218 



DELAWARE. 



the passage of the fifteenth amendment, and 

 declared it an outrage upon the people and a 

 flagrant violation of the Constitution. 



The fourth declared that they would inter- 

 pose no obstacles in the way of negroes voting, 

 as long as the fifteenth amendment was the 

 assumed law of the land. 



The last gave a general invitation for all 

 white men to unite with the Democratic party 

 as a " white man's party." 



The regular Republican State Convention 

 was held at Dover, on the 14th of June. Thos. 

 B. Coursey, of Kent County, was nominated 

 fur Governor, and Joshua T. Heald, of New- 

 castle County, for Representative in Congress. 

 The following was the platform adopted : 



Resolved, By ike Republican Party of the State of 

 Delaware, in State C&nvention assembled : 1. That in 

 the recent amendments of the Constitution of the 

 United States, securing the right of suffrage and equal 

 rights before the law to all loyal citizens of the re- 

 public, we recognize a final and just settlement of a 

 vexed question. 



2. That we hope and believe the time is near at 

 hand when all ot the restrictions and disfranchise- 

 ments imposed upon persons engaged in the rebellion 

 may be removed without danger to the peace of so- 

 ciety. 



3. That the conduct of public affairs, under the 

 Administration of President Grant, the vigilant col- 

 lection of the public revenues, and their economical 

 and honest disbursement, with the great decrease of 

 the national debt, and the reduction of taxation, are 

 in striking contrast both to the Democratic rule pre- 

 ceding his election, and the present corrupt and ex- 

 travagant management of this State, and we hereby 

 cordially express our confidence in, and support of, 

 his Administration. 



4. That a liberal and well-regulated system of pub- 

 lic instruction is one of the essential safeguards of a 

 free government ; that it is the duty of the State to 

 provide free schools for her children, of every class 

 and condition ; and, in the judgment of this conven- 

 tion, this object can be more effectually and harmo- 

 niously secured by the provision of schools, for the 

 children of the newly-enfranchised citizens, separate 

 from those now established. 



5. That the present condition of State affairs, the 

 direct result of mismanagement by the faction which 

 has held entire control for the past six years, niakes 

 imperatively necessary a radical change of policy, in 

 which economy shall take the place of extravagance, 

 prudence of recklessness, and liberal patriotism of 

 local and personal aggrandizement. 



6. That the debt of the State, now nearly a million 

 and a half of dollars, accumulated under Democratic 

 rule, is burdensome, and disproportionate to the pub- 

 lic wealth and revenues ; that it was incurred in aid 

 of the rebellion; contracted with shameful blunders 

 written 011 its face, and by methods which greatly 

 swelled its amount ; that by culpable and impotent 

 mismanagement it has been increased instead of less- 

 .ened ; that revenues, by solemn enactment devoted 

 to its liquidation, have been recklessly and illegally 

 perverted to other purposes, and, while we recognize 

 the obligation of every citizen to bear his fair propor- 

 tion of this heavy and odious burden, we protest, on 

 behalf of the people of the State, against the present 

 system of State taxation, as unprecedented, unjust, 

 and unequal, discriminating against particular classes, 

 and invidiously oppressing special branches of in- 

 dustry. 



The Democrats held their regular nominat- 

 ing convention at Dover, on the 24th of Au- 

 gust. James Ponder, of Sussex County, was 



nominated for Governor, and Hon. B. T. Biggs 

 for Member of Congress. In their platform 

 they express their "devotion to the Union, 

 now, as in the past ; " declare that the Federal 

 and State Governments were formed for the 

 benefit of white men ; denounce the fifteenth 

 amendment and the enforcement act; oppose 

 the importation of coolies ; favor the existing 

 school system, which provides for the educa- 

 tion of white children only ; and declare their 

 opposition to the " extravagance and wasteful 

 expenditure " of President Grant's Administra- 

 tion. 



An Independent Democratic Convention was 

 held in October, in opposition to what was 

 known as the " Saulsbury clique," which was 

 said to control the Democratic party of the 

 State. In the platform adopted at this con- 

 vention, the delegates declared that they are : 



1. Now, as in the past, Democrats attached to the 

 interests and devoted to the principles of the Demo- 

 cratic party. 



2. That they inaugurate the present movement, 

 not with the intent to injure the party with which 

 they have labored, nor to offer any opposition to the 

 State ticket nominated by acclamation on the 24th 

 day of August last, but with the honest and patriotic 

 desire to divest it of cliques, and to correct and re- 

 form the errors and abuses wnich now afflict the ad- 

 ministration of State and county government through 

 unwise and injudicious leadership. 



3. That they are opposed to and denounce as anti- 

 Democratic the wasteful extravagance and lavish ex- 

 penditure of the public money which have character- 

 ized the official conduct of those charged with the 

 administration of public affairs in the State for the 

 past few years. 



4. That, while they arc in favor of a wise, judicious, 

 and impartial tax law for the prompt payment of the 

 interest, and the gradual but sure reduction of the 

 principal of the State debt, they believe that the 

 revenue law of the State is unwise, injudicious, and 

 objectionable unwise, in the awkward and expen- 

 sive machinery required to carry it into operation ; 

 injudicious in driving capital from the State, and se- 

 lecting many useless and unprofitable objects of tax- 

 ation ; and objectionable in incorporating into its 

 provisions many of the most odious and harshest 

 features of the Federal tax law, such as the frequent 

 and unnecessary administration of oaths and affirma- 

 tions, prying into and exposing the private business 

 affairs of our citizens, and imposing on our people 

 the necessity of keeping separate business accounts, 

 to be able to make the annual and quarterly returns 

 exacted. 



5. That they hold it to be one of the fundamental 

 principles of the Democratic party that the strictest 

 and most rigid economy should be practised by 

 those who are intrusted with the disbursement of the 

 public funds ; and they believe that, by a judicious 

 and wise system of retrenchment and reform in the 

 management of our public affairs, the taxes will be 

 greatly lessened, while sufficient money will be saved 

 to maintain the credit of the Styte, and meet all de- 

 mands necessary for the proper administration of our 

 State and county governments. . 



The election was held on the 8th of Novem- 

 ber, and resulted in the success of the Demo- 

 cratic ticket. The total vote for Governor was 

 20,594; of which Ponder received 11,464, and 

 Coursey 9,130, giving the former a majority of 

 2,334. Biggs, for Congress, received a ma- 

 jority of 2,296 over Heald. At the last elec- 

 tion, in 1868, the whole vote was 18,537; of 



