362 



IOWA. 



ITALY. 



volumes, besides several hundred pamphlets. 

 It is anticipated that the number will be in- 

 creased at the rate of 1,000 annually, by 

 donations and otherwise. 



The extent of the grants of public land made 

 to the State is as follows: For educational 

 purposes, $1,843,549.94; for railroads, inter- 

 nal improvements, etc., $5,433,395.70; total, 

 $7,276,945.64. 



The Democratic party met in convention, 

 and after a spirited contest the following ticket 

 was nominated : For Governor, Geo. Gillespie ; 

 for Lieutenant-Governor, A. P. Eichardson; 

 for Supreme Judge, W. F. Brannan ; for Su- 

 perintendent of Public Instruction, Edmond 

 Jaerger. The following platform was unani- 

 mously adopted : 



Whereas, Upon the eve of a political canvass, the 

 time-honored usage of our party requires that a plat- 

 form of principles be announced for the government 

 of those who may be elected to office : therefore be it 



Resolved, That the Democratic party view with 

 alarm the election of an unscrupulous majority in 

 Congress, in its attempts to absorb the powers of the 

 executive and judicial departments of the Govern- 

 ment, and to annihilate the rights and functions re- 

 served to the State governments. 



Resolved, That we favor a reform in the national 

 banking system, looking to an ultimate abolition of 

 that pernicious plan for the aggrandizement of the 

 few, at the expense of the many. 



Resolved, That now, as in times past, we are op- 

 posed to a high protective tariff, and that we will 

 use every effort to prevent and defeat that system 

 of national legislation which would enrich a small 

 class of manufacturers at the expense of the great 

 mass of producers and consumers^ and that we are 

 in favor of such reforms in our tariff system as shall 

 promote commerce with every nation of the world. 



Resolved, That the pretended trial, conviction, and 

 execution of persons not belonging to the military or 

 naval service of the United States, by military com- 

 mission, is in direct conflict with the Constitution, 

 and we denounce the same as unworthy of a free 

 people, and disgraceful to the American Govern- 

 ment. 



Resolved, That we demand no more, and will sub- 

 mit to nothing less,_ than the settlement of the Ala- 

 bama claims according to the recognized rules of in- 

 ternational law, and that we declare it to be the duty 

 of the Government to protect every citizen, whether 

 naturalized or native, in every right of liberty and 

 property throughout the world, without regard to the 

 pretended claims of foreign nations to their alle- 

 giance. 



Resolved, That we are in favor of, and insist upon, 

 an economical administration of the national and 

 State Governments, that the people may be as speed- 

 ily as possible relieved from the load of taxation with 

 which they are now oppressed, and that public offi- 

 cers should be held to strict accountability to the 

 people for all their official acts. 



Resolved, That a national debt is a national curse ; 

 and that, while we favor the payment of our present 

 indebtedness, according to the strict letter of the con- 

 tract, we would rather repudiate the same than see it 

 made the means for the establishment of an empire 

 upon the ruins of constitutional law and liberty. 



Resolved, That, in the opinion of this convention, 

 the so-called Maine liquor law, which now disgraces 

 the statute-books of the State of Iowa, ought to be 

 repealed at the earliest possible moment. 



Resolutions in reference to the fifteenth 

 amendment, and several other matters, were 

 laid on the table. 



The Eepublican State Convention nominated, 

 for Governor, Samuel Merrill ; Lieutenant-Gov- 

 ernor, Madison M. Walden ; Judge of Supreme 

 Court, John F. Dillon; Superintendent of 

 Public Instruction, Abraham J. Kissell. 



The following platform was framed and 

 adopted : 



Resolved, That we cordially indorse the Adminis- 

 tration of Governor Merrill as wise, economical, and 

 honest, and that it deserves, as it has received, the 

 hearty approval of the people of Iowa. 



Resolved, That we insist upon a continuance of 

 strict and close economy in all departments of our 

 State government, in order to the maintenance of the 

 happy and exceptional financial condition to which 

 our State has attained tinder Republican rule. 



Resolved, That the means now in the State Treas- 

 ury, and which may become available, ought to be 

 used for the purpose of defraying the nece'ssary ex- 

 penditures of the State government, economically ad- 

 ministered, and for no other purpose ; and no State 

 taxes, or only the minimum absolutely required, 

 should be levied or collected, until such means are 

 exhausted, to the end that the burden of taxation 

 may be made as light as possible. 



Resolved, That we rejoice in the glorious national 

 victory of 1868, which has brought peace, and happi- 

 ness, and prosperity, to our nation, and we heartily 

 indorse the Administration of General Grant. 



Resolved, That the Republican party of Iowa, being 

 among the firs^ since the rebellion to incorporate in a 

 State constitution the great principle of impartial 

 suffrage, cordially accepts the opportunity presented, 

 by adopting the fifteenth amendment to the Consti- 

 tution of the United States, of making the principle 

 national. 



Resolved, That the public expenditures of the na- 

 tional Government should be reduced to the lowest 

 sum which can be reached, by a system of the most 

 rigid economy ; that no money should be taken from 

 the national Treasury for any work of internal im- 

 provement, or for the erection of any public build- 

 ings not clearly necessary to be made or erected, until 

 the national debt is paid or greatly reduced. That 

 all the money that can be saved from the national 

 revenue, honestly collected, should be applied to the 

 reduction of the national debt, to the end that the 

 people may be relieved from the burden of taxation 

 as rapidly as practicable. 



Resolved, That we indorse and approve the policy 

 which the present Secretary of the Treasury of the 

 United States has pursued. 



The result of the election was as follows : 

 Merrill, Republican, 96,579 ; Gillespie, Demo- 

 crat, 57,434. Merrill's majority, 39,145. 



The Legislature contained : in the Senate, 43 

 Republicans and 7 Democrats; in the lower 

 House, 86 Republicans and 14 Democrats. 



ITALY,* a kingdom in Southern Europe. 

 King, Victor Emmanuel, born March 14, 1820; 

 succeeded his father, as King of Sardinia, on 

 March 23, 1849 ; assumed the title of King of 

 Italy on March 17, 1861. Heir-apparent to the 

 throne, Prince Humbert, born March 14, 1844; 

 married April 22, 1868, to Princess Marguerita, 

 of Savoy, daughter of the late Duke of Genoa, 

 brother of King Victor Emmanuel. The area 

 of the kingdom (since the annexation of Vene- 

 tia, in 1866) is 118,356 square miles; the popu- 

 lation, according to the census of 1862, 24,273,- 



* See the AMERICAN ANNUAL CYCLOPAEDIA of 1868 for 

 the population of the large cities, ecclesiastical and edu- 

 cational statistics, etc. 



