ILLINOIS. 



898 



atod to a point when the present ratcn of interest 

 upon United States optional bonds are no longer 

 necessary, therefore laws should be passed author- 

 izing the speedy funding of such securities into 

 longer-time bonds, bearing lower rutcs of interest. 



5. That it is tho duty of tho Government of the 

 I'luti .1 Status to redeem every promise it has made 

 in absolute good f.iitlij and we therefore look with 

 confidence to the National Republican Convention 

 to so solve the difficult problem of the currency that 

 the credit of the nation shall remain untarnished, 

 and just regard bo maintained for the rights and in- 

 terests of all tho people, East as well as West, North 

 us well as South ; that it is hereby further declared 

 that the Republican party has given to the people 

 tho best system of paper currency ever devised, and 

 would deprecate any legislation that might by any 

 possibility cause a return to the system of paper 

 currency in existence before the war. 



6. That the efforts of President Grant to purify 

 the public service by a rigid enforcement of the in- 

 ternal revenue and customs laws, even to the 1 ex- 

 tent of punishment of prominent members of his 

 own political party, furnish an example of Executive 

 efficiency and impartiality for which a parallel may 

 be sought in vain throughout the records of tlie 

 De in ocratic party ; and while it has been the aim of 

 his administration that no innocent man should be 

 convicted, yet it has been his special order, " Let 

 no guilty man escape." 



7. That the Republican party remembers with 

 gratitude the services of those soldiers-and sailors 

 who upheld the cause of the Union during the late 

 war of the rebellion, and we therefore most indig- 

 nantly condemn the policy of the Democratic party 

 in t'ie national House of Representatives in its re- 

 moval of Union soldiers from positions of honor and 

 trust, and the appointment of rebel soldiers iu their 

 stead. 



8. That as the results of the elections to be held 

 the present year for the choice of Representatives 

 and Senators in Congress, and President and Vice- 

 President of the United States, will determine prac- 

 tically the question of the continued preservation or 

 possible overthrow of constitutional liberty, the Re- 

 publican masses of Illinois are most earnestly re- 

 quested to show by their works the same devotion 

 to this great cause which they exhibited in 1360 and 

 1864, when Abraham Lincoln was their national 

 leader, to the end that the broad shield of the Gov- 

 ernment of the United States may be continued 

 everywhere, over the humblest as well as over the 

 most exalted of its citizens ? and that the life and the 

 death of their martyr President shall not have been 

 in vain. 



The Democrats held a convention at Spring- 

 field, on the 22d of June, to appoint delegates 

 to the National Convention of the party, but 

 the regular nominating body gathered in the 

 same city, on the 27th of July. The ticket for 

 State officers was: For Governor, Lewis 

 Stewart, of Kendall County ; Lieutenant- 

 Go ver nor, A. A. Glenn, of Brown; for Secre- 

 tary of State, F. Y. Thornton, of Fulton ; for 

 Auditor, John Hise, of Cook ; for Treasurer, 

 George Gundlach, of Clinton ; for Attorney- 

 General, Edward Lynch, of Lincoln. The 

 platform was as follows: 



Resolved by the Democracy of Illinois in conven- 

 tion assembled, That the members of the National 

 Democratic Convention at St. Louis deserve the 

 plaudits of the whole country for the manner in 

 which they discharged the duties devolved upon 

 them, and we hail the result of their action in the 

 platform of principles adopted, and the presenta- 

 tion of the names of those eminent statesmen, 

 Samuel J. Tilden, of New York, and Thomas A. 



Hendricks, of Indiana, for the suffrages of the peo- 

 ple, as opening up anew and better era iii An 

 politics, and giving our people an opportunity, by 

 the election of these great men to the ortU-i- for 

 which they are presented, of motoring pronpi:rity 

 once more to the oppressed buttineitH iiHcret,t of the 

 hind ; of redeeming the country from the disgrace 

 and infamy of the peculation*, robberies, and mul- 

 l'i a-:mecs that have tended to disgrace and humble 

 us in tho estimation of civilized nutionx, and have 

 reduced the industrial classes of our country to the 

 verge of poverty. 



Resolvea, That we hereby adopt, indorse, and re- 

 affirm the National Democratic platform adopted 

 at St. Louis, on the 28th day of June lust, and we 

 pledge the Democracy of Illinois to cooj erate with 

 their brethren of the whole country in their efforts 

 for the election of the national ticket, and for the 

 restoration of honesty and economy in the admin- 

 istration of our Government. 



Resolved, That the Democratic party, in present- 

 ing candidates for State officers, do pledge our ear- 

 nest and hearty support of each and every nominee 

 of this convention, and hereby declare that we will 

 use our utmost efforts to secure tho success of the 

 ticket. 



Resolved, That the Democracy of Illinois call upon 

 the Legislature to devise some plan by which the 

 labor allotted to convicts as a punishment for crime, 

 and performed by them under compulsion, shall 

 not come in injurious competition with the free 

 labor of those who have themselves and families to 

 support and educate, as becomes free and enlight- 

 ened citizens. 



The last resolution constituted a minority 

 report from the Committee on Resolutions, 

 but was adopted by the convention. The can- 

 didates for Governor and Auditor were those 

 of the Independent party, and the effect was 

 virtually to merge that organization into the 

 Democratic party. 



The election took place on the 7th of No- 

 vember. The returns were officially canvassed 

 on the 27th of the same month, the Secretary of 

 State, Auditor, Treasurer, and Attorney-Gen- 

 eral, constituting the canvassing board, and the 

 result was announced by proclamation of the 

 Governor. It showed that the total number 

 of votes cast for presidential electors was 

 552,937, of which 277,226 were for the Hayes 

 and Wheeler ticket, 258,602 for the Tilden 

 and Hendricks, and 17,109 for the Cooper 

 and Gary, making the Republican plurality 

 18,624, and majority over all 1,515. The total 

 vote for Governor was 551,702, of which Cul- 

 lomhad 279,266, and Stewart 272,436; major- 

 ity for the former, 6,830. For Lieutenant-Gov- 

 ernor there were three candidates, and the 

 Republican received 278,168 votes, the Dem- 

 ocratic 256,084, and the Greenback 17,783. 

 Of the 19 members of Congress elected 12 

 were Republicans and 7 Democrats. The 

 Legislature chosen at the same time has 24 

 Democrats, 22 Republicans, and 5 Independ- 

 ents in the Senate, and 79 Republicans and 74 

 Democrats in the House. This makes the 

 total Republican strength 101, Democratic 98, 

 and Independent 5, giving the latter the bal- 

 ance of power on a joint ballot. As the Legis- 

 lature had the task of electing a United States 

 Senator, this became a matter of no little im- 

 portance in the session of 1877. 



