senator), Davis (representative). Dryden (representative), Halliburton (senator), Hammond (representative), Lackland (representative), McKillop (senator), Mudd (representative), Priest (representative), and Rippey (representative).

Prockmeyer became Lieutenant-Governor of Missouri.

Black and Norton became judges of the Supreme Court.
Gantt was presiding judge of the St. Louis Court of Appeals.

Maxey helped frame Oklahoma's Constitution of 1908.

Gottschalk became consul to Stuttgart.

Shields was connected with the United States Department of Justice, etc., and Switzler with the bureau of statistics.

35 The four circuit judges were: Black, Fyan, Gottschalk and Shields. Broadhead became minister to Switzerland.

These qualifications were real assets and made possible the drafting of a strong constitution. The delegates were also men of means. This fact favored the drafting of a conservative constitution containing stringent restrictions on public taxation, bonded indebtedness and state and local expenditures. This factor also worked toward a general decentralized financial system which was subject to the best conservative regulations that could be desired, express limitations in the Constitution and local control. The delegates were men of rather mature age, fifty per cent averaging fifty-six years old. Such a body of men is again inclined toward conservatism, especially so if their later years have embraced a period of war time inflation, property insecurity, increasing public indebtedness, rising taxes, and falling prices culminating in a general financial depression. result of these facts, the personnel of this Convention made possible only one kind of a Constitution-a fundamental law that would adequately and fully meet such needs and problems as had been peculiar to Missouri during the previous decade and a half. The result was a conservative, detailed, restrictive, document, which, despite nearly fifty years of such growth and progress in this state as no one would have dared prophesy in 1875, is still Missouri's organic law.

As a