396 



INDIANA. 



IOWA, 



than we have purchased from them ; gold and silver 

 have come to us ; business confidence has been restored, 

 and we have the hope and promise of good times again. 

 In all this we recognize the blessing of God upon our 

 country, and we denounce it as false and blasphemous 

 when partisan leaders claim that this is the work of 

 their hands, and that the people should be thankful to 

 them and not grateful to Heaven for our returning 

 prosperity. 



11. We approve the sentiment expressed by Govern- 

 or Hendricks in his letter of acceptance in 1876, that 

 " the iniquitous cooly system, which through the agen- 

 cy of wealthy companies imports Chinese bondmen, 

 establishes a species of slavery and interferes with the 

 just reward of labor on our .Pacific Coast, should be 

 utterly abolished." 



li'. Our State administration is entitled to the re- 

 spect and support of the people. The government of 

 Indiana is efficiently administered, and more cheaply 

 than that of any other State. 



13. That we recognize the right of colored citizens 

 as well as white to immigrate into Indiana, but we 

 condemn and denounce the action of the Eepublican 

 party in importing into this State pauper negroes for 

 the sole purpose of using them as voters. 



14. We hereby instruct our delegates to the National 

 Convention at Cincinnati to present to that body the 

 name of Thomas A. Hendricks as a candidate for Pres- 

 ident of the United States, one who has at all times 

 faithfully maintained the cause of Democratic truth 

 and justice acceptably to the Democracy of the whole 

 Union, thus assuring the election of a Democratic Leg- 

 islature and United States Senator in 1881, _ and afresh, 

 pure, and constitutional administration of the General 

 Government. 



15. We favor the continuance of the two-thirds rule 

 in the National Convention, and the delegates this 

 clay chosen are hereby instructed to vote "for Hon. 

 Thomas A. Hendricks as our candidate for the Pres- 

 idency, and to vote as a unit on all questions in said 

 Convention. 



One of the marshals, Claude Matthews, of the 

 Eighth Congressional District, failed through 

 inadvertency to comply with the law requiring 

 him to gather and report the election returns 

 on the fourth Monday in November. Thinking 

 that the fourth Monday would be the last, he 

 was a week behind the time set by law. His 

 report was, however, embodied in the official 

 count. A more serious difficulty resulted from 

 the resignation of one of the Republican elec- 

 tors, and the substitution of another after the 

 names had been published, and the blanks used 

 by the county clerks in certifying the returns 

 printed and distributed. Several of the clerks 

 omitted to erase the name of Thomas W. Ben- 

 nett, the candidate for elector for the Sixth 

 District, who had withdrawn, and substitute 

 the name of Benjamin S. Parker, who took 

 his place on the ticket. Governor Gray per- 

 mitted these errors to be rectified upon receiv- 

 ing affidavits from the clerks recertifying the 

 certificate ; but, in the case of tally-papers 

 which contained the wrong name, the error 

 could not be corrected. 



The October election of State officers was 

 watched with the intensest interest all over the 

 country, because both parties shared the belief 

 that a Republican victory would be a decisive 

 indication of a like result in the Presidential 

 election. The Republican candidate for Gov- 

 ernor was elected by a plurality of 6,953, re- 

 ceiving 231,405 votes to 224,452 for the Dem- 



ocratic and 14,881 for the Greenback candidate. 

 The other Republican candidates were also 

 elected. The total vote cast was 470,738. In 

 the November election, the total vote polled 

 was 1,856 greater, or 470,699 votes, of which 

 the Garfield electors received 232,164, the 

 Hancock electors 225,522, and the Weaver elec- 

 tors 12,986, making Garfield's plurality 6,642. 

 In the elections for the Legislature, 10 Demo- 

 cratic and 15 Republican Senators, and 47 

 Democratic and 53 Republican Assemblymen, 

 were elected. There is a Democratic majority 

 of 2 in the Senate, 16 Democratic and 9 Re- 

 publican Senators holding over ; the Republi- 

 can majority in the House being 6, and on joint 

 ballot 4. 



IOWA. The regular biennial session of the 

 Legislature of Iowa that of its Eighteenth 

 Genera] Assembly began on the 12th of Jan- 

 uary and came to a close on the 27th of March. 

 Two hundred and eleven acts and fourteen 

 joint resolutions were adopted. Among the 

 latter was one memorializing Congress to pass 

 a law for the regulation of inter-State com- 

 merce which should prevent abuses of man- 

 agement, unjust discriminations, and excessive 

 charges on the part of railways running in 

 more than one State. An amendment of the 

 Constitution already proposed, the effect of 

 which is to make colored persons eligible to 

 the Legislature, was approved, and provision 

 made for its submission to a popular vote. A 

 new amendment was proposed after considera- 

 ble discussion, which is as follows : 



SECTION 26. No person shall manufacture for sale, 

 or sell, or keep for sale, as a beverage any intoxicating 

 liquors whatever, including ale, wine, and beer. The 

 General Assembly shall, by law, prescribe regulations 

 for the enforcement of the prohibition herein con- 

 tained, and shall provide suitable penalties for the vio- 

 lation of the provisions hereof. 



Several other propositions to amend the Con- 

 stitution failed to receive the necessary vote, 

 including one conferring the right of suffrage 

 upon women, which passed the lower house by 

 a vote of fifty-eight to thirty-one, and was de- 

 feated in the Senate. Provision was made for 

 submitting to a vote of the people the question 

 of holding a convention for a general revision 

 of the Constitution. 



Among the more important acts passed was 

 one establishing a State Board of Health, and 

 one providing for the appointment of a Com- 

 missioner of Immigration. The Board of Health 

 is to consist of nine members, who are to hold 

 office seven years. The Attorney-General is 

 to be a member ex officio, and one engineer and 

 seven physicians are to be appointed by the 

 Governor, with the approval of the Executive 

 Council. The general supervision of public 

 health, collection of vital statistics, and guid- 

 ance of local boards are the main functions of 

 the new organization. The Commissioner of 

 Immigration is to be appointed by the Gov- 

 ernor, hold office for two years, and receive a 

 salary of $1,200 a year in addition to expenses. 



