NEBRASKA. 



537 



that he did similarly in case of the State 

 University ; that he made false representa- 

 tions to the Legislature respecting some of 

 his financial transactions ; that he corruptly 

 loaned the school-funds; that he received 

 $640 belonging to the Board of Immigra- 

 tion, and did not account therefor ; that he 

 made a corrupt bargain to use his influence 

 in obtaining grants for the Midland Pacific 

 Railroad Company ; that he had sold public 

 lands and retained a portion of the purchase- 

 money. The Insane Asylum, which had been 

 built on a contract made by the Governor, 

 and at an expense to the State of $120,000, 

 had been pronounced unsafe, and, while these 

 charges were pending, it was set on fire and 

 burned to the ground. The enemies of the 

 Governor were not slow to accuse him of in- 

 stigating the incendiarism. The university 

 and other public buildings at Lincoln were 

 also declared to be badly built, and already in 

 an unsafe condition. At the beginning of the 

 impeachment trial, Governor Butler was sus- 

 pended from performing the functions of his 

 office, and the same were turned over to 

 Colonel James for the time being. The trial 

 lasted until the 2d of June, when the vote was 

 taken in the Senate, and the Governor was 

 convicted on the first article, relating to the 

 appropriation of nearly $17,000 of the school- 

 fund to his own use, by a vote of nine to two, 

 and acquitted on all the others. A decree was 

 made removing him from office, but not dis- 

 qualifying him from holding office in the fu- 

 ture. The impeachment of the other officials, 

 implicated more or less with the Governor in 

 the alleged irregularities, was abandoned. 



A convention assembled at Lincoln on the 

 13th of June, for the purpose of revising and 

 amending the constitution of the State, and 

 completed its work on the 19th of August, 

 having been in actual session forty-eight 

 days. A constitution was framed, differing in 

 many particulars from the old instrument. 

 Among the new features were provisions for 

 a Lieutenant-Governor, and a Supreme Court 

 consisting of three judges. The Legislature 

 was to be increased from thirteen Senators 

 and thirty-seven Representatives to nineteen 

 Senators and fifty-seven Representatives, and 

 after the first election a further increase might 

 be made by law to thirty-three Senators and one 

 hundred Representatives. The members were 

 to be required to swear, among other things : 

 " I have not knowingly or intentionally paid 

 or contributed any thing, or made any promise 

 in the nature of a bribe, to, directly or in- 

 directly, induce any vote at the election at 

 which I was chosen to fill the said office, and 

 have not accepted, nor will I accept or receive, 

 directly or indirectly, any money or other 

 valuable thing from any corporation, company, 

 or person for any vote or influence I may give 

 or withhold on any bill, resolution, appropria- 

 tion, or any other official act." 



Special laws granting divorces, giving the 



right to lay down railroad-tracks, or in any 

 case granting exclusive privileges, were pro- 

 hibited. When the provisions relating to the 

 right of suffrage were under consideration, an 

 attempt was made to secure the extension of 

 this privilege to women. A motion to strike 

 out the word male from the clause granting 

 the elective franchise was lost by a decisive 

 vote. The following proposition was dis- 

 cussed at some length, and finally referred to 

 the committee on a " Bill of Rights," after a 

 motion to postpone it indefinitely had been 

 lost by a vote of 20 to 27: 



That the question of female suffrage in tliis State 

 shall be decided by the females alone ; and the right 

 of females to vote in this State shall be submitted to 

 them as a separate proposition by the county com- 

 missioners in each county in the State by appointing 

 a registrar in each precinct and ward, whoso duty it 

 shall be to visit each family in his precinct or ward, 

 and register the name and vote of each female mem- 

 ber thereof on the proposition of female suffrage, and 

 that each female shall have the privilege of register- 

 ing and voting under the same instructions as the 

 male voters, and said registrar shall take and make 

 returns of said vote under oath, on or before the last 

 day of November next, to the county clerks of their 

 counties, and said county clerks shall make returns 

 of said voters to the Secretary of State at the time 

 and manner of making the returns of the votes on 

 the constitution. If it shall appear that a majority 

 of the female voters have voted for female suffrage, 

 the proposition shall be a part of the constitution of 

 this State. 



The subject was finally disposed of by adopt- 

 ing the following, to be submitted to a sepa- 

 rate vote of the people : 



The Legislature may extend by law the riffht of 

 suffrage to persons not herein enumerated, but no 

 such law shall be in force until the same shall have 

 been submitted to a vote of the people at a general 

 election, and approved by a majority of all the votes 

 cast on that question at such election. 



The question of minority representation oc- 

 cupied considerable attention, and a committee 

 reported in favor of the following plan for 

 cumulative voting: 



At any election when one of three or more persons 

 is to be elected to an office by the same constituency, 

 each qualified voter may cast as many votes for 

 any candidate as there are persons to be elected to 

 such office, or may distribute the same, or equal 

 parts thereof, as he may see fit, among the candi- 

 dates, not exceeding the number to be elected. The 

 candidates highest in votes shall be declared elected ; 

 or^ if any equal vote for two or more having the re- 

 quisite number shall require it, the choice "between 

 them shall be made by lot. 



The committee supported their proposition 

 with strong arguments, and several delegates 

 expressed themselves in its favor very em- 

 phatically, but it was finally lost by a vote 

 of 15 to 25. 



Another important subject on which con- 

 siderable attention was bestowed was that of 

 compulsory education. The result was a pro- 

 vision to be submitted separately to the people 

 in the following terms : 



The Legislature may require by law that every 

 child of sufficient mental and physical ability, be- 

 tween the ages of eight and sixteen years, unless 

 educated by other means, shall, in all cases when 



