DAKOTA. 



DELAWARE. 



263 



That we are emphatically in favor of the name of 

 North Dakota tor the proposed new State. 



That the Fiftieth Congress should provide for the 

 admission of North Dakota. 



That In case the Fiftieth Congress fails to provide 

 for the admission of North Dakota as a State, we 

 earnestly request the President-elect to call a special 

 session of the Fifty-first Congress tor that purpose. 



That the Eighteenth Legislative' Assembly of North 

 Dakota Territory is urged to provide at the earliest 

 practicable moment after its meeting in January, 

 18S9, for a constitutional convention for North Da- 

 kota. 



That South Dakota, Montana, and Washington are 

 respectfully invited to co-operate with North Dakota 

 in this movement for admission. 



Political On June 27 the Prohibitionists of 

 the Territory met in convention at Redfield, 

 and nominated S. H. Crammer for delegate to 

 Congress. The Democratic Convention was 

 held at Jamestown on July 11, and nomi- 

 nated J. W. Harden. The Republican Con- 

 vention assembled at Watertown on August 

 23, and was in session three days before nomi- 

 nating a candidate. On the seventeenth ballot 

 George A. Mathews received a majority over 

 delegate Gifford, who had been the leading 

 candidate through nearly all the balloting.. 

 The following are some of the resolutions 

 adopted : 



The republicans of North and South Dakota, in 

 convention assembled, hereby publish and declare : 

 That the present Democratic Administration at W ash- 

 in srt on, emulating the present Tory Administration in 

 the government of Ireland, has maintained and exer- 

 cised a tyranny over this Territory, unjust, unwar- 

 ranted, and subversive of the principles of the found- 

 ers of the republic, in denying admission into the 

 Union of the States, for the sole and only reason that 

 a majority of our people differ with the Administra- 

 tion upon the political issues of the day. 



That we arraign the present Governor of this Ter- 

 ritory for prostituting his high office to personal and 

 ambitious ends and purposes ; that he maintains a 

 perfect indifference to the wants of the people whom 

 he rules ; that he encourages large and unwise appro- 

 priations ; that he threatens to veto measures unless 

 the Legislature shall be subservient to his will ; that 

 his appointees in many cases are men who have no 

 qualifications for office,' but are his personal retainers, 

 supported at the public expense. 



That by every precedent established in the history 

 of the admission of new States into the Union, by the 

 rights guaranteed under the Constitution and the laws 

 of the United States, it is the duty of Congress to ad- 

 mit both North and South Dakota into the sisterhood 

 of States ; and the refusal by a Democratic House to 

 so admit us is a violation of the duties and obligations 

 of its members, and we hereby reiterate our unalter- 

 able opposition to admission as a whole. 



A revision of the tariff was favored, and the 

 President was denounced for his pension vetoes. 



A second Democratic convention, composed 

 of delegates belonging to the faction hostile to 

 Gov. Church, and representing twenty-three 

 counties of Xorth Dakota, was held at Grand 

 Forks on September 21, at which W. R. Bi- 

 erly was nominated for delegate. The plat- 

 form adopted claims that it is necessary for all 

 of the Territory lying north of the north line 

 of the State of South Dakota to elect a delegate 

 to the United States Congress ; demands State- 

 hood for North Dakota by the next Congress ; 



the election of a Legislature pledged to abolish 

 the railroad commission, and the abolition of 

 all Territorial laws enlarging the appointing 

 powers of any and all Federal officers; the 

 speedy opening of Indian reservations ; the 

 passage of an act of Congress permitting county 

 commissioners to lease school lands at a fair 

 rental prior to Statehood ; the speedy improve- 

 ment of the rivers of North Dakota and Min- 

 nesota; and the erection of safeguards in in- 

 surance of stock, grain, implements, growing 

 crops, etc. 



At the November election Mathews re- 

 ceived 70,215 votes, Harden 40,846, and Bierly 

 1.753. The Republican candidate obtained a 

 plurality of 9,509 in North Dakota, and 19,860 

 in South Dakota. The next Legislature will 

 consist of 19 Republicans and 5 Democrats and 

 Independents in the council, and 42 Republi- 

 cans and 6 Democrats and Independents in the 

 House. The presence of two Democratic can- 

 didates in the contest was the result of hostility 

 between two factions of the party, led respect- 

 ively by Gov. Church and M. H. Day. The 

 first open rupture between these leaders oc- 

 curred at Watertown, in May, when a Demo- 

 cratic convention met to choose delegates to 

 the National Convention. The Day faction, 

 being in the minority, refused to join with the 

 Church delegates, but held a convention of its 

 own, selected its delegates to the National 

 Convention, and appointed a committee to se- 

 cure evidence to impeach Gov. Church. But 

 the delegates from the Church convention 

 were admitted to the National Convention. 

 Later in the year the committee of the Day 

 convention published a series of charges against 

 the Governor, his political activity being the 

 chief cause of complaint. 



DELAWARE. State Goyernment. The follow- 

 ing were the State officers during the year : 

 Governor, Benjamin T. Biggs, Democrat ; Sec- 

 retary of State, John P. Saulsbury ; Treasurer, 

 William Herbert ; Auditor, John H. Boyce ; 

 Attorney -General, John Biggs; Chief -Justice 

 of the Supreme Court, Joseph P. Comegys: 

 Associate-Justices, Ignatius C. Grubb, John 

 "VT. Houston, John H. Paynter ; Chancellor, 

 "Willard Saulsbury. 



Finances. The Treasurer's report presents 

 the following summary of State finances for 

 the year ending Jan. 1, 1888: Balance in treas- 

 ury at the close of the fiscal year, Dec. 31, 



1886, $29,849.08; receipts during the year, 

 $493,576.58: total, 8-523.425.66. Paid oat dar- 

 ing the year, $478,632.18; balance, Dec. 31, 



1887, $44,793.48. In addition to the balance 

 of the general fund, there was due from the 

 late Breakwater and Frankford Railroad Com- 

 pany, now consolidated with the Delaware, 

 Maryland and Virginia Railroad Company, in- 

 terest to July 1, 1882, amounting to $38,866. 

 66. The largest regular receipts were, from 

 tax on railroads, $62.594.79; from clerks of 

 the peace for licenses, $54.232,70; and from 

 sale of school-books, 5,640.98. 



