INDIANA. 



415 



A list of seventeen resolutions was appended 



.ml. It- containing those matters. The 

 following resolutions relate to national finances: 



1. That wo are in favor of the redemption of th 



:. .iuls in greenbacks, according to the 

 few under which they were issued. 



_. \v i i favor of the repeal of the law of 

 March, 1869, which assumed to construe the law so 

 i iko .Hii.'h bonds payable exclusively in g"ld. 

 o ure in favor of the repeal of the national 

 banking law, and the substitution of greenbacks for 

 lln- n:ituiiuil-bank currency. 



L NV'e are in favor of a return to specie payment 

 as soon as tho business interests of the country will 



5. Wo are in favor of such legislation from time to 

 tinii' :is will adjust the volume of the currency to tho 

 i-'>miiK-n-i:il un'd industrial wants of the country. 



The sixth resolution was as follows : 



8. We are in favor of a liberal system of education 

 tor the benefit of the negro as well as tho whito 

 children of Indiana, but we are opposed to the mixt- 

 ure of tho block and white races in our public 

 schools or other educational institutions. 



The seventh condemns the civil-rights bill ; 

 the eighth pronounces the " Baxter " temper- 

 ance law a failure, and demands a license act ; 

 the ninth demands legislation upon the subject 

 of railroads and other corporations which 

 " will effectually secure the industrial and pro- 

 ducing interests of the country against all 

 forms of corporate monopoly and extortion ; " 

 the tenth favors retrenchment, economy, and 

 the reduction of taxes; the eleventh denounces 

 as " a wanton outrage " the increase of the State 

 tax "from five to fifteen cents on the $100," 

 and the increase at the same time of " the valu- 

 ation of property almost 50 per cent ; " the 

 twelfth calls for a restriction of county com- 

 missioners and town trustees in the matter of 

 levying taxes and creating indebtedness ; the 

 thirteenth denounces " the practices of officers 

 using public money as their own ; " the four- 

 teenth opposes grants of land or loans of pub- 

 lic credit to aid railroads or other corporations. 

 The remaining resolutions were as follows : 



15. That in the formation of associations for mu- 

 tual protection and improvement we recognize an ef- 

 fort upon the part of the industrial classes to ameli- 

 orate their condition, and heartily extend to them 

 our sympathies and support. 



16. That we are in favor of the abolition of tho 

 office of county superintendent of schools, and the 

 repeal of the law requiring an appraisement of real 

 estate every two years, and in favor of the restora- 

 tion of the "former law. 



17. That we bear in grateful remembrance the sac- 

 rifices made and the services rendered by the gal- 

 lant soldiers of the late war in defense of the Union, 

 and we demand as an act of justice that the bounties 

 ot'onr soldiers and of their widows and orphan chil- 

 dren shall be equalized by proper legislation. 



The nominations of the convention were as 

 follows : For Secretary of State, John E. Neff ; 

 for Auditor, Ebenezer Henderson ; for Treas- 

 urer, Benjamin 0. Shaw ; for Attorney-Gen- 

 eral, Clarence A. Buskirk ; for Superintendent 

 of Public Instruction, James H. Smart; for 

 Judge of the Supreme Court, Horace P. Biddle. 



The election occurred on the 13th of Octo- 



ber, and resulted in tho choice of tho Demo- 

 cratic candidates. The total vote for Secretary 

 of State was 847,066, of which Neff received 

 1S-.M54; Curry, 164,902; and Stout, 16,288; 

 \\hilo 2,297 wore scattering. Neff's majority 

 over Curry was 17,252 ; Biddlo's majority over 

 Osborn, for Judge of the Supreme Court, was 

 25,405. Democratic members of Congress were 

 elected in the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, 

 seventh, tenth, and twelfth districts, and lie- 

 publican members in the sixth, eighth, ninth, 

 eleventh, and thirteenth districts. The Legis- 

 lature of 1875 consists of 23 Democrats, 'J 

 publicans, and 5 Independents in the Senate, 

 and 60 Democrats, 82 Republicans, and 8 In- 

 dependents in the House ; making the Demo- 

 cratic majority 20 in the House, and 16 on a 

 joint ballot. 



A convention was held at Indianapolis on 

 the 25th of November, for the purpose of form- 

 ing a new party. There were about thirty 

 persons present from various parts of the 

 State, and after some discussion the follow- 

 ing was put forth as a " basis upon which to 

 call a preliminary national convention, 1 ' to 

 form a "new political organization" : 



1. It is the duty of the Government to establish a 

 monetary system based upon the faith and resources 

 of the nation, in harmony with the genius of this 

 Government, and adapted to the demands of legiti- 

 mate business. To this end, the circulating notes of 

 all national and State banks, as well as all local cur- 

 rency, should be withdrawn from circulation, and 

 a paper-money issued by the Government directly 

 to the people, without the intervention of- any sys- 

 tem of banking corporation, which money shall be a 

 legal tender in payment of all debts, public and pri- 

 vate, duties on imports included ; this money to be 

 interchangeable, at the option of the holders, with 

 registered Government bonds bearing a rate of in- 

 terest not exceeding 3.65 per cent, per annum. 



2. The interest on the present public debt, and 

 that portion of the principal of the same which is, 

 by the express terms of the law creating it, payable 

 in coin, shall be so paid. 



The committee reporting this "basis of 

 union" recommended a national convention 

 to be held at Cleveland, Ohio, on the llth of 

 March, 1875, " to perfect a national platform 

 and to appoint a time and place for holding a 

 national independent convention to nominate 

 candidates for President and Vice-President; 

 and all who fully indorse the foregoing basis 

 of union shall be cordially invited to partici- 

 pate." The " basis of union and the recom- 

 mendations " were unanimously adopted. 



A decision was rendered by the Supreme 

 Court of the State, in November, affirming the 

 constitutionality of the law of May 18, 1869, 

 which provides that white and colored chil- 

 dren in the State shall be taught in separate 

 schools. The case originated in Lawrence 

 Township, Marion County, where a school 

 trustee had refused admission to the schools 

 attended by white children of three colored 

 orphans. The guardian of these children 

 brought suit in the County Court to compel 

 the trustee to admit them, and it was decided 

 in his favor. The case was then carried to 





