ALABAMA. 



15 



a rather lengthy report; from which it ap- 

 t!i:it eoitsideralile u'lioimts Hi' money, 

 .:in;j to tho school fund of Mobile County, 

 had leeii illegally drawn and applied. 



Th.-v concluded with reoomnttkdtag and 

 -tin;,' some change in the system and 

 i- of officials. 



This report was received, and five thousand 

 copies of it were ordered to be printed; Imt 

 -lativB action was taken, 

 paratory to the contest for the general 

 el.vtion of November 8, 1870, tho Republicans 

 met in State Convention, where they renomi- 

 ! State officers, as follows: William II. 

 Smith for Governor; Pierce Burton for Lieu- 

 tenant-Governor ; James T. Rapier for Secre- 

 tary of State; Arthur Bingham for Treasurer. 

 Their platform, accepted at tho same meeting, 

 was as follows : 



Reached, That President Grant has proved hinself 

 a pure patriot and a wise statesman ; and that we 

 plr'ljv to his Administration our hearty support, rec- 

 ( ionizing in its ability, honesty, economy, and liber- 

 ality, the guarantee of national peace ana prosperity. 



Resolved, That we congratulate the country on the 

 reduction of the national debt by an honest collection 

 of the revenue, and by large reductions in the ex- 

 penditures of the Government, thereby relieving the 

 people of the burden of taxation to a large extent, 

 \vii!iut impairing the national faith or honor. 



Resolved, That we cordially endorse the adminis- 

 tration of Governor William H. Smith, whose con- 

 duct of State affairs, under the unprecedented diffi- 

 culties and troubles arising from the new condition 

 of freedom and from reconstruction, plainly illustrates 

 the benign effects of a just application of .Republican 

 principles. 



Resolved, That we point with pride to the com- 

 plete system of internal improvement established in 

 Alabama by Republican legislation, which, wisely 

 limited by existing laws, will afford the amplest 

 means of development to all sections of the State 

 without impairing her credit. 



Resolved, That a tariff of revenue is indispensable, 

 and should be so adjusted as not to become preju- 

 dicial to the industrial interest of any class or section 

 of the country, while securing to our own home pro/- 

 dui't-rs and laborers fair competition with foreign 

 eaj'it-.il and labor. 



Resolved, That, as the party of peace and of equal 

 rights for all men, we favor universal amnesty and 

 uioval of all political disabilities, and, while 

 } u-liling obedience to law and order ourselves, we 

 demand from our opponents submission to law and 

 tho cessation of all intolerance, violence, and out- 

 ra_'r. 



Jtesolced, That we favor a liberal and efficient sys- 

 tem of public schools, extending the opportunity 'for 

 education to the whole people. 



Resolved, That we favor the elevation of labor, the 

 stimulating of all the industrial interests of the State, 

 the oblivion of past strife, the union of all in the 

 great and good work of repairing, rebuilding, and 

 rehabilitating our State in her new condition, and 

 pr.->-iii:_' Alabama on ward and upward to the exult -.1 

 condition of wealth and power for which God and 

 Nature designed her. 



The "Democratic and Conservative party 

 of Alabama," in pursuance of a call addressed 

 -to the people by its Central Executive Commit- 

 tee, assembled in State Convention at Mont- 

 gomery on September 1st. The following were 

 the nominations made in this convention: 

 For Governor, R. B. Lindsay ; for Lieutenant- 



Governor, E. II. Moren ; for Secretary of 



.1. J. Parker; for Treusuri-r, I.. ['. 

 McCoy. They also adopted and declared ait 

 their platform : 



1. That we stand ready to obey the Constitution 

 of tho United State* and the laws passed in punm- 

 ance thereof, and the constitution and laws of the 

 State of Alabama, so long as they remain in force and 

 unrepealed. 



2. That we are opposed to the unjust, extravagant, 

 :u i.l unnecessary taxation, both State and Federal, 

 with which our people are now oppressed; to the 

 v u-tuful squandering and embezzlement of the pub- 

 lic money and public property ; and we are in lavor 

 of the strictest economy in public expenditures, and 

 of a rigid and prompt accountability of all public 

 officers. 



8. That we are in favor of law and order ; fair and 

 peaceful elections, free from fraud and corruption ; 

 and that we shall demand a fair count of the ballots 

 cast. 



4. That wo are in favor of confiding the govern- 

 ment of the State to our own people, to men of 

 known capacity and integrity, who accept the office 

 for the general good, and do not seek official position 

 for public plunder. 



5. That the party now in control of this State have 

 obtained power by usurpation against the will of the 

 people, and they have imposed enormous and un- 

 necessary taxes ; they have created unnecessary and 

 useless offices for the sole purpose of feeding their 

 needy followers ; they have, by profligate extrava- 

 gance and corruption, increased the debt of the State 

 many millions of dollars, and have even refused to 

 execute the provisions of their own constitution re- 

 lating to the classification of State Senators and their 

 tenure of office ; and by numerous other enormities 

 in legislation they have shown themselves unfit to 

 govern the people of a free State, and they ought to 

 be ejected, through the ballot-box, from the offices 

 they hold in defiance of the wishes and in contempt 

 of the interests of the people. 



The contest at the approaching election was 

 eagerly entered upon, and fought out by both 

 parties with unusual vigor and animation. The 

 voting at the polls went on throughout the State 

 more peaceably than had been anticipated. It 

 resulted in the election of the Democratic ticket, 

 except for State Treasurer ; instead of Mr. Mc- 

 Coy, who received but 123 votes, was elected 

 Mr. Grant, another Democrat, with 76,902 

 votes. The Democrats elected, also, a largo 

 majority of members of the State Legislature 

 in the Lower House, which consists of 64 

 Democrats and 36 Republicans, two of whom 

 are Conservatives. The Senate remains, as it 

 was, composed of 32 Republicans and one 

 Democrat, they having refused to classify, and 

 let one-half of their number be chosen by the 

 people at this election, as has been before 

 stated. Tho smallest number of votes cast for 

 State officers by the two parties, respectively, 

 was 72,538 for tho Republican Secretary of 

 State, and 7C,902 for the Democratic State 

 Treasurer; the largest was 76,292 for the Re- 

 publican Governor, and 78,682 for the Demo- 

 cratic Lieutenant-Governor. Taking these 

 two highest figures as representing the entire 

 vote at the command of each party, the whole 

 vote cast in tho State at the election of N--- 

 vember, 1870, would have been 154,923, with 

 a Democratic majority of 2,389 ; whereas, at 



