INDIANA. 



IOWA. 



411 



my lite felt so certain I was doing my duty as in thin 

 , un I my .l.-Mre Ibr success, my dear sir, ia 

 my only excuse for writing you. Your friend, 



J. KILPATRICK. 

 To R. B. HAYES, Governor, etc. 



At the Stato election, held on the 10th of 

 October, the whole number of votes cast for 

 Governor was 444,457, of which Williams re- 

 ceived 213,164, Harrison 208,080, and Harring- 

 ton 18,218; plurality of Williams over Har- 

 rison, 5,084. 



At the presidential election, on the 7th 

 of November, there were 431,070 votes cast, 

 213,526 being for the Democratic candidates, 

 208,011 for the Republican, and 5,533 for the 

 " Greenback " ticket ; Tilden and Hendricks 

 over Hayes and Wheeler, 5,515. Of thirteen 

 members of Congress chosen, nine were Re- 

 publicans and four Democrats, while through- 

 out the State the Democrats had a plurality of 

 7,727 in the congressional vote. The Legisla- 

 ture of 1877 consists of 25 Democrats, 24 Re- 

 publicans, and one Independent, in the Senate, 

 and 54 Republicans and 46 Democrats in the 

 House. This places the Republicans in a mi- 

 nority by two votes in the Senate, and in a 

 majority by eight in the House ; on a-joint bal- 

 lot they have a majority by six votes. 



The Democrats held a convention at Indi- 

 anapolis on the 8th of January, 1877, to con- 

 sider the disputed result of the presidential 

 election. Addresses were made by Judge Da- 

 vid S. Gooding, Hon. George W. Julian, Hon. 

 B. W. Hanna, Hon. D. W. Voorhees, and oth- 

 ers. The sentiments of the occasion were ex- 

 pressed in condensed form in a series of reso- 

 lutions. In these, confidence was expressed 

 that Tilden and Hendricks were fairly entitled 

 to a majority of the electoral votes, as well as 

 a large majority of the votes of the people of 

 the country. A protest was made against ac- 

 cepting the " notoriously false judgment " of 

 the Returning Board of Louisiana " as conclu- 

 sive evidence of the elective will " of the peo- 

 Sle of that State. The action of the Returning 

 oards of Florida and Louisiana was reviewed 

 and pointedly condemned, and the following 

 declarations wore made : 



That it is the imperative duty of Congress to pro- 

 vide by law a plan for counting the electoral vote, 

 which by its reasonableness and justice will com- 

 mend itself to the judgment of the people and com- 

 mand their acquiescence in the result of the count, 

 and that this should be done at the earliest day con- 

 sistent with duo deliberation, to the end that the 

 disquiet which now pervades the people may be al- 

 layed. 



Tliat, according to the plain meaning of the Con- 

 stitution, and according to all past political usage, 

 the power of counting the vote resides in the two 

 Houses of Congress. 



That we denounce the proposition that the Presi- 

 dent of the Senate has the power, not only to open, 

 but to count the vote, as an innovation which the 

 sentiment of the people will not tolerate. If such 

 power shall be assumed, and its exercise attempted, 

 we call upon the two Houses of Congress to take 

 prompt and effectual measures for the assertion of 

 their constitutional prerogative in that regard. 



That, if Congress shall proride by law a just plan 



for counting the electoral vote, one which will be 

 fuir not only in the present emergency, but for all 

 future elections as well, we pledge our acquiescence 

 in the result, whatever it may be. 



That, if the Senate shall claim that its prttniding 

 officer, like the Returning Board* of Florida and 

 Louisiana, has the absolute power to dcnigtiute the 

 President and Vice-President, we cull upon the 

 House of Representatives to exert all its coimtitu- 

 tional powers to defeat the usurpation, and we 

 pledge it our support with all the resources which 

 a people whose fundamental liberties are threatened 

 can constitutionally command. 



James D. Williams, the present Governor 

 of Indiana, is a farmer, with a unique reputa- 

 tion for simplicity and sturdy honesty. He 

 was born in Pickaway County, Ohio, in 1808, 

 but emigrated to Knox County, Ind., with his 

 parents when a mere boy. He had moderate 

 opportunities for education, and has spent his 

 life in farm-labor. His farm, on White River, 

 in Harrison township, contains 3,000 acres, in 

 a state of high cultivation. He has earned 

 the sobriquet of " Blue Jeans," from his per- 

 sistent habit of wearing that plain material 

 on all occasions, public and private. He has 

 served several times in the Legislature of the 

 State, was the Democratic candidate for Unit- 

 ed States Senator in 1872, and in 1874 was 

 elected a Representative in Congress. He is a 

 strenuous advocate of economy and honesty in 

 administration in the State and nation. 



The United States Circuit Court rendered a 

 decision in Indiana during the year to the ef- 

 fect that an Illinois insurance company, doing 

 business in the State, without compliance with 

 the insurance law, could nevertheless enforce 

 its contracts. It appears tbat the company 

 had an agent in the State who received appli- 

 cations for insurance, and forwarded them to 

 Freeport, 111., where the policies were made 

 out and sent directly to the applicants. The 

 company became insolvent, and the assignee 

 sought to enforce the payment of premium 

 notes, which was resisted on the ground that 

 the company had not complied with the law, 

 and had no right to do business in the State 

 of Indiana. The court held that the contract 

 was an Illinois contract, to which the laws of 

 Indiana did not apply, and, being valid in the 

 place where it was made, was enforcible like 

 any other by the comity of States. The case 

 has been carried to the Supreme Court of the 

 United States, and there are several hundred 

 suits in the State depending on the final de- 

 cision. 



IOWA. The leading interest of the State 

 of Iowa is agriculture. The crops of the past 

 year have shown a general falling off from the 

 product of 1875. The area planted with corn 

 was about 4,285,000 acres, and the product 

 thirty-five bushels to the acre, or 150,000,000 

 in all. The price at Des Moines in December 

 was forty cento per bushel. The area sown 

 with wheat WHS 2,894,954 acres, against 3/244,- 

 954 in 1875, and the product was 17,869,724 

 bushels, a decrease of over 25,000,000 bush- 

 els. Grasshoppers and other insects, and un- 



