532 



NEBRASKA. 



Senators and Representatives, at which elec- 

 tion such amendments shall be submitted to 

 the people for approval or rejection, and, if 

 adopted by a majority of votes, they shall be- 

 come a part of this constitution. 



To the constitution the convention appended 

 two independent articles, to be voted upon at 

 the same time with it, but separately. They 

 were as follows : 



I. The Legislature may provide that at tlie gen- 

 eral election immediately preceding the expiration 

 of term of a United States Senator from this State, 

 the electors may express their preference for some 

 person for the office of United States Senator. The 

 votes cast for such candidates shall be canvassed 

 and returned in the same manner as for State officers. 



II. The seat of government of this State shall 

 not be removed, or relocated, without the assent of 

 a majority of the electors of the State voting there- 

 upon at a general election, or elections, tinder such 

 rules and regulations as may be prescribed by law : 

 Provided, The question of removal may be submitted 

 at such other general elections as may be provided 

 by law, 



The new constitution appointed the second 

 Tuesday in October, 1875, for a general elec- 

 tion upon it, as also upon the independent arti- 

 cles recited above. 



By special provisions inserted in the schedule 

 it was ordained that the judges of the Supreme 

 and District Courts, the Regents of the State 

 University, and some other officers created by 

 the new constitution, should be elected on the 

 same day in which that instrument was to be 

 submitted to the people for adoption or rejec- 

 tion, and that, in the event of its being adopted, 

 they should be installed in their several offices 

 on the first Thursday after the first Tuesday in 

 January, 1876. 



The State Convention of the Democratic par- 

 ty assembled at Tremont on September 16th, 

 and was very numerously attended. A mo- 

 tion was made "to nominate one candidate for 

 the Supreme bench," which was finally carried 

 by a vote of fifty-three to thirty. A further 

 motion that instead of making the nomination 

 by ballot, a special committee of five should be 

 appointed " to report a name for a candidate 

 for the Supreme bench," was also carried, and 

 the committee appointed. This committee 

 recommended E. A. Thomas, of Brownville, as 

 a candidate for Judge of the Supreme Court, 

 and their report was adopted by the conven- 

 tion unanimously. 



The nomination of six candidates for Regents 

 of the State University was, on motion, remitted 

 to the delegates from each district on consul- 

 tation among themselves, respectively. The fol- 

 lowing candidates were then nominated : Tobias 

 Castor, of Saline County; James Thorn, of 

 Otoe ; D. 0. Olin, of Washington ; J. Houghton, 

 of Seward ; T. J. Foley, of Lincoln County ; 

 and Alexander Bear, of Madison. 



The following platform was unanimously 

 adopted by the convention : 



Resolved, That the Democratic party of this State 

 is m favor of retrenchment and reform in the ad- 

 ministration of all departments of the Government, 

 both State and national. 



Resolved, That we are in favor of a sound currency* 

 coin or its equivalent, as essential to stability in 

 business and the restoration of prosperity ; of steps 

 toward specie payments, and no step backward. 



Resolved, That we deprecate all attempts to com- 

 mit the Democratic party to a system of paper-money, 

 based upon an unconstitutional exercise of Federal 

 power, as a crime against the common welfare, and in 

 violation of a cardinal article of the Democratic creed. 



The Republican party assembled in State 

 Convention at Kearney Junction, on September 

 15th. The nominations of candidates for Jus- 

 tices of the Supreme Court were George B. 

 Lake, Daniel Gantt, and Samuel Maxwell. 



At the general election of October 12, 

 1875, the new State constitution and the two 

 independent articles were adopted by very 

 great though unequal majorities; the vote, as 

 officially canvassed and announced, having 

 stood thus : On the new constitution, 30,202 

 for, 5,474 against ; on the proposition allowing 

 electors to express their preference for United 

 States Senator, 25,059 for, 6,270 against; on the 

 seat of government, 20,042 for, 12,517 against. 



The election of judges and Regents of the 

 State University resulted in favor of the Re- 

 publican candidates, the vote having been as 

 follows : For the three Judges of the Supreme 

 Court, George B. Lake, Daniel Gantt, and 

 Samuel Maxwell, nominees of the Republican 

 Convention, received 31,226, 29,072, and 27,- 

 767 votes, respectively ; while E. W. Thomas, 

 the only nominee of the Democratic Conven- 

 tion for Judge of the Supreme Court, received 

 15,091 votes ; for Regents of the State Uni- 

 versity the number of votes given to the six 

 Democratic candidates in their several districts 

 ranged from 11,684, the lowest, to 13,947, the 

 highest ; and the votes given to the Republican 

 candidates ranged from 27,053 to 29,744. 



The financial condition of Nebraska appears 

 to be remarkably prosperous. Upon a request 

 by the Constitutional Convention, the State 

 Auditor transmitted to that body the following 

 " statement of the indebtedness and resources 

 of the State of Nebraska, to May 21, 1875 :" 



GENERAL FUND. 



Certificate of indebtedness held by the Perma- 

 nent School Fund, dated March 10, 1873 issued 

 under provision of an act approved February 

 27,1878 $158,837 67 



Certificates of indebtedness held by the Perma- 

 nent School Fund, dated May 21, 1874 issued 

 under an act for the relief of the State Treas- 

 ury, approved February 21, 1875 184,119 66 



Warrants outstanding to May 21, 1875, $86,589.- 

 55 interest on warrants registered, $8,000 

 less amount of warrants paid from the 1st to 

 the 21st of May, $15,588.96 74,000 59 



Warrants held in the Permanent University 

 Fund 508 60- 



Total indebtedness $407,466 52 



RESOURCES. 



Cash in State Treasury, held in trust for notified 

 holders of registered warrants $4,953 15 



Delinquent State taxes, as per last report, $198,- 

 115 79 tax of 1874, now due, $200,995.77, less 

 taxes paid from date of last report, November 

 80th, 1874, to May 21, 1875, inclusive, $33,303.- 

 99 860,807 60 



Total resources $365,760 75 



