On Monday the fifth day of May, 1845, the Legislative Assembly of the
Territory met in regular session. Three days later a message from
Governor Chambers was presented and read to the members, whereby they
were informed that the vote in April had certainly resulted in the
rejection of the Constitution. "And," continued the Governor, "there
is reason to believe that the boundary offered us by Congress had much
influence in producing that result."

Believing that the rejection of the Constitution by the people called
for some action on the part of the Assembly, Governor Chambers
proposed and recommended "that the question be again submitted to the
people, whether or not they will at this time have a Convention." But
a majority of the Assembly were in favor of re-submitting the
Constitution of 1844 as it had come from the hands of the Convention.
A bill to re-submit was accordingly introduced and hurried through to
its final passage.

A formal and solemn protest from the minority, signed by nine members
and entered on the journal of the House of Representatives, set forth
the leading objections to re-submission. 1. The Assembly had no
delegated power to pass such a measure. 2. The act was designed to
control rather than ascertain public sentiment. 3. The Constitution of
1844 had been _deliberately_ rejected by the people. 4. No memorial
indicating a change of opinion had been sent up by the people since
the election. 5. In the April election the people had not been misled;
they voted intelligently; and their ballots were cast against the
Constitution itself. The conditions imposed by Congress "doubtless had
influence in different sections of the Territory, both for and against
it. What was lost on the North and South by the change, was
practically made up by the vote of the center where the Congressional
boundaries are more acceptable than those defined in the
Constitution." 6. The question of territory being a "minor
consideration," the Constitution was rejected principally on account
of its inherent defects. 7. Under no consideration should the
Constitution of 1844 be again submitted to the people since it
embodied so many objectionable provisions.

Although the bill for re-submission had passed both branches of the
Assembly by a safe majority, Governor Chambers did not hesitate to
withhold his assent. On June 6 he returned it to the Council. But it
is difficult to ascertain the precise grounds upon which the Governor