_Wednesday, December 19_.--Mr. John Corrill presented the petition [3] to the house. While it was reading the members were silent as the house of death; after which the debate commenced, and excitement increased till the house was in an uproar; their faces turned red; their eyes flashed fire, and their countenances spoke volumes. [Sidenote: The Debate on the Petition.] Mr. Childs, of Jackson county, said, there was not one word of truth in it, so far as he had heard, and that it ought never to have been presented to that body. Not long ago we appropriated two thousand dollars to their relief, and now they have petitioned for the pay for their lands, which we took away from them. We got rid of a great evil when we drove them from Jackson county, and we have had peace there ever since; and the state will always be in difficulty so long as they suffer them to live in the state; and the {239} quicker they get that petition from before this body the better. Mr. Ashley, from Livingston, said the petition was false from beginning to end, and that himself and the "Mormons" could not live together, for he would always be found fighting against them, and one or the other must leave the state. He gave a history of the Haun's Mill massacre, and said he saw Jack Rogers cut up McBride with a corn-cutter. Mr. Corrill corrected Mr. Childs, and stated facts in the petition which he was acquainted with, and that Mr. Childs ought to know that there could not be the first crime established against the "Mormons" while in Jackson county. One member hoped the matter would not be looked over in silence, for his constituents required of him to know the cause of the late disturbances. Mr. Young, of Lafayette, spoke very bitterly against the petition and the "Mormons." An aged member from St. Charles moved a reference of the bill to a select committee; and, continued he, "as the gentleman that just spoke, and other gentlemen, want the petition ruled out of the house for fear their evil doings will be brought to light; this goes to prove to me and others, that the petition is true." Mr. Redman, of Howard county, made a long speech in favor of a speedy investigation of the whole matter; said he, "The governor's order has gone forth, and the Mormons are leaving; hundreds are waiting to cross the Mississippi river, and by and by they are gone, and our state is blasted; her character is gone; we gave them no chance for a fair investigation. The state demands of us that we give them a speedy investigation." [Sidenote: Nature of the Testimony.] Mr. Gyer, from St. Louis, agreed with the gentleman from Howard county, that the committee should have power to call witnesses from any part of the state, and defend them; and unless {240} the governor's order was rescinded, he for one would leave the state. Other gentlemen made similar remarks.