416 



IOWA. 



road from Washington, through the counties 

 of Jefferson, Wapello, Appanoose, and Wayne, 

 into the State of Missouri, and through that 

 State to Leavenworth, Kansas. The Burling- 

 ton & Missouri River Railroad Company has 

 built a branch from Red-Oak Junction, in Mont- 

 gomery County, to Hamburg, in Fremont 

 County, a distance of thirty -nine miles. The 

 Davenport & St. Paul Railroad has been built 

 from the first-named city to Maquoketa, in 

 Jackson County, a distance of forty-three miles, 

 and to Wyoming, in Jones County, a distance 

 of fifty-three miles. The Iowa Midland Rail- 

 road is in operation from Clinton, via Maquo- 

 keta, to Anarnosa; and the Sabula, Ackley & 

 Dakota Railroad is built from the former place, 

 through Jackson and Clinton Counties, to Ox- 

 ford Mills, in Jones County, a distance of some 

 fifty miles. A road from Des Moines to Mil- 

 waukee is in course of construction. 



The political canvass of the year was attend- 

 ed with very little excitement, there being no 

 special question at issue, and it being certain 

 from the start that the Republicans would 

 carry every thing before them. The Demo- 

 cratic Convention was held at Des Moines on 

 the 14th of June, when the following nomina- 

 tions were made : for Governor, J. C. Knapp, 

 of Van Buren County ; for Lieutenant-Gov- 

 ernor, M. M. Hamm, of Dubuque ; for Super- 

 intendent of Public Instruction, E. M. Mumm, 

 of Lee ; for Judge of the Supreme Court, John 

 F. Duncornbe, of Webster. The principles and 

 policy of the party were set forth in the fol- 

 lowing resolutions : 



Resolved, That we recognize our binding obligation 

 to the Constitution of the United States, as it now 

 exists, without reference to the means by which the 

 same became the supreme law of the land. 



Resolved, That we will faithfully^ support the Con- 

 stitution of the United States as it now exists, and 

 that we demand for it a strict construction, so as to 

 protect equally the rights of States and individuals. 



Resolved^ That we cherish the American system of 

 State and local governments, and that we will for- 

 ever defend the same against centralized Federal 

 power. 



Resolved, That universal suffrage having been es- 

 tablished, should now be coupled with its twin meas- 

 ure, universal amnesty. 



^ Resolved, That we denounce all riotous combina- 

 tions and conspirators against law, and demand that 

 the same be suppressed by the proper authorities, 

 and that the Federal power ought not to intervene 

 unless such intervention is demanded by the State 

 authorities. 



Resolved, That the proposed annexation of the 

 Dominican Republic meets with our earnest opposi- 

 tion, partly on account of the character of its mongrel 

 population, and of their uniitness to become American 

 citizens, but more especially on account of the cor- 

 rupt motives in which that measure had its incep- 

 tion, and of the reprehensible means by which it was 

 sought to be consummated. 



Resolved, That while we have a tariff on imports 

 it must be regulated with an eye single to revenue, 

 and not with a view to what is protected, which is 

 onty another name for the legalized plundering of 

 one industry to bestow favors upon another, and that 

 the recent election to the United States Senate, by 

 the Legislature of Iowa, of a man wholly and openly 

 committed to a protectional tariif, demonstrates that 



the party in power are in antagonism to the great 

 agricultural interests of the State. 



Resolved, That the profligate corruption and wan- 

 ton extravagance which pervade every department 

 of the Federal Government ; the sacrifice of the in- 

 terests of the laborer to aggrandize a handful of aris- 

 tocrats ; the wicked deprivation of the people of their 

 rightful heritage in the public lands, which have 

 been made a gift to railroads and other monopolists ; 

 the payment of more than twenty millions premium 

 during this Administration of President Grant on 

 Government bonds payable at par ; the maintenance 

 at an annual cost to the people of nearly thirty mill- 

 ions of an unconstitutional, oppressive, and extor- 

 tionate system of banking whereby money is made 

 scarce, and interest high, are abuses which call for 

 wise and thorough remedies. 



Resolved, That we are in favor of strict economy, 

 and of a large reduction of the expenditures of the 

 Federal and State governments, of civil service re- 

 form, of the collection of the internal revenue by State 

 authorities, and the return to honest labor of the 

 myriads of tax-gatherers who afflict our land and eat 

 up its subsistence, and of the speedy trial, convic- 

 tion, and punishment of the thieves who have stolen 

 the taxes paid by the people. 



Resolved, That we reject the idea of repudiation of 

 the national debt, and believe it to be the duty of 

 the Government to pay ? according to law, and in 

 lawful monev, all of its liabilities. 



Resolved, That it is a flagrant outrage on the rights 

 of the free laborers and mechanics of Iowa that the 

 labor of penitentiary convicts should be brought into 

 conflict with theirs, and that it is the duty of the 

 next Legislature to enact such laws as will certainly 

 and effectually protect them from such unjust and 

 ruinous competition. 



Resolved, That section two, article eight, of the 

 constitution of Iowa, which declares that the prop- 

 erty of all corporations for pecuniary profit shall be 

 subject to taxation the same as that of individuals, 

 should be rigidly and strictly enforced, and that, by 

 virtue thereof, we demand that railroads and railroad 

 property shall be taxed, just as the property of the 

 larmer and mechanic is taxed, and we affirm the right 

 of the people, by legislative enactmentj to regulate 

 and control all corporations doing business within 

 the borders of the State. 



Resolved, That with the watchword of "reform," 

 we confidently go to the country; that we believe 

 the interests of the great body of the people are the 

 same ; that, without regard to past political associa- 

 tions, they are the friends of free government ; that 

 they are equally honest, brave, and patriotic, and we 

 appeal to them, as to our brothers and countrymen, 

 to aid us to obtain relief from the grievous abuses 

 which wrong and oppress every one, except the 

 wrong-doers and oppressors themselves. 



The first five resolutions were adopted unan- 

 imously without discussion. The sixth, sev- 

 enth, and twelfth, met with some opposition, 

 but had a large majority of voices in their 

 favor. A resolution in favor of a judicious 

 liquor license law was offered, but afterward 

 withdrawn. 



The Republican Convention met in the same 

 city, just one week later, on the 21st of June, 

 and made nominations as follows : For Gov- 

 ernor, Cyrus C. Carpenter, of Webster ; for 

 Lieutenant-Governor, H. C. Bulls, of Winne- 

 shiek ; for Superintendent of Public Instruc- 

 tion, Colonel Alonzo Abernethy, of Crawford; 

 for Judge of the Supreme Court, J. G. Day, of 

 Fremont. The last was a renomination, and 

 was unanimous. The following platform was 

 adopted without opposition, a brief debate 



