MINNESOTA. 



577 



MINNESOTA. The Republicans of Minne- 

 sota met iii convention at St. Paul, on Septem-- 

 her 6 tli, and nominated for Governor Gen. W. 

 R. Marshall^ and a full ticket of State officers. 

 Their resolutions declared that the "measure 

 of a man's political rights should be neither his 

 religion, his birthplace, his race, his color, nor 

 any merely physical characteristics ; " that it 

 would be "subversive both of the form and 

 spirit of our institutions, to permit any portion 

 of our population to remain in a degraded and 

 abject caste, taxed to support and compelled to 

 obey a Government in which they have no 

 voice ; " that the administration of the General 

 Government by President Johnson meets their 

 "hearty approval and concurrence;" that, as 

 soon as the reestablished credit of the nation 

 will permit, the indebtedness of the United 

 States ought to be made to bear a less rate of 

 interest than at present; that the United States 

 will not permit an Imperial Government to rule 

 in Mexico, and ought to compel the withdrawal 

 of the invaders of that country. It was also 

 resolved that the Senators and Representatives 

 of Minnesota in Congress should be requested 

 to use their influence to secure an amendment 

 to the Constitution of the United States " where- 

 by the basis of representation be established 

 upon the aggregate number of legal voters, in- 

 stead of upon the number of population." 



The Democratic Convention met at the same 

 place in August, and adopted a long series of 

 resolutions, the most important of which were 

 those recognizing " with the highest satisfac- 

 tion" President Johnson's policy of reorgani- 

 zation, and pledging to his administration the 

 hearty support of the Democracy of Minnesota, 

 " so long and so far as he adheres to the funda- 

 mental and historic dogmas of the Government, 

 which in the past have been cardinal doctrines 

 of the Democratic faith ; " accepting " with 

 unfeigned satisfaction the extinction of slavery 

 as an accomplished result of the war, and as 

 an acknowledged condition of peace ; " pro- 

 testing against the continued suppression of the 

 writ of habeas corpus in certain parts of the 

 country ; recommending the absorption of out- 

 standing national bonds by new issues, bearing 

 a less rate of interest, and subject to taxation; 

 opposing a protective tariff; recommending the 

 application and enforcement of the Monroe doc- 

 trine to the present condition of 'the Mexican 

 Republic; opposing the project to confer the 

 elective franchise upon the negroes of the State ; 

 and favoring, in the absence of Congressional 

 action upon the subject, some measure of State 

 aid to Minnesota soldiers disabled in the war. 

 The convention reassembled at St. Paul on Sep- 

 tember 7th, and nominated for Governor Hon. 

 Henry M. Rice, and a full ticket for State offi- 

 cers. The election took place on November 

 7th, with the following result for Governor : 



"W. R. Marshall, Republican 17,835 



Henry M. Eice, Democrat 13,864 



Majority for Marshall 8,471 



VOL. v. 37 A 



The other candidates on the Republican ticket 

 were elected by majorities differing little from 

 the above. The result of the election of mem- 

 bers of the Legislature was as follows : 



Senate. 



Republicans 14 



Democrats. 7 



HOUM. Joint Ballot. 

 29 43 



18 20 



Republican majority 7 16 23 



In. accordance with a resolution adopted by 

 the Legislature of 1865, the people were called 

 upon at this election to vote upon an amend- 

 ment to the Constitution, striking out the word 

 " white" from the qualifications of voters. In 

 a total vote of 27,010, there was a majority of 

 2,670 against the amendment. 



The receipts into the State Treasury for the 

 year ending December 1, 1865, were $489, 120.46, 

 and the disbursements during the same period 

 amounted to $416,318.60, leaving a balance of 

 $72,801.86 on hand. The estimated disburse- 

 ments for 1866 are $268,474.81, and the re- 

 ceipts $269,442.91. At the close of the year, 

 the floating debt, for the first time in the history 

 of the State, was announced to be substantially 

 cancelled; and a claim of $108,000 against the 

 United States for expenditures in suppressing 

 Indian hostilities was put forward. The land 

 offices in the State disposed, during 1865, of 

 804,982 acres, and the railroad companies of 

 about 200,000. Of school lands, 156,048 acres 

 were sold, at an average price of about $6.30 

 per acre, realizing $983,528. If the remainder 

 of these lands should sell for the same price, the 

 school fund will amount to $16,000,000. The 

 land registry shows entries during the year 

 of 139,232 acres. 



Minnesota contributed to the national forces 

 during the late civil war, 24,263 men of all 

 arms, a number equivalent to three-fourths of 

 those who voted in 1860, or to about cue-sev- 

 enth of her entire population in that year. 

 Notwithstanding this large number of men 

 taken from the State, the population, accord- 

 ing to the census of 1865, was 250,099, com- 

 prising 131,323 males and 118,776 females, 

 showing a gain of 78,077, equivalent to about 

 45 per cent., over the census of 1860. The 

 return of volunteers at the close of military 

 operations, and the annual emigration, brought 

 the population, it was estimated, up to 275,000 

 by the close of 1865. 



The railroad interest of Minnesota is witness- 

 ing a great development, and when the lines 

 now in progress shall be completed, the State 

 is destined to become rich and populous. Dur- 

 ing 1865 upwards of two hundred and ten miles 

 of ^ track was completed, and one hundred and 

 thirty-two graded, and it is estimated that four 

 hundred and seventy-four additional miles will 

 be completed by the close of 1866. Of tho 

 railroad communications with the Eastern an! 

 Western States, Gov. Miller, in his message ti 

 the Legislature of 1866, upon the occasion of 

 retiring from office, says: "The Chicago and 

 Northwestern Company have given assurances 

 that their road shall be completed to "Winoiia 



