750 



RHODE ISLAND. 



of the State Executive Committee the publication of 

 a daily campaign paper sustaining tho principles and 

 candidates of this convention. 



The following was adopted after some warm 

 discussion, as an independent resolution ex- 

 pressing the sentiments of the convention : 



Sssolved, That we heartily commend the faithful 

 Christian efforts of the women of the West, which 

 have been so eminently successful in inducing the 

 dealers in intoxicating liquors to abandon the traffic. 



The Republican State Convention was held 

 in Representatives' Hall, Providence, on the 

 llth of March, and was in session just one 

 hour. No platform was adopted, and all the 

 nominations were made by acclamation, the 

 ticket being as follows : For Governor, Henry 

 Howard ; for Lieutenant-Governor, Charles 0. 

 Van Zandt; for Secretary of State, Joshua 

 M. Addeman; for Attorney-General, Willard 

 Sayles; for General Treasurer, Samuel Clark. 

 The Democratic Convention met at Provi- 

 dence, on the 23d, and neither adopted a plat- 

 form nor a ticket of candidates. After an or- 

 ganization had been effected, and a State Cen- 

 tral Committee chosen, a motion was made to 

 proceed to an informal ballot for a candidate 

 for Governor, whereupon Mr. William B. 

 Beach, of Providence, said the first question 

 to be considered was, whether or not it was 

 advisable to put a ticket in the field at this 

 time. He had, after mature deliberation, come 

 to the conclusion that it was not best to make 

 a nomination at this time. " If we had a news- 

 paper," he said, "so that we could reach the 

 voters in this State, and they be notified that 

 we had a ticket in the field, I should be in fa- 

 vor of making a nomination. There are rea- 

 sons, plentier than blackberries ever were, 

 why we should have a ticket and an organiza- 

 tion in this State. I know there is corruption 

 in high places, and I look forward to a time 

 when we can come into power again and put 

 a stop to it. There is a Kilkenny-cat fight 

 going on among the ranks of tho Repub- 

 lican party, for which I am glad. God give 

 them speed to scratch each other's eyes out ! 

 There are general dissatisfaction and demorali- 

 zation in their ranks, among themselves ; but I 

 don't know that we can aid that any by mak- 

 ing a nomination to-day. I hope, by the time 

 we want to make a presidential nomination, 

 there will not only be a Democratic organ in 

 this State, but that we shall have been pun- 

 ished enough, that the Democrats of this State 

 will have been humiliated enough ; that two 

 dollars and a half won't be sufficient to buy a 

 Democratic vote, or to keep a Democrat away 

 from an election. I should like to have a gen- 

 eral expression of opinion of the members of 

 the convention as to whether it is, at this 

 time, good policy to make a nomination." Af- 

 ter some further discussion it was voted, 40 to 

 19, to indefinitely postpone the nominations, 

 and the convention adjourned. 



The election took place on the 1st of April. 

 The official report of the result, made to the 



Legislature at the May session, showed that 

 14,101 votes were cast for Governor, of which 

 Henry Howard received 12,335, Lyman Pearce 

 1,589, and 177 were scattering : making How- 

 ard's majority over all others 10,569. The 

 whole number of votes cast for Lieutenant- 

 Governor was 14,181, of which Charles C. Van 

 Zandt received 7,710, Wm. F. Sayles 6,348, 

 and 123 were scattering ; Van Zandt's major- 

 ity, 1,239. Addeman received 12,492 votes 

 for Secretary of State, a majority of 11,492 ; 

 Willard Sayles received 12,552 for Attorney- 

 General, a majority of 10,937; and Samuel 

 Clark 8,495, and Henry Goff 5,447 for Treas- 

 urer. Benjamin T. Eames, Republican, was 

 elected to Congress from the Eastern District 

 by a vote of 2,342, against 824 for Wm. B. 

 Beach, Democrat; in the Western District, 

 Latimer W. Ballou, Republican, was elected 

 by a vote of 2,362, against 1,235 for Daniel 

 Rodman, Democrat. The Legislature consists 

 of 26 Republicans and 10 Democrats in the 

 Senate, and 59 Republicans and 13 Democrats 

 in the House ; making the Republican majority 

 1 6 in the Senate, 46 in the House, and 62 on a 

 joint ballot. Three women were elected upon 

 the school committee of the city of Providence. 



The annexation of one portion of North 

 Providence to the city of Providence, and of 

 another to Pawtucket, was ratified in those 

 places by large majorities. About 15,000 was 

 added to the population of Providence by this 

 action. 



The regular session of the new Legislature 

 began at Newport on the 26th of May, when 

 the customary parade, and other ceremonies 

 connected with the inauguration of the new 

 government, took place. After a few days of 

 the session at Newport, the sittings were trans- 

 ferred to Providence, and continued there until 

 the 25th of June, when an adjournment was 

 taken to the third Tuesday of January, 1875. 

 A part of the business of the session was to 

 choose a United States Senator to succeed the 

 Hon. Wm. Sprague, but twenty-one ballots 

 were taken, beginning with the 10th of June, 

 and continuing from time to time until the 

 day of adjournment, without reaching any re- 

 sult. The votes were taken in joint conven- 

 tion of the two Houses, called in this State the 

 Grand Committee ; and on the first ballot 

 there were 107 votes cast, of which 39 were 

 for Ambrose E. Burnside, 24 for Nathan F. 

 Dixon, 13 for Amos C.-Barstow, 10 for Henry 

 Howard, 10 for Charles S. Bradley, 6 for Wm. 

 P. Sheffield, 3 for Thomas A. Jenckes, 1 for 

 Charles Hart, and 1 for Wm. W. Hoppin. No 

 important variations appeared in the number 

 of votes for the leading candidates from time to 

 time, and on the twenty -first ballot Burnside 

 received 42, Dixon 26, Barstow 19, Sheffield 7, 

 Howard 5, and Jenckes 4. 



The most important subject of legislation 

 during the session was that of restraining the 

 traffic in intoxicating liquors. A new and 

 more stringent bill on the subject was passed, 



