206 



CONNECTICUT. 



continued faith in the foundation-truths declared by 

 the fathers. It speaks for retrenchment and reform, 

 for a speedy return from extravagance to simplicity, 

 for the untiring pursuit and punishment of public 

 fraud and crime wherever existing, for the preser- 

 vation inviolate of the great lessons of the war, and 

 for the hearty welcome of all citizens of the whole 

 country to our common privileges and blessings. 



It honors the unpretentious fidelity of Secretary 

 Bristow, and the wholesome activity of Secretary 

 Jewell, in their endeavors to protect the public 

 purse, and to punish public criminals ; and it gives 

 a hearty response to the declaration of the President, 

 " Let no guilty man escape." 



It charges upon the Democratic majority in the 

 Lower House of Congress selections for office which 

 are an insult to national honor, and displacements 

 which are marked with ingratitude ; with subordi- 

 nating, as in the days of our national extremity, the 

 welfare of the public to party success ; witli ap- 

 plauding, upon the floor of the House, sentiments 

 which are in open defiance of the nation, and insult- 

 ing to its history ; with halting upon the great 

 financial questions in a time when the industries of 

 the people are prostrate. 



"We declare that the commission of the national 

 Legislature to the Democracy has been a signal fail- 

 ure, and believe that the Republican party is the 

 best hope of the country in peace, as it was the pre- 

 server of its honor in war. 



We charge upon the Democratic party in the Con- 

 necticut Legislature action which invades the purity 

 of the ballot-box, and opens the doors to frauds upon 

 the sacred right of suffrage ; and we charge upon it 

 unworthy appointments to office. 



We speak for the total abandonment of barter and 

 trade in the State Legislature: for short legislative 

 sessions; for the unsullied purity of the judiciary ; 

 for the encouragement of State industries, and for 

 the support of State education. 



The safety of the republic depends upon the intel- 

 ligence as well as the virtue of its citizens ; and in 

 order that the unity of the nation, preserved, at the 

 cost of war, may be maintained in peace, it is essen- 

 tial that the State schools shall continue to be com- 

 mon schools, where every child in the State may 

 receive such education as will befit him to be useful 

 in the community, happy in his home, and abso- 

 lutely removed from that ignorance which is the 

 mother of crime ; and we are unutterably opposed 

 to any diversion of the school-money for any pur- 

 pose whatever. 



The Republican party, which issued the green- 

 backs under the pressure of a temporary necessity, 

 to support the national Government against treason 

 and rebellion, is pledged to redeem them, tmd to 

 make them as good as gold to the holders, and that 

 no stain may rest in history upon any one of the 

 patriotic efforts of the p_eople during the war. We 

 approve of the resumption act, as a new expression 

 of this pledge and determination. We point to the 

 efforts now made by the Democratic party to repeal 

 that act, and to commit the country to the perma- 

 nent use of irredeemable paper currency, as a proof 

 of what might be expected of them if they had 

 greater power. We believe that the welfare of the 

 country demands that necessary legislation be passed 

 to carry the resumption act into effect, at the time 

 specified, either by funding the greenbacks into 

 long bonds, at the lowest practicable rate of interest, 

 or by using any available means to pay and cancel 

 them. 



We believe in the unwritten law of the land, which 

 declares it unwise for a Chief Magistrate to hold his 

 office beyond two terms ; and we accept the declara- 

 tion of President Grant, in harmony with this law, 

 as but another claim to our admiration and grati- 

 tude. 



We present to the electors of this State the names 

 of the Hon. Henry C. Robinson, the Hon. Frederick 



J. Kingsbury, General Francis A. Walker, Hon. 

 Jeremiah Olney, and Hon. Eli Curtis, as men quali- 

 fied by their ability, integrity, and character to fill 

 any official position in the gift of the people. 



The convention then adjourned without day. 



The Greenback party, seeing that neither 

 the Republicans nor the Democrats would in- 

 dorse their views, assembled in State Conven- 

 tion by themselves, at Meriden, on March 9th, 

 and nominated a State ticket of their own, as 

 follows : For Governor, Charles Atwater, of 

 New Haven ; for Lieutenant-Governor, Francis 

 Gillette, of Hartford ; for Secretary of State, 

 Linden V. Perry, of Winsted ; for Treasurer, 

 Loren F. Judd, of New Britain; for Con- 

 troller, John A. Peek, of Naugatuck. 



Upon the report of the chairman from the 

 Committee on Resolutions, they also adopted 

 a platform in accordance with the principles 

 declared at their convention of the preceding 

 February, demanding the unconditional repeal 

 of the specie-resumption act ; the practical 

 abolition of the national -bank system; the 

 receipt of greenbacks for customs duties ; the 

 issue of bonds interconvertible with green- 

 backs, so as to keep greenbacks at par with 

 gold; and strongly opposing the thirty-year 

 bond bill, which had passed the Senate on the 

 preceding February 25th. 



The Liquor Prohibition party renominated 

 this year the same State ticket which they 

 had presented in 1875, namely : For Governor, 

 Henry Smith ; Lieutenant-Governor, J. G. 

 Baldwin ; Secretary of State, Buell P. Cowles ; 

 Treasurer, John H.Rockwell ; Controller, Dub- 

 ney Carr. 



The result of the popular vote, at the elec- 

 tion of April 3d, was the reelection of the Demo- 

 cratic ticket by a considerable majority over 

 the Republicans. The aggregate number of 

 votes cast for Governor was 98,619, of which 

 the Democratic candidate received 51,138; the 

 Republican, 43,510; the Greenback party's, 

 1,974; the Temperance, 1,988. The entire 

 number of votes cast in the State this year 

 was 2,347 less than in 1875, when it reached 

 100,966, the largest ever polled in Connecticut. 



With regard to members of the State Legis- 

 lature, the Democrats made such gains as to 

 more than double their previous majority over 

 the Republicans in either House, the respec- 

 tive numbers in the new General Assembly 

 being as follows: In the Senate, Democrats 

 18, Republicans 3 ; in the House of Represent- 

 atives, Democrats 163, Republicans 82, Inde- 

 pendent 1 ; showing a Democratic majority of 

 15 in the Senate, of 81 in the Lower House, 

 and of 96 on joint ballot. In the last Legis- 

 lature their majority on joint ballot was 42. 



A special election for Congressman in the 

 Third District was also held on April 3, 1876, 

 the candidates being David A. Wells, Demo- 

 cratic-Liberal, and John T. Waite, Republican. 

 The latter was elected, having received 8,436 

 votes, against 7,783 cast for the former. 



The members of the General Assembly met 



