WISCONSIN". 



823 



basis of the Federal Constitution, and pledging 

 him unqualified support therein ; opposing negro 

 suffrage in the State of Wisconsin, or interfer- 

 ence with it in other States ; opposing the sus- 

 pension of the writ of Jiabeas corpus ; and favor- 

 ing the most rigid economy in the expenses of 

 the Government, and a strict equalization of the 

 tax burden. 



The chief interest of the election turned on 

 the question of amending the State Constitu- 

 tion by extending the suffrage to negroes, 

 which the Legislature had referred to the pop- 

 ular vote. The failure of the Eepublican Con- 

 vention to endorse this policy was supposed to 

 presage its defeat, notwithstanding the party 

 was decidedly in the ascendant in the State. 



The election took place on November 7th, 

 with the following result for Governor : 



L. Fairchild, Republican. 

 H. C. Hobart, Democrat. 



Majority for Fairchild 10,002 



The other Republican candidates for State 

 offices received majorities about as large as this. 

 The election for members of the Legislature re- 

 sulted as follows : 



Senate. House. Joint Ballot. 



Republicans 28 67 90 



Democrats 10 83 43 



Eepublican majority 18 84 47 



The negro suffrage amendment was lost by 

 the decisive vote of 55,591 against it, to 46,588 

 for it ; majority against the amendment, 9,000. 

 The Republican majority for State officers was 

 thus nearly reversed, showing that upwards of 

 ten thousand voters of that party cast their 

 ballots against the measure. But notwithstand- 

 ing this result, the right of colored men to vote 

 was subsequently established by other means, 

 the Supreme Court of Wisconsin having recent- 

 ly decided that in 1848 the people ratified an 

 amendment conferring the right of suffrage 

 upon this class of the population. It appears 

 that at the election held that year such an 

 amendment was submitted to the people, and 

 a majority voted for it ; but, as the Constitution 

 required a "majority of all the votes cast at 

 such election," it was declared by the canvass- 

 ers that, as a majority of those who had voted 

 for State officers had not voted for the amend- 

 ment, it had failed. The Supreme Court has 

 decided that this was erroneous, and that the 

 amendment was adopted, and that therefore 

 negroes are entitled to vote in Wisconsin. 



The public debt of Wisconsin at the com- 

 mencement of 1866 amounted to $2,664,550, 

 which is an increase of about one hundred and 

 fifty thousand dollars over the debt of the pre- 

 vious year. Almost the entire amount was in- 

 curred by expenses growing out of the late 

 war, and will doubtless be cancelled when the 

 war claims of the State against the General 

 Government come to be settled. The total 

 number of men furnished by the State to the 

 national armies was 96,118, who enlisted for 



periods varying from three months to three 

 years. Reduced to a three years' standard, her 

 contribution to the war for the Union was 

 78,985 men. The excess of men over all callg 

 exceeded one thousand, and the total num- 

 ber was equal to one-half of the voting popu- 

 lation. 



Early in 1866 the lands, water-powers, and 

 other property of the "Fox and Wisconsin 

 Rivers Improvement Company " were sold by 

 the trustees on behalf of the State, to meet the 

 State indebtedness and the cost of completing 

 the improvement. The sale produced an amount 

 deemed sufficient for both of these objects, the 

 latter being of more than local interest and im- 

 portance. The opening or enlargement of any 

 avenue for the traffic of the Northwest, which 

 already chokes every existing outlet, concerns 

 the Eastern States quite as much as the region 

 more immediately interested, and this water- 

 channel between the Mississippi and the lakes 

 promises in a few years to become a most val- 

 uable feeder to Eastern trade. A debt was 

 thus extinguished, which has been called a part 

 of the State debt, because the evidences of it 

 were issued by State authority, although the 

 State assumed no other responsibility for it 

 than to pledge the application of the revenue 

 of the works to the payment of the principal 

 and interest. The original plan, adopted by 

 Wisconsin in 1849, for the improvement of the 

 Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, contemplated locks 

 thirty-five feet in width and one hundred and 

 forty feet in length. In 1856 the locks were 

 required to be lengthened to one hundred and 

 sixty feet, and the canals to be enlarged in 

 depth and width. This latter plan is nearly 

 consummated, and from the proceeds of the 

 late sale enough money, it is said, has been re- 

 alized to prepare for the speedy passage of boats 

 and barges of a moderate size and capacity from 

 the Mississippi to Lake Michigan at Green Bay. 

 An enlargement sufficient to pass any of the 

 Upper Mississippi boats is urged by the Wis- 

 consin journals, as a measure worthy of na- 

 tional encouragement and subsidy. 



From official statistics, published by the Sec- 

 retary of State, it appears that in 1864 there 

 were in Wisconsin eight lines of railroad, with 

 an aggregate length of track in the State of 

 1,631 miles. The number of through passengers 

 carried during the year was 280,205, and of 

 way passengers 1,622,688^; the total amount 

 of freight carried was 1,892,076 tons, and the 

 proceeds for carrying freight and passengers 

 amounted to $13,183,563.29. There is no state- 

 ment of the total expenses of the companies, 

 only from declared dividends. There were seven- 

 teen passengers and twenty-one employes re- 

 ported killed, and eleven passengers and three 

 employes injured, mainly by their own care- 

 lessness. 



From the annual report of the Superintend- 

 ent of Public Instruction for the year ending 

 August 31, 1865, the following statistics are 

 obtained: 



