NEW JERSEY. 



543 



Constitution of the United States, with all its limita- 

 tions of power up_on the Federal Government. 



Resolved, That it is the right of each State to deter- 

 mine for itself all questions relating to suffrage, and 

 that any legislation of Congress upon this subject, af- 

 fecting the States, is in violation of the Constitution 

 and an infringement upon the reserved rights of tho 

 States. 



Resolved, That the history of the Kepublican party, 

 as at present controlled by its radical leaders, is char- 

 acterized by a series of gross violations of the rights 

 guaranteed by the Constitution to the States and to 

 individuals, and at the same tune a record of the most 

 flagrant acts of tyranny and corruption that ever dis- 

 graced a civilized and Christian people. 



Resolved, That the only hope of the country is the 

 restoration of the Democratic party to power. Under 

 its wise and conservative rule, the people have ever 

 prospered, and, on the contrary, its defeat has invari- 

 ably been the source of disaster and misrule. 



Resolved, That we are opposed to all forms of repu- 

 diation of the national indebtedness, and insist that 

 the pledged faith of the Government, at home and 

 abroad, be maintained inviolate. 



Resolved, That the gratitude of the people of New 

 Jersey is due to those brave men who maintained the 

 honor of the flag, by sea and by land, in the war for 

 the preservation of the Union. 



Resolved, That as this is the first time that the De- 

 mocracy of the State have met by their representa- 

 tives in convention since the close of the administra- 

 tion of the Hon. Joel Parker, it is deemed appropriate 

 to give expression to the general approval of his con- 

 duct as Governor of this State, in the most trying pe- 

 riod of the country's history, when with the prudence 

 and wisdom of good statesmanship he fulfilled all the 

 obligations of the State to the Federal Government, 

 and at the same time upheld the civil and political 

 rights of the people, and maintained the supremacy of 

 the civil over the military power. 



Resolved, That we pledge our unwavering support 

 to the nominee of the National Democratic Conven- 

 tion to assemble in the city of New York on the fourth 

 day of July next ; that, without intending in any way 

 to instruct our delegates, New Jersey would feel hon- 

 ored by the nomination of ex-Governor Joel Parker 

 as a candidate for the office of President of the United 

 States. 



Another convention of the Democracy was 

 held in July for the purpose of nominating 

 candidates for Governor and electors, and of 

 "expressing the sentiments of the party upon 

 the issues presented for the decision of the 

 people in the coming campaign." The expres- 

 sion of sentiments was contained in the fol- 

 lowing resolutions : 



Resolved, That we heartily indorse the nominations 

 of Horatio Seymour and Frank P. "Blair, Jr., for Pres- 

 ident and Vice-President of the United States, and 

 the platform of principles enunciated by the National 

 Convention of New York. 



Resolved, That we congratulate the people of New 

 Jersey upon their spontaneous repudiation of the Re- 

 publican proposition of last year, to strike out the 

 word " white " from the State constitution and to es- 

 tablish political equality between the white and black 

 races in this State. 



Resolved, That the Democracy of New Jersey, ac- 

 cepting the settlement of slavery effected by the war, 

 and by the consent of the Southern States to the Con- 

 stitutional Amendment abolishing the institution, do, 

 nevertheless, insist upon the right of all the States, 

 under the Constitution, to regulate their own domestic 

 affairs in their own way, without congressional inter- 

 ference. 



Resolved, That the Democratic party of this State 

 remember with pride and gratitude the gallant ser- 

 vices of her volunteer soldiers and sailors in the late 



war, and will faithfully redeem all tho pledges mado 

 in their behalf. 



Resolved, That tho representatives of the Democracy 

 this day assembled pledge to tho nominees of thm 

 convention their undivided support, believing that 

 their election will redound to the welfare of the State 

 and the prosperity of tho country. 



The State election occurred on tho same day 

 with the presidential election in November, 

 and resulted in the choice of the Democratic 

 candidate, Theodore F. Randolph, for Gov- 

 ernor, by a majority of 4,618. The whole vote 

 was 163,284, Randolph having 83,951, and 

 Blair 79,333. The whole vote cast for presi- 

 dential electors was 163,122, of which 80,121 

 were in favor of the election of Grant, and 

 83,001 for Seymour, giving the latter candidate 

 a majority of 2,880 votes. Five members of 

 Congress were chosen, three of whom were 

 Democrats and two Republicans. The new 

 Legislature contains thirty-two Democratic 

 members in the House and twelve in the Sen- 

 ate, and twenty-eight Republicans in the 

 House and nine in the Senate. A Senator in 

 Congress is to be chosen by this body in 1869, 

 in place of Mr. Frelinghuysen. 



The State received $269,613.46 during tho 

 year from the various railroads, in the form 

 of transit duties levied npon railway corpora- 

 tions. The question of putting an end to this 

 form of taxation has been brought to the at- 

 tention of the Legislature by a memorial of 

 the "United Delaware and Raritan Canal 

 Company, Camden and Amboy Railroad and 

 Transportation Company, and New Jersey 

 Railroad and Transportation Company;" and 

 Governor Randolph, in a message to the Le- 

 gislature of 1869, recommends the enactment 

 of a law, " upon the acceptance of which by 

 the companies now paying transit duties (if 

 such acceptance be requisite), all payments by 

 them of such duties, whether upon passengers 

 or freights, shall cease." 



The receipts and disbursements of the State 

 Treasury during the fiscal year ending Novem- 

 ber 30, 1868, were as follows: 



Leaving a balance of $24,134.20 in bank, be- 

 longing to the following funds, viz. : 



War Fund $5,012 97 



School Fund 10,383 62 



Agricultural College Fund 545 95 



State Library Fund 346 12 



Bank Note Redemption Fund 7,845 54 



Total .' $24,134 20 



The indebtedness of the State on civil ac- 



