NEVADA, 



591 



coinage at our mints as gold. The gold-miner 

 can take his gold to the mint and receive the 

 coin value in gold, which is virtually free coin- 

 aire to him; but the silver-miner must sell to 

 the mint at a price regulated by the London 

 market. It is believed, as the silver question 

 is better understood, we shall have free coinage 

 of the white metal. When that is brought 

 about this State will become prosperous'' 



Derisions. The Legislature of 1887 passed an 

 act making it necessary to subscribe to an 

 oath against Mormonism, in order to qualify 

 as a voter. By a decision of the State Supreme 

 Court, early in October, this act was found to 

 be unconstitutional. 



Political. The Republican State Convention 

 was called to meet at Winnemucca on May 15. 

 It selected delegates to the National Conven- 

 tion and presidential electors, and the follow- 

 ing ticket for State officers: For Justice of the 

 Supreme Court, M. A. Murphy; Regents of 

 the State University. T. H. Wells, H. L. Fish, 

 and E. T. George. As candidate for Congress, 

 H. F. Bartine was selected. The platform 

 adopted contains the following: 



A financial policy whereby both gold and silver 

 shall form the basis of circulation, whether the money 

 used by the peeple be coin, or in certificates redeem- 

 able in coin, or both, as convenience may require, is 

 Imperatively demanded. 



The attempt to substitute National bank-notes, cost- 

 ing the Government millions of dollars annually, tor 

 free silver, costing nothing, is an outrage upon the 

 people : that the money ring or trust, which has 

 usurped the sovereign power'of the Government to 

 issue money, and which has fraudulently demonetized 

 silver and seized the revenues of tbe Government for 

 private speculation, shocks the moral sense of the 

 people and destroys respect for Government and law. 



We are in favor of the protection of home industry, 

 and that the laborers of this country have a right to 

 all the work required to supply the people of the 

 United States, and that we are in favor of hiorh waaes 

 in this country, and to that end will protect the waire- 

 workers' competition with the cheap labor of other 

 lands. 



We are in favor of the absolute exclusion of Chi- 

 nese, and the restriction of immigration, by which the 

 present overcharged condition of the labor market is 

 made worse, and also fav^r legislation by which a re- 

 vision of our naturalization and land "laws may be 

 accomplished. 



We demand, in behalf of our various industries, the 

 retention of the duties on lead, borax, soda, hides, and 

 leather, aud to restore the tariff of 1867 on wool. 



We recognize the right of labor to organize for its 

 lawful protection. 



We favor the submission by the Legislature to the 

 people of an amendment to the Constitution givinsr the 

 Legislature the power to regulate the liquor-traffic. 



We favor liberal appropriations by Congress for hy- 

 drographical and topographical surveys in this State 

 to the end that the waste waters may be preserved 

 for the purpose of irrigation. 



We favor the reduction of the Treasury surplus by 

 the payment of pensions to Union soldiers, their wid- 

 ows arid orphans, the improvement of rivers and har- 

 bors, the building of defenses for our sea-coasts, the 

 erection of public buildings, the creation of a navy, 

 the purchase of bonds, and the repeal of the internal- 

 revenue laws taxing tobacco. 



It is the duty of the State to maintain free non-sec- 

 tarian schools in the rural and sparsely settled dis- 

 tricts as well as in towns and thickly settled sections, 

 and such a division of the school' money should be 



made as will furnish the means of education to all 

 children in the State. 



We are in favor of reopening the Carson Mint for 

 coinage, and raising the w^es 'f its employes to the 

 standard paid by the last Republican Administration. 



The Democratic State Convention met on 

 May 16, at Reno, and nominated for Congress, 

 George W. Cassidy; for Justice of the Su- 

 preme Court, William M. Sewell : for Regents 

 of the State University, M. S. Bonnifield, 

 S. D. King, and F, M. Edmunds. Presiden- 

 tial electors and delegates to the National 

 Convention were also chosen. The platform 

 adopted strongly urges the free coinage of 

 silver, opposes Chinese immigration, and ap- 

 proves civil-service reform. The National Ad- 

 ministration is commended. At the election 

 in November, the Republican State and Na- 

 tional tickets were successful. For Congress- 

 man, Bartine received 6,921 votes, and Cassi- 

 dy 5,682. The vote for Justice of the Supreme 

 Court was: Murphy, 6.467; Sewell, 6.122. 

 The State Legislature, elected at the same 

 time, will stand 15 Republicans and 5 Demo- 

 crats in the Senate, and 26 Republicans and 14 

 Democrats in the House. 



At the same election a vote was taken on 

 the question whether a convention to revise 

 the State Constitution should be called, and also 

 on eleven proposed constitutional amendments. 

 The proposition for a constitutional conven- 

 tion was rejected by a vote of 1,644 in its 

 favor to 2,740 against. Of the amendments, 

 ten were adopted and one, which had been 

 irregularly adopted two years before, provid- 

 ing that constitutional amendments may be 

 submitted to the people alter passage by 

 one Legislature, was rejected. The successful 

 amendments change the time of meeting for 

 the Legislature from the first to the third Mon- 

 day of January; empower each branch of the 

 Legislature to expel a member for disorderly 

 conduct ; enable the Legislature to establish 

 and regulate the compensation and fees of 

 county and township officers, and to regulate 

 the rates of freight on railroads incorporated 

 within the State; prohibit "salary-grab" 

 bills ; abolish the office of Lieutenant-Govern- 

 or; provide that the President of the Senate 

 shall be elected by its members and succeed to 

 the governorship in case of vacancy, and that 

 in case of his death or disability the Speaker 

 of the House shall succeed to the governor- 

 ship ; regulate the impeachment of public 

 officers by the Legislature; regulate the reve- 

 nues for educational purposes and prohibit the 

 transfer of school moneys to any other fund ; 

 authorize the levy of a special tax for the 

 maintenance of the State University; and 

 make it obligatory upon the State, instead of 

 the counties, to support indigent inrirm or oth- 

 erwise unfortunate citizens needing aid. A 

 question, however, soon arose as to the legal- 

 ity of the procedure by which these amend- 

 ments were adopted. An act of the Legislat- 

 ure of 1897 upon this point provided that 

 publication of proposed amendments should he 



