DELAWARE. 



217 



the Court of Cassation in 1840, and in 1847 be- 

 came Procureur- General to the Royal Court 

 of Paris, and managed several very important 

 political causes in that capacity. At the elec- 

 tion of 1846 he was elected a member of the 

 Chamber of Deputies from Cosnes (Nievre), in 

 spite of a very strong opposition, and in the 

 Chamber ranked as a Conservative. After the 

 revolution of February, 1848, M. Delangle was 

 deprived of his governmental appointments, 

 and returned to the bar. He now embraced 

 the cause of Louis Napoleon, and in 1850 was 

 appointed by him President of the Bureau of 

 Judiciary Assistance to the Court of Cassation. 

 At the time of the coup d'etat (December 2, 

 1851), he was a member of the Consultative 

 Commission, and soon after was appointed by 

 Louis Napoleon President of the Section of the 

 Interior, of Public Instruction and Worship in 

 the Council of State. He was also one of the 

 commissioners chosen to represent the Gov- 

 ernment in the deliberations of the Senate 

 relative to the establishment of the empire. 

 At the beginning of 1852 he was restored to 

 the magistracy, at first, as Procureur- General 

 of the Court of Cassation, in place of M. Du- 

 pin, resigned. On the 30th of December, 1852, 

 he was appointed First President of the Impe- 

 rial Court of Paris, and the next day created 

 a Senator. He became also President of the 

 Municipal and Departmental Commission of 

 the Seine, and member of -the Imperial Council 

 of Public Instruction. On the 5th of June, 

 1858, he was called to succeed General Espi- 

 nasse in the Ministry of the Interior, from 

 which office the additional duties of Ministry 

 of General Safety were then withdrawn. On 

 the 5th of May, 1859, he passed from this office 

 to the Ministry of Justice, with the title of 

 Keeper of the Seals. He. resigned this office 

 June 23, 1863, and in October following suc- 

 ceeded M. Roland as first Yice-President of the 

 Senate. He was elected in March, 1859, a 

 member of the Academy of Moral and Political 

 Sciences. He was made a Grand Cross of the 

 Legion of Honor by the Emperor in 1864. 

 M. Delangle retained his position in the magis- 

 tracy till his death. He was the author of 

 an able " Treatise on Commercial Societies 

 (2 vols. T 8vo, 1843), and of numerous articles 

 on legal topics in the Gazette of the Tri- 

 bunals. 



DELAWARE. Public affairs in this State 

 have been quiet in 1869, and little has trans- 

 pired worthy of record. There has been no 

 political canvass or election held during the 

 year. The Legislature, which meets biennially, 

 was in session from the first Tuesday in Janu- 

 ary until the 9th of April, when it adjourned, 

 making one of the longest sessions that there 

 has been for many years. A very large pro- 

 portion of the measures acted upon were not 

 of general importance. The Fifteenth Amend- 

 ment to the Constitution of the United States 

 having been submitted to the Legislature, its 

 ratification was rejected by a vote of 7 to 2 in 



the Senate, and 21 to in the House. The most 

 important measure passed at this session was 

 the "Act providing revenue for the State," 

 which was intended to secure means for pay- 

 ment of the interest on the funded debt, and 

 for the support of the State government. The 

 bill imposes the following taxes : 



1. On all sales over $1,000 per annum, less 

 commissions, freights, and United States tax, 

 one-tenth of one per cent., payable quarterly. 



2. On manufactures, the same rate, with an 

 allowance for the same deductions. 



3. On various law processes, recording deeds, 

 registering wills, etc. ; various additional fees 

 varying from twenty-five cents to five dollars. 



4. On foreign insurance companies, two and 

 a half per cent, on the premiums received, pay- 

 able quarterly ; on home companies, one-half 

 of one per cent., payable yearly. 



5. On corporations (except banks, railroad, 

 canal, and insurance companies, and loan as- 

 sociations), one-fourth of one per cent, on the 

 cash value of their capital. 



6. On private bankers and brokers, and real- 

 estate agents, two per cent, on their annual 

 receipts for brokerage and commissions. 



7. On building and loan associations, one- 

 fourth of one per cent, on gross receipts. 



8. On all collateral inheritances, legacies, 

 and distributive shares, over $500, one and a 

 half per cent. 



9. On judgments, mortgages, bonds, stocks, 

 in foreign corporations, one-fourth of one per 

 cent. 



Provision is made for the appointment by 

 the Governor of an assessor for each county, 

 to assess the tax ; and for its collection by the 

 State Treasurer or his deputies. The provi- 

 sions of the bill occasioned no little dissatisfac- 

 tion in some parts of the State, and several 

 remonstrances against its enactment were pre- 

 sented to the Legislature, to the effect, that 

 the tax on the manufacturing interests of the 

 State was excessive and would give a great ad- 

 vantage to the manufactures of the adjacent 

 States ; that the tax of one-half of one per cent. 

 on bonded and other indebtedness would cause 

 capitalists to seek other markets for invest- 

 ment ; and, that the provisions of the bill were 

 unjust, as it did not impose a tax upon the 

 landed interest of the State. 



Tax bills were passed imposing upon all 

 railroad and canal companies in the State, " in 

 addition to the tax now imposed upon them," 

 a tax of three per cent, upon their net earn- 

 ings, inside of the State, one hundred dollars 

 a year for each locomotive, twenty -five dollars 

 for each passenger-car, and ten dollars for each 

 freight -car ; also, a tax of one-fourth of one 

 >er cent, on the cash value of the stock of 



A Woman's Suffrage Convention was held at 

 Wilmington in November, for the purpose of 

 forming a State society, to advocate the prin- 

 ciples of this cause. There was a good attend- 

 ance of men and women, many of whom were 



