Many of the most important subjects passed with little or no discussion, but enough questions to excite differences of opinion arose to occupy the time. One of the earliest discussions was upon the boundary of the state. The sentiment was nearly all in favor of a large state, yet a proposal was made to bound it on the east by the Cascade Mountains, which were held to be the natural boundary. This, it was thought, would leave room for the creation of more states and a larger representation in the United States Senate from the west. The speeches in opposition were interesting. One of the delegates in advocating a large state expressed himself in the following words: “I am in favor of extending the area of this state as far east as we can go, go to the Missouri, if possible. I would like to take in Utah, if we could do them any good.”[20] Another said: “I like a large state; I was born and raised in one—the Empire state. Although the people of Rhode Island and Delaware may be very good people, yet I rejoice to know that I was not born in either. I do not like little states; they may have votes in the senate, but they have no political influence. Mr. Seward, black republican as he is, when he speaks in the name of the great state of New York, speaks with an authority and a weight that a Webster could not command speaking from Rhode Island.” Another discussion pertained to the introduction of a clause prohibiting the manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors, a proposal which was finally rejected. Perhaps the longest discussion arose upon a clause rendering the stockholders of a corporation liable for its debts and obligations. It drifted into a consideration of the subject of corporations in general. The opinions expressed ranged all the way from a desire to protect the farmer against “smart gentlemen representing to them glittering schemes” to “that broader question, whether the resources of the country shall be developed or not, whether we shall have the means and facilities for creating a market here, at home, for our surplus products, and whether the capital that shall come into the country shall receive such protection as will cause it to be productive.”