384 



IOWA. 



Be it resolved as the sense of this House, That steps 

 should be taken, looking toward a change in the con- 

 stitution of this State, so as to allow woman the right 

 of franchise, for the proper use of which, her quick 

 perception, strong intellect, and, above all, her high 

 sense of right and justice, have proven her so well 

 qualified. 



Eesolutions in favor of impeaching the Presi- 

 dent of the United States were adopted in the 

 Senate, by a vote of 35 to 10, and the follow- 

 ing was adopted in the lower House, by a strict 

 party vote, all the Republicans voting for, and 

 all the Democrats against it. 



Resolved, That the President of the United States, 

 owing his election to the loyal people thereof, and 

 committed, by repeated pledges prior to his election, 

 to the maintenance of Kepublican principles, hav- 

 ing deserted his loyal associations, to which he was 

 pledged in honor and good faith, and placed himself 

 as a leader of the opposition, and champion of the in- 

 terests of the party which so recently plunged the 

 country into civil war, has forfeited alike his good 

 faith, and the confidence of all loyal people, and ought 

 to resign the office which he has perverted to thwart 

 the restoration of the Union, and the interests of loy- 

 alty and good government ; and that, in his assault 

 upon a soldier of the Kepublic, he has given fresh 

 offence to all the gallant soldiers of the country 2 and 

 to the people who gratefully acknowledge the eminent 

 services of the great captain of the war ; and, there- 

 fore, that this General Assembly declares its unhesi- 

 tating confidence in the honor and integrity of the 

 soldier whom the President has assailed, and, when 

 the loyal citizens of the United States shall select 

 General Ulysses S. Grant to bear the Kepublican 

 standard once more in triumph into the national cap- 

 ital, the people of Iowa will rejoice in the opportunity 

 to restore harmony to the Union by sending the loyal 

 chieftain into the White House, and Andrew Johnson 

 into private life. 



The following resolutions show the senti- 

 ments of the Legislature on a prominent inter- 

 national question : 



Whereas, American citizens travelling abroad have 

 been illegally arrested by despots in the old world, 

 and without cause immured in bastiles ; and 



Whereas, The Governments of Europe deny the 

 right of expatriation, and of renouncing allegiance ; 

 and 



Whereas, The spirit of the age, the genius of our 

 institutions, the traditions of our nation, and the lan- 

 guage of its laws, are in direct conflict with the slav- 

 ish doctrine of "once a subject, always a subject; " 

 therefore, be it 



Resolved, By the General Assembly of the State of 

 Iowa, that it is the duty of our national authorities to 

 formally insist that the person of a subject of the 

 United ^States is as sacred as our flag, that the unwar- 

 ranted interference by foreign Governments with the 

 liberty of the former will be deemed an insult to the 

 latter. 



Resolved, that the honor and dignity of the nation 

 require that reparation be made for past offences, and 

 that any future violation or infringement of the rights 

 of American citizens by any power should be promptly 

 resented andpunished by our Government. 

 ^ Resolved, That the doctrine promulgated by Eng- 

 lish law-officers on the subject of allegiance is not 

 recognized as the law of the United States, and that 

 our citizens, whether native or adopted, must not be 

 molested or interfered with so long as they commit 

 no offence punishable by the laws of England, and, 

 that words spoken or acts done in the United States 

 are not punishable in any foreign court, or before any 

 foreign tribunal. 



Resolved, That it is the doctrine of the United 

 States Government, and regarded as the law of the 



United States, that every man, on reaching the shores 

 of this country, is entitled to change his allegiance at 

 his pleasure, and that, when naturalized, he becomes 

 a citizen of the United States, and, as such, is entitled 

 to and will be defended by the whole power of the 

 Government. 



Resolved,, That the course pursued by our Foreign 

 ministers in Prussia and at the court ot St. James, in 

 treating with inhumanity and failing to respond to 

 the reasonable requests of the American citizens when 



Sressed into the Prussian army, and while confined 

 i British dungeons, merits our just condemnation. 



Among the laws enacted with a view to pro- 

 moting the material interests of the Common- 

 wealth, was one prohibiting the importation 

 of infected cattle, an act "to encourage the 

 growing of timber, fruit-trees, shade-trees, and 

 hedges," and numerous laws passed in the in- 

 terest of railroads and othei* internal improve- 

 ments. The growing of timber is to be encour- 

 aged by exempting from taxation $100 worth 

 of real or personal property for ten years, for 

 each acre of forest-trees planted and culti- 

 vated, the trees not to be more than 80 feet 

 apart. Property to the amount of $50 is to 

 be exempted from taxation five years for each 

 acre on wTiich fruit-trees are cultivated, placed 

 at intervals not exceeding 30 feet. 



The aid to railroads, aside from the granting 

 of franchises for the construction of new roads, 

 consists in liberal grants of land for the bene- 

 fit of these important enterprises. The rail- 

 roads of the State are now twelve in number, 

 and have more than 1,400 miles of road in act- 

 ual operation. A great work connected with 

 this system of railways is a bridge over the 

 Missouri Kiver at Council Bluffs, the plan of 

 which has been already prepared by General 

 Gr. M. Dodge, Chief Engineer of the Union Pa- 

 cific Railroad, while a contract for its execu- 

 tion has been made with L. B. Bloomer, Esq., 

 of Chicago. The bridge is to'be built of iron, 

 and will rest on iron columns 8 feet in diame- 

 ter, sunk TO feet into the sand at the bottom 

 of the river. The bridge will cross the stream 

 with 10 spans each of 250 feet extent. Besides 

 the 2,500 feet of iron-work, forming these arch- 

 es, the trestles will have about the same length, 

 and the approaches to the structure will be 

 about three miles long. The weight of the 

 superstructure of this bridge will be about 

 2,000 pounds for each lineal foot. 



An act received the Governor's approval on 

 the 31st of March, which provided for the es- 

 tablishment of a State Reform School for 

 offenders against the laws, both male and fe- 

 male, below the age of eighteen years. This is 

 an institution of which a growing need is felt in 

 many of the States. The act of March last, in 

 Iowa, provides for the appointment -of trustees 

 and the organization of the school under their 

 direction, and lays down regulations for its 

 general management, but the selection of a 

 permanent site and the erection of appropriate 

 buildings are left to the care of future Legisla- 

 tures. A temporary institution is, however, to 

 be opened at once in accordance with the law, 

 by leasing, for a term not exceeding ten years, 



