746 



EHODE ISLAND. 



tinnes to foster this proscribing of us on account of 

 our color, even now when the ftorth is ceasing almost 

 entirely to pay any deference to slavery, the enemy 

 of the Government. We say that this adjunct to 

 slavery ought to die with slavery ; that Rhode Island 

 should not be disgraced with this, its relic ; that in all 

 matters in which the States have control, no such 

 distinction should be known, leaving individuals to 

 do as they may in social relations, which is their 

 right but where the law has sway, as in public 

 schools, all should be equal, with no "disparaging dis- 

 tinctions. This is the issue we present. We have 

 been urging the point for twelve years; we have 

 succeeded m carrying our prayer before the lower 

 House, and needed but four votes to success in the 

 Senate, and believe that we would have succeeded 

 there but for undue interference. 



The Democratic Convention met at Provi- 

 dence on March 22d, and nominated a State 

 ticket, headed by Charles S. Bradley for Gov- 

 ernor. All the candidates having refused to 

 accept the nominations tendered to them, Al- 

 fred Anthony was nominated for Governor and 

 Gen. Olney Arnold for Lieut.-Governor, to- 

 gether with the remainder of the ticket origi- 

 nally nominated. Resolutions were passed in 

 favor of filling the quotas of the State by vol- 

 untary enlistment instead of by draft, and ten- 

 dering thanks to the soldiers of Rhode Island 

 in the national service ; also the following on 

 national affairs : 



Resolved, That the Democratic party, now as here- 

 tofore, is based upon and recognizes only the Con- 

 stitution as the supreme authority in political affairs, 

 and is determined, so far as its influence extends, to 

 maintain the Union and the supremacy of the laws ; 

 and we enter our solemn protest against bribery and 

 corruption in State and national affairs, which is so 

 ruinous to public morals. 



The election took place on April 5th, and in 

 consequence of the withdrawal of the Demo- 

 cratic candidates, resulted in favor of the Re- 

 publicans by the following vote : 



GoTernor. Number of rotes. 



James T. Smith 10,061 



Scattering 763 



Majority for Smith 9,808 



The total vote was 10,814 against 22,162 In 

 the Presidential election in the preceding No- 

 vember. The Legislature elected was largely 

 Republican, less than a dozen Democrats hav- 

 ing been chosen to both Houses. Thomas A. 

 Jenckes and Nathan F. Dixon, Republicans, 

 were also elected members of Congress, the 

 former almost unanimously, and the latter by 

 a majority of 1,590 over his Democratic com- 

 petitor. 



The Legislature met at Newport on May 

 30, 1865, and the new State Government was 

 inaugurated. The following resolution was 

 adopted in the course of the session by a 

 nearly unanimous vote : 



-&*?>;*, That it is the sense of the General As- 

 sembly and people of this State, that in the recon- 

 struction of the government of the States lately in 

 rebellion against the Government and authority of 

 the United States, the usual power and legal author- 

 ity vested in the Federal Government should be ex- 

 ecuted to secure equal rights, without respect to 

 color, to all citizens residing in those States, includ- 

 ing herein the right of the elective franchise. 



At the commencement of the late war, the 

 public debt of Rhode Island was only about 

 $4,000, and at its close it amounted to $4,- 

 000,000, the whole of which was accumulated 

 for war purposes. The following is an official 

 statement of the funded debt of the State, with 

 the date of the authorizing acts and the tim*> 

 of payment : 



Date of Act Amount of Pebt. Principal payable. 



August, 1861 $500,000 October 1, 1ST1 



August, 1862 1,200,000 September 1, 1871 



January, 1868 800,000 April 1,1883 



June, 1863 1,000,000 January 1. 1893 



May, 1864 1,000,000 February 1,1894 



The interest is at the rate of six per cent., 

 payable semi-annually. The million dollars' 

 loan, authorized by the act of January, 1865, 

 has never been issued, and probably never will 

 be. During 1865, bonds to the amount of 

 $111,000 were paid, leaving the outstanding 

 debt on January 1, 1866, $3,889,000. There 

 has been no regular sinking fund provided for 

 the extinction of the debt ; but from a law passed 

 by the General Assembly, authorizing any sur- 

 plus money in the Treasury to be used for the 

 purchase of the bonds, it is thought that after 

 another year the State will be in the market as 

 a purchaser, and that before the time expires 

 for the payment of them they will all be retired. 



The Adjutant-General of Rhode Island re- 

 ports that the State furnished to the war an 

 aggregate of 25,355 men, as follows : 



Three months' men 8,147 



Nine months' men 2,069 



One year's men. 1,018 



Two years' men 11 



Three years' men 19,110 



Reduced to a three years' standard, these 

 would number 20,236. These were comprised 

 in one regiment and two independent batteries 

 of light artillery, three regiments and one squad- 

 ron of cavalry, three regiments of heavy artil- 

 lery, one of which was colored, and eight regi- 

 ments and one company of infantry. The 

 prepared claims against the United States for 

 expenses growing out of the war amount to 

 nearly $330,000, the settlement of which is pro- 

 tracted on account of certain questions affecting 

 their legal character. 



A census was taken in 1865, from a partial 

 report of which it appears that the State is 

 making steady progress in population and 

 wealth. The total population is 184,695, of 

 whom 112,207 were born in Rhode Island, 

 32,585 in other States of the Union, and 39,903 

 in foreign countries. This shows a gain of 

 10,075, or nearly six per cent, over the United 

 States census of 1860. The whole number of 

 persons who can neither read nor write is 

 10,181, of whom 1,552 are of American parent- 

 age, 7,313 of Irish parentage, and the remainder 

 were born in various foreign countries. The 

 State supports 543 paupers, and the average 

 number of convicts is somewhat over one hun- 

 dred. In 1865 there were 37,786 acres of 

 ploughed land, 101,243 of mowing land, 152,457 

 of pasture land, and 201,000 of unimproved 



