IDAHO. 



ILLINOIS. 



425 



The platform declares as follows on local ques- 

 tions : 



That in the settlement of the Mormon question the 

 Republican party has passed and enforced laws at 

 once liberal, comprehensive, and just ; and we pledge 

 ourselves to rigid enforcement of the election laws 

 and the enactment of such other laws as may be ne- 

 cessary for the suppression of Mormonism and the 

 protection of the purity of the ballot. 



That we pledge ourselves to the preservation of the 

 land granted to the State by Congress for actual set- 

 tlers and home makers. 



That the act of Congress, Oct. 2, 1888, which 

 places the public domain in the State of Idaho within 

 the arid region and reserves the same from settlement, 

 retards thcTgrowth of this State and works a great in- 

 justice to its people, and we demand of the Republi- 

 can Congress the immediate repeal of said act. 



That we favor a reduction in the hours of labor and 

 the enactment of laws to secure full and perfect exe- 

 cution of the provisions of our Constitution touching 

 the settlement of differences between capital and labor 

 by arbitration. 



That the Republicans of Idaho expressly declare 

 that they favor the Australian system of voting, to 

 secure the voters absolute freedom, secrecy, and se- 

 curity in the exercise of the election franchise, and 

 pledge themselves to an adoption of that system. 



That the Republicans of Idaho claim a share in the 

 glory of the splendid victory achieved by the national 

 party over the enemies of silver at home and abroad. 

 The results of this victory have been so immediate 

 and are already so great as to completely vindicate 

 our demands and convert our adversaries. Silver has 

 advanced 30 per cent, in value, and the increase in 

 the value of our mines is so great as to be incalculable. 

 Hand in hand with silver, the products of our farms 

 and other industries are increasing in volume and 

 value, and an era of prosperity and wealth is opening 

 before us such as we never before experienced. 



We appeal to the people of Idaho to join us^in our 

 efforts for the protection of the lead-producing indus- 

 try by taxing imported lead in a lust proportion. By 

 the free importation of Mexican lead ores our miners 

 would be brought into direct competition with a class 

 of laborers who are little removed from a condition of 

 slavery, and our lead would be depressed in value to 

 a price which would afford no profit to the producers. 



The Democratic State Convention met at Boise 

 City on Aug. 26. and made the following nom- 

 inations : For Governor, Benjamin Willson ; for 

 Lieutenant-Governor, Samuel F. Taylor ; for 

 Secretary of State, E. A. Sherwin ; for Auditor, 

 James H. Wickersham; for Treasurer, T. A. 

 Regan ; for Attorney-General, Richard Z. John- 

 son ; for Superintendent of Public Instruction, 

 Milton A. Kelly : for Justices of the Supreme 

 Court, I. N. Maxwell, F. H. Ensign, and Hugh 

 W. Weir ; for Member of Congress (both terms), 

 Alexander E. Mayhew. The following are the 

 more significant portions of the platform : 



"We tender our gratitude to the Democrats in Con- 

 gress for their almost unanimous votes in both houses 

 for the free and unlimited coinage of silver, and con- 

 gratulate the people of our new State that there is 

 one great political organization in the country com- 

 mitted by its votes in Congress to a measure so essen- 

 tial to th"e prosperity of Idaho. 



We favor an eight-hour system of labor. 



We favor the enactment and stringent enforcement 

 of laws stringentlv excluding Chinese labor from the 

 State of Idaho. \Ve oppose the employment of Chi- 

 namen by corporate companies, and demand such 

 legislation as will prevent the employment of Chinese 

 and foreign contract labor upon public works to the 

 exclusion of American citizens. We favor the depor- 

 tation of all Chinese and foreign contract labor. 

 We demand the enactment of laws punishing brib- 



ery or intimidation of voters, and we favor the Aus- 

 tralian system of voting. 



We favor the election of United States Senators by 

 a direct vote of the people. 



We congratulate the people that the Mormon ques- 

 tion has been eliminated from the future politics of 

 the commonwealth by the adoption of the State Con- 

 stitution. We pledge the Democratic party to the 

 strict enforcement, both in spirit and letter, of the 

 provisions of the test oath, as prescribed in our re- 

 vised statutes of Idaho, to the strict enforcement of 

 the registry law enacted by the Fifteenth Legislative 

 Assembly, and to the strict enforcement of all the 

 provisions of Article VI of the State Constitution. 



On the Republican ticket the name of Silas 

 W. Moody was substituted during the canvass 

 for that of George Rebothan. The election on 

 Oct. 1 resulted in the triumph of the Republi- 

 cans. For Governor, Shoup received 10,262 votes 

 and Willson 7,948 ; for Congressman (short term) 

 Sweet received 10,150 votes, Mayhew 8.046; (long 

 term) Sweet 10,130, Mayhew 8,026. The other 

 candidates received majorities varying from 1.500 

 to 2,200. Members of the State Legislature were 

 chosen as follows : Senate, Republicans 14, Dem- 

 ocrats 4 ; House, Republicans 30, Democrats 6. 



Legislative Session. On Nov. 3, soon after 

 assuming office, Gov. Shoup issued his procla- 

 mation convening the new Legislature for its 

 first session at Boise City on Dec. 8. Its first 

 duty was to elect United States Senators for 

 the new State, and on Dec. 18 it chose Gov. 

 Shoup for the term ending March 4, 1891, and 

 William J. McConnell for the term ending March 

 4, 1893. At the same time it elected ex-Dele- 

 gate Frederick T. Dubois to succeed Gov. Shoup 

 at the end of his term. The work of legislation 

 was then begun, and it was unfinished at the 

 end of the year. 



Valuations. The assessed valuation of prop- 

 erty for 1890 was as follows : Real estate and 

 improvements, $11,173,511; railroad property, 

 $5,358,338 ; live stock, $4,744,276 ; goods, wares, 

 and merchandise, $1,612,615 ; money, bank 

 shares and other securities, $763,284 ; other per- 

 sonal property, $1,929,281; total, $25,581,305. 

 The rate of State taxation for 1890 upon this 

 valuation was 4 mills, 3| mills being for general 

 purposes and 1 mill for the university. 



Insane Asylum. In November, 1889, at the 

 time of the fire there were 67 patients, 47 males 

 and 20 females, at the Blackfoot Asylum. Five 

 male and 2 female patients escaped or perished 

 at that time. During the remainder of the fiscal 

 year ending June 30, 1890, 23 additional patients 

 were admitted to the asylum and 19 discharged, 

 leaving 64 patients at the latter date 45 males 

 and 19 females. There is urgent need that the 

 destroyed main building should be rebuilt, as the 

 patients are now confined in a building fitted to 

 accommodate not half of their number. 



ILLINOIS, a Western State, admitted to the 

 Union Dec. 3, 1818 ; area, 56,650 square miles. 

 The population, according to each decennial 

 census since admission, was 55,162 in 1820 ; 157,- 

 445 in 1830; 476,183 in 1840; 851,470 in 1850; 

 1711,951 in 1860; 2,539,891 in 1870; 3,077,871 

 in 1880 ; 3,826,351 in 1890. Capital, Springfield. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers during the year : Governor, Joseph W. 

 Fifer, Republican ; Lieutenant-Governor, Ly- 

 man B. Ray ; Secretary of State, Isaac N. Pear- 



