WISCONSIN. 



767 



to trial as soon as the ends of justice will per- 

 mit; they express implicit confidence that 

 Congress, in this crisis of the nation's affairs, 

 will maintain inviolate the Constitution and 

 the laws, and vindicate their authority, and 

 that a loyal people will sustain their represent- 

 atives, if need he, by the sword. They further- 

 more express their appreciation of the inesti- 

 mable value of the services of General Grant 

 in suppressing the rebellion, and declare that 

 he has shown a capacity for civil affairs and a 

 statesmanlike comprehensiveness and breadth 

 of intellect fitting him, above all others, in the 

 present crisis, to be a President who shall re- 

 store peace and order, insure the execution of 

 the laws, and secure economy in the adminis- 

 tration of public affairs. They finally assert 

 it to be the duty of the Government to protect 

 citizens abroad, native or adopted, and to de- 

 mand the instant release of any citizens de- 

 tained by any foreign government who have 

 not committed any crime in the country where 

 they are imprisoned. The following dispatch 

 was sent from the Convention : 



E. M. Stanton : Stand by the "War Department, 

 and we will stand by you. 



An election for Judges of the Supreme 

 Court was held in April. L. S. Dixon was 

 chosen Chief Justice for one year, and Byron 

 Paine Associate Justice for three years. At 

 the presidential election in November, the 

 whole number of votes cast in the State was 

 193,567, of which 108,857 were in favor of 

 Grant for President, and 84,710 for Seymour: 

 Grant's majority, 24,147. Six Eepresentatives 

 to Congress were chosen, of whom five were 

 Eepublicans. The State Legislature of 1869 

 is constituted as follows : 



Senate. 



Eepublicans 19 



Democrats 14 



House, Joint Ballot. 



68 87 



32 46 



Republican majority .... 5 36 41 



The validity of the law of 1865, authorizing 

 a tax of 1|- per cent, on the shares in national 

 banks, was tested in the Supreme Court of 

 the State in February, and the law was sus- 

 tained by the decision of Chief-Justice Dixon. 



The valuation of real and personal property 

 as determined by the Board of Assessment for 

 1868 is $244,440,774, showing an increase of 

 $47,589,613.03 over that of the preceding year. 

 The receipts into the public treasury from all 

 sources, during the fiscal year ending with Sep- 

 tember 30th, was $982,870; the expenditures 

 during the same period amounted to $946,518.- 

 65, leaving a surplus of $44,956.65. The State 

 debt has been reduced $27,000 during the 

 year, and now amounts to $2,252,057, most of 

 which is due to the school-fund. Sixteen 

 banks are now doing business in Wisconsin, 

 under the State banking laws, with an aggre- 

 gate capital of $525,000, and an outstanding 

 circulation of $15,453. The office of Bank 

 Comptroller has been abolished, and the duties 



formerly pertaining to the position now de- 

 volve on the State Treasurer; $60,000 were 

 derived by the State from the taxation of na- 

 tional banks under the law of 1865, which 

 was pronounced constitutional by the Supreme 

 Court. The total productive school-fund of 

 the State amounts to $2,205,486.83, and yields 

 an income of $178,238.78. The whole amount 

 expended for school purposes during the past 

 year was $1,791,940.52, or $7.19 for each pupil 

 registered as having attended school. The 

 State still holds 461,461 acres of land unsold, 

 the proceeds of which will go to increase the 

 principal of the school-fund. The number of 

 schools in the State was reported at 5,000, 

 attended by 249,007 children. 



The Normal Schools, at Platteville and 

 Whitewater, are in a flourishing condition, and 

 the erection of buildings for a new Normal 

 School at Oshkosh has already begun. The 

 State has a Normal school-fund amounting to 

 $625,294, which yields an annual income of 

 $67,776. There are also 810,667 acres of land 

 for sale for the benefit of this fund. The num- 

 ber of pupils at these schools during the year 

 was 316, of whom 143 were in the normal de- 

 partment. The State University is represented 

 to be in a flourishing condition, and great need 

 is felt of additional buildings. Some change 

 has been made in the organization of the insti- 

 tution, and several new instructors have been 

 appointed. Departments of " Agriculture " and 

 " Military Tactics and Engineering " have been 

 added, and General W. E. Pease has been de- 

 tailed by the War Department to take charge 

 of the latter. There were 316 students in at- 

 tendance during the last academic year, about 

 one-third of whom were young ladies. The 

 following items show the financial condition 

 of the university : 



Total productive University fund $199,433 14 



Total productive Agricultural College fund. . . 14,488 40 



Dane County bonds belonging to this fund 11,000 00 



Receipts of the University fund income 1868. . 27,658 38 



Disbursements 31,129 49 



Balance in this fund 2,148 43 



Disbursements of experimental farm fund .... 5,313 41 



$291,171 23 



12,755 acres of University land, valued at 31,885 00 



219,737 acres of agricultural lands (unsold), 



valuedat 274,671 00 



Total valuation of these lands $306,556 00 



Wisconsin boasts no less than ten "col- 

 leges," two of which are exclusively for males, 

 two for females, and six for both sexes indis- 

 criminately. 



The benevolent institutions of the State are 

 in a very satisfactory condition. The Insane 

 Asylum has been enlarged, and now accom- 

 modates 350 patients, but there is pressing 

 need of still further accommodation, and the 

 Governor has recommended the erection of a 

 new institution of the kind. The present 

 asylum is a fine structure, and well adapted 

 to the purposes for which it was built ; 355 

 patients have received treatment during 

 the past year, at a cost to the State of 



