394 



HUNT, WASHINGTON. 



ILLINOIS. 



prevails in the military frontier provinces, the 

 responsibility of the Government to the Croa- 

 tian Diet, and a special inaugural diploma for 

 Croatia. It was also to declare that the ar- 

 rangement arrived at between Austria and Hun- 

 gary with regard to common affairs would not 

 be binding upon Croatia. 



On June 23d the Croatian Diet was dissolved 

 by the Government, and new elections ordered. 

 At the same time the Ban of Croatia was re- 

 moved, and a civil governor appointed in his 

 place. The elections for a new Diet were held 

 in November, and showed a majority of two- 

 thirds in favor of union with Hungary. 



HUNT, WASHINGTON, an American politician, 

 formerly Governor of New York, M. C., etc., 

 born in Windham, Greene County, N. Y., Au- 

 gust 5, 1811 ; died in New York City, February 

 2, 1867. He entered upon the study of law at 

 the age of eighteen, and was admitted to the 

 bar at Lockport, in 1834. In 1836 he was ap- 

 pointed First Judge of Niagara County. He 

 early began to take an active part in the politics 

 of his native State, acting for some years with 

 the Democratic party, but eventually joining 

 the Whig party, and as their candidate was 

 three times in succession elected to Congress, 

 1843-'49. He gave evidence of the possession 

 of more than ordinary ability in Congress, and 

 during his last term served with great credit 

 as chairman of the Committee on Commerce. 

 In 1849 the Whig party elected him Comptroller 

 of the State of New York by a majority of 

 5,900 over his Democratic competitor: Hunt 



receiving 205,034; John A. Lott, Democrat, 

 199,134; and Tappan, Abolitionist, 1,352 votes. 

 In 1850 Hunt was elected Governor of New 

 York by the small plurality of 262 votes, re- 

 ceiving 214,614 votes; while 214,352 were cast 

 for Seymour, and 3,416 for Chaplin, the candi- 

 date of the Abolitionists. In 1852, the year 

 of the presidential election, Governor Hunt was 

 a candidate for reelection, but this time the 

 Democratic party swept the State, together 

 with all the States of the Union, except those 

 strongholds of the Whig party, Vermont, Mas- 

 sachusetts, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Maryland. 

 Governor Seymour received 264,121 votes, 

 against 241,525 given to Mr. Hunt, and 19,661 

 given to the Free-Soil candidate. Both Hunt 

 and Seymour ran ahead of the presidential 

 tickets of their parties ; Hunt about 7,000, and 

 Seymour 2,000. When the Whig party dis- 

 solved, in consequence of the rise of the Re- 

 publican party, Hunt was one of the leaders 

 of the Conservative wing, which became gradu- 

 ally absorbed by the Democracy. He ceased, 

 however, to take a prominent part in politics, 

 and lived in retirement upon a handsome farm 

 near Lockport, dividing his attention between 

 his friends, his books, and the pursuits of horti- 

 culture. Oniy once more he appeared in pub- 

 lic in 1864, when he attended the Chicago 

 Convention as a delegate of the Democratic 

 party of New York. Mr. Hunt was a member 

 of the Protestant Episcopal Church, and was 

 repeatedly a lay delegate to the Triennial Gen- 

 eral Conventions of his Church. 



ILLINOIS. The year has witnessed the 

 steady growth of this State, in population, 

 wealth, and importance, both social and politi- 

 cal. 



The Legislature held its regular triennial 

 session in January. Among the acts passed 

 was one abolishing capital punishment, and 

 another making eight hours a legal day's work 

 in the State, in the absence of any contract to 

 the contrary. The Legislature consists of 

 twenty-five Senators and eighty-five Represent- 

 atives, and has the management of all local 

 concerns. County and township affairs, divi- 

 sions and boundaries, roads and schools, the 

 care of the poor, the public health and public 

 peace, the police and militia, public buildings 

 and bridges, the punishment and prevention 

 of crime, and the administration and every 

 question and complication growing out of all 

 these things, in general and in detail, come 

 under the supervision of the Legislature, render- 

 ing the duties of that body exceedingly burden- 

 some. The Governor called an extra session 

 of the Legislature on June llth. The principal 

 objects of this session were, to provide by law 

 for the taxation, of shares in the national and 

 State banks and banking associations in the 



State ; to provide for continuing the military 

 State agency at Washington, and to legal- 

 ize the action of certain towns in levying 

 taxes for improvements. The session continued 

 three days. Bills were passed, taxing the 

 banks, continuing the State agency, and legal- 

 izing the action of the towns. There are now 

 in Illinois eighty-two national banks with an 

 aggregate capital stock paid up, $11,450,000. 

 At the present rate of taxation of seventy cents 

 on every hundred dollars, the State will receive 

 from the banks a revenue of over $80,000. The 

 Legislature was called by the Governor to hold 

 a second extra session on the 14th of June, to 

 provide for the management of the State peni- 

 tentiary and to amend the larceny laws. The 

 labor of the convicts had been farmed out to 

 contractors, who were bound to meet all the 

 expenses of the prison. They unexpectedly 

 gave notice that they would cease to make 

 such provision after the 1st of July, and t6 meet 

 this emergency legislation was necessary, and 

 resulted in the State assuming entire control 

 of its prison. Under this new order of things 

 it is expected that the State will have over 

 $200,000 of valuable machinery and stock in 

 the prison, all paid for, and that the peniten- 



