530 



NEBRASKA. 



The length of tunnel necessary to carry the 

 canal under the dividing ridge, which attains 

 a height of 778 feet, was found to be 3.5 miles. 

 The total length of the canal line by this route, 

 as determined by Lieutenant Collins, is 32.2 

 miles, and his estimates of the probable cost 

 of the construction of a suitable canal, with all 

 the works necessary for its preservation and 

 successful operation, amount to $98,000,000. 



The other expedition was under the charge 

 of Commander Edward P. Lull, and was di- 

 rected to make surveys near the line of the 

 Panama Railroad. This expedition sailed from 

 New York on the 5th of January, and arrived 

 at Aspinwall, United States of Colombia, on 

 the 16th. Operations wire at once begun and 

 continued until the 3d of April, when the sur- 

 veys were concluded. 



The results obtained by the expedition are 

 the location of a practicable line for an inter- 

 oceanic ship-canal, 26 feet deep, from the bay 

 of Aspinwall on the Caribbean Sea to Panama 

 on the Pacific. The total length of the line is 

 41.7" statute miles. Twelve lift-locks on each 

 side will be required, and one tide-lock at Pan- 

 ama, or 25 in all. The lift of the locks will be 

 10.3 feet each ; that of the tide-lock 10 feet. 

 It is proposed to cross the river Chagres by 

 means of a viaduct 1,800 feet in length. 



The water-supply is to be drawn from the 

 river Chagres, and to be conveyed to the canal 

 by a feeder 10.22 miles in length. The Chagres 

 was found, by careful gauging, to discharge at 

 an unusually low stage 55,900,800 cubic feet 

 per day, a quantity considerably in excess of 

 the maximum possible demand of the canal. 

 Ample culverts are provided for the passage 

 under the viaduct of all the superabundant 

 waters of the Chagres in times of freshets. 



The total estimated cost of opening a canal 

 for ship-navigation through the Isthmus of 

 Panama is, after adding, to provide for contin- 

 gencies, 25 per cent, to the computed cost, 

 $94,911,360. 



The commission appointed to consider the 

 whole subject of communication by canal be- 

 tween the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, over 

 the Isthmus, after a careful examination of all 

 the routes proposed, have unanimously re- 

 ported that the one known as the " Nicaraguan 

 Route," beginning at or near Greytown on the 

 Atlantic side, and ending north of the Rio del 

 Brito on the Pacific, affords more advantages 

 and presents fewer difficulties than any other 

 route yet found across the Isthmus. 



NEBRASKA. The Legislature of this State 

 assembled at Lincoln, in the first week of Jan- 

 uary, for the regular session of 1875, and closed 

 it by final adjournment on the 25th of Febru- 

 ary ensuing. Of the fifty-three members com- 

 posing that body, thirty-eight were Republi- 

 cans, and fifteen Democrats and Independents, 

 or Conservatives. 



Among the first matters acted upon at this 

 session was the election of a United States Sen- 

 ator, in the place of Thomas W. Tipton, whose 



term was about to expire. The two Houses 

 met in joint convention more than once for 

 that purpose, and many ballots were taken, 

 but finally A. S. Paddock received thirty-eight 

 votes and was declared elected. Mr. Paddock 

 was born at Glens Falls, in the county of War- 

 ren, State of New York. 



Among the bills of a public character passed 

 at this first session, the one most generally im- 

 portant was that " calling a convention to re- 

 vise, alter, or amend the constitution of the 

 State." By the provisions of the act, the num- 

 ber of the delegates to the convention was fixed 

 at sixty-nine, and the time for their election on 

 the first Tuesday in April, 1875. The time for 

 the convention to assemble was on the second 

 Tuesday in May following. The act ordained 

 that the amendments, alterations, or revision 

 of the existing constitution agreed to by the 

 convention, should be submitted to the quali- 

 fied voters of the State for their adoption or 

 rejection. 



For the relief of the large number of citizens 

 inhabiting those sections of Nebraska which 

 were devastated by the locusts in 1874, espe- 

 cially to assist them in providing seed-grain for 

 the crops in 1875, the Legislature passed an act 

 empowering the Governor and Secretary of 

 State to issue State bonds of one thousand 

 dollars each, to the aggregate amount of fifty 

 thousand. The act created also a Board of 

 Relief and appoints its members, whose duty 

 it is to carry that purpose into execution, and 

 report the result of their operations to the next 

 Legislature. 



The principal of the said bonds is redeemable 

 within ten years from the date of their issue, 

 and in the mean time they bear interest at the 

 rate of ten per cent., payable semi-annually in 

 the city of New York. To provide for the 

 payment of both principal and interest, the act 

 ordained that a tax of one-tenth of one mill 

 should be levied by the Board of Equalization 

 annually, in addition to all other taxes levied 

 for State purposes. 



Among the numerous other acts and joint 

 resolutions passed were the following : 



To aid in the construction of a railroad on the 

 west bank of the Missouri Eiver from Omaha to the 

 south-line of the State of Nebraska. 



An act to provide for the numeration of the popu- 

 lation, and registration of the births and deaths, in 

 the State of Nebraska. 



To create and provide for a State Board of Immi- 

 gration. 



To amend an act entitled "An act to establish a sys- 

 tem of public instruction in the State of Nebraska." 



To erect and maintain an Institution for the Blind. 



To provide for the government of the Institute for 

 the Deaf and Dumb, and for other purposes. 



The Constitutional Convention assembled in 

 Lincoln, on the second Tuesday in May, and 

 organized by electing John Lee Webster for 

 president, and also the oiher officers. It 

 finished the work of framing a new consti- 

 tution within about a month from their first 

 meeting, and on June 12th closed the session 

 by final adjournment. 



