540 



MISSOURI. 



greatly shaken by the failures which followed 

 the panic, and the lax methods of business 

 which were disclosed. The law requiring a 

 certain proportion of the capital stock sub- 

 scribed to be paid up, the general discontinu- 

 ance of the custom of paying interest on depos- 

 its, and the fact that none of the twenty-five 

 banks of St. Louis has failed during 1880, though 

 some of them had been considered infirm, and 

 had lost many customers, restored the feeling 

 of security in the banking system of the city. 



The United States Supreme Court has ren- 

 dered a decision which, probably, finally dis- 

 poses of the question of the liability of the 

 township for railroad subsidy bonds. This 

 third decision of the Supreme Court, affirming 

 the former decision that the bonds are valid 

 and binding, has been awaited for about two 

 years. All the township bonds and railroad 

 bonds of the State are issued under an act 

 known as the " Township Aid Act," which ap- 

 peared to be in violation of the State Consti- 

 tution ; and, when the question was presented 

 to the United States Supreme Court in 1875, 

 they were declared to be unconstitutional and 

 void by that tribunal. Another case was 

 brought before the Court, and a second decision 

 was rendered which reversed the principle es- 

 tablished by its first decision, citing in support 

 of the new decision certain rulings of the State 

 Supreme Court. The latter Court subsequently 

 denied that its rulings bear such a construction, 

 and decided that the act was unconstitution- 

 al. In accordance with the principle that the 

 United States courts are bound to follow the 

 State courts in the interpretations they make 

 of the State Constitution, the matter was again 

 brought up in the United States Court, with 

 the expectation that it would reverse its sec- 

 ond decision. While acknowledging the gen- 

 eral application of that rule, the United States 

 Court refused to adopt the construction put 

 upon the Constitution in this case, declaring 

 that the rights of parties in the litigation are to 

 be determined by the law as it was judicially 

 construed by the State court at the time when 

 the bonds in question were put on the market. 

 "At that time," say the Court, "the State Su- 

 preme Court held, and had repeatedly held, 

 that the Township Aid Act was constitutional. 

 It now think* that act is unconstitutional. This 

 Court is of the opinion that it is not bound to 

 adopt the latest ruling of the Supreme Court 

 of Missouri, if, by such adoption, the rights 

 which have become vested under an earlier 

 ruling are to be injuriously affected." 



The Republican Convention to select dele- 

 gates to the Presidential Convention assembled 

 at Sedalia, April 14th. The following resolu- 

 tions were adopted : 



1. That we reaffirm the time- honored principles of 

 the Republican party, that all men are created free 

 and casual ; that this is a nation, and not a confedera- 

 tion ot States ; that all of the issues settled by the late 

 war and all of the legislation regarding the same are 

 final, and any attempts to in any way annul or affect 

 the same are revolutionary. 



2. That we hereby endorse the Administration of 

 that patriot, soldier, and statesman, Ulysses 8. Grant 

 as President of the United States, and hereby instruct 

 the delegates appointed to the National Republican 

 Convention, to be held in Chicago, to vote as a unit 

 on all questions, and for Ulysses S. Grant as the can- 

 didate of the Republican party of the United States 

 for the Presidency. 



The Democratic Convention met at Moberly 

 to elect delegates on May 26th. The resolu- 

 tions adopted expressed confidence in Tilden 

 and Hendricks, denounced the methods by 

 which the popular vote of 1876 had been nulli- 

 fied, and declared for the two-thirds rule. 



The Greenback State Convention, meeting 

 at Sedalia, July 14th, nominated the following 

 State ticket: for Governor, Luman A. Brown; 

 for Lieutenant-Governor, H. F. Fellows; Sec- 

 retary of State, O. D. Jones; Auditor, Dr. 

 A. C. Marquis ; Attorney-General, A. N". Mc- 

 Gindley ; Supreme-Court Judge, Peter Bland ; 

 Register of Lands, James A. Matney; Rail- 

 road Commissioner, J. B. Alexander. 



The Democratic Convention for the nomina- 

 tion of State officers met in Jefferson City, July 

 21st. The following ticket was nominated : for 

 Governor, Thomas T. Crittenden ; Lieutenant- 

 Governor, Robert A. Campbell ; Secretary of 

 State, M. K. McGrath ; State Auditor, John 

 Walker ; Attorney-General, Daniel H. Mcln- 

 tyre ; State Treasurer, Philip E. Chappel ; Su- 

 preme-Court Judge, Robert D. Ray ; Railroad 

 Commissioner, George C. Pratt; Register of 

 Lands, Robert McCulloch. The following 

 platform was adopted : 



Resolved by the Democratic party of Missouri in 

 Convention assembled : 



1 . That we accept and endorse the principles em- 

 bodied in the platform adopted by the National Demo- 

 cratic party in June, 1880. 



2. That the nomination of General Winfield Scott 

 Hancock and the Hon. William H. English for Presi- 

 dent and Vice-President by our National Convention 

 is a matter of earnest congratulation not alone to 

 Democrats but to all patriots irrespective of partv ; 

 that it means the strict and constitutional subordi- 

 nation of the military to the civil power, and that 

 through the national triumph of the Democratic party 

 in November, of which that nomination is a sure pre- 

 sage, sectional asperities will disappear, and the era 

 of good feeling again return throughout our common 

 country. 



3. T'hat we congratulate the citizens of the State 

 that the Administration of the State government by 

 the Democracy during the last decade has increased 

 her population, national wealth, and means of social 

 happiness ; that our institutions of learning are taking 

 rank among the best in the Union, and we cordially 

 invite the industrious immigrant to make his home in 

 our midst. 



4. That the Democratic party will ever encourage 

 and maintain the common schools and institutions of 

 learning established by our State, believing a general 

 diffusion of useful knowledge promotes the happiness 

 and protects the rights of the people. 



5. That as one of the objects of good government is 

 to so administer public affairs as to afford the largest 

 measure of protection to the greatest number with the 

 least possible uncertainty and burden, therefore we 

 recommend the enactment of the fairest and plainest 

 laws consistent with this end, their rigid enforcement 

 and exact observance, and the strictest practice of 

 economy in every department of the State government 

 consistent with the growth, development, and neces- 



