720 



KHODE ISLAND. 



ing a State Industrial School for the proper 

 care and training of pauper and vagrant chil- 

 dren, who, by no fault of their own, are often 

 at tender age cast upon the public for support 

 and education. He testifies that " there is a 

 feeling on the part of many that such children 

 should not be sent to the Reform School or to 

 the Almshouse, but to some school which shall 

 be entirely separate from all pauper or penal 

 influences, and where such children may be 

 trained in such a manner as shall be most like- 

 ly to save the State from all expense for their 

 support in the future, and from all responsi- 

 bility for their conduct when they arrive at 

 maturity." 



The January session of the Legislature was 

 closed on April 21st. A large number of acts 

 was passed, among which were the following: 



" An act for the more effectual prevention 

 of cruelty to children"; "An act in addition 

 to chapter 49 of the Public Statutes of the 

 appropriation for public schools '"; "An act 

 making appropriation for the benefit of the 

 Rhode Island School of Design " ; " An act 

 providing for the appointment of the Super- 

 intendent of Public Schools in the City of 

 Newport " ; " An act in amendment of chap- 

 ter 71 of the Public Statutes ' of the support 

 and discipline of paupers '" ; " An act in 

 amendment of chapter 253 of the Public 

 Statutes ' of the State Reform School '" ; " An 

 act to establish a State School for the Deaf." 

 It authorizes the State Board of Education to 

 establish a day-school for tho gratuitous edu- 

 cation of deaf and semi-deaf children, and to 

 pay for the traveling expenses of indigent 

 pupils residing in the State, provided that 

 such expenses do not exceed five hundred dol- 

 lars a year ; and that the annual amount for 

 the support and maintenance of the school 

 does not exceed three thousand dollars. " Two 

 acts in amendment of chapters 7 and 8 of the 

 Public Statutes ' of registering, listing, and re- 

 turning lists of voters, and of proof of their 

 qualification to vote,' and 'of canvassing the 

 rights and correcting the lists of voters'"; 

 " An act in amendment of chapter 10 of the 

 Public Statutes, section V to read, ' The Secre- 

 tary of State shall provide a sufficient quantity 

 of uniform, self-sealing envelopes, bearing as 

 a device the form of an anchor with the word 

 Hope on the outside, for use in the elections of 

 general officers of Representatives in Congress, 

 and of electors of President and Vice-Presi- 

 dent of the United States.' " 



Among the resolutions of a public nature 

 the subjoined were passed : " A resolution for 

 the appointment of a joint select committee 

 to consider matters in relation to changes in 

 the Constitution " ; "A resolution instructing 

 the committee on the revision of the Constitu- 

 tion to consider the subject of biennial ses- 

 sions of the Legislature"; "A resolution to 

 propose an amendment to the State Constitu- 

 tion." After much debate on these matters, 

 the question was finally put to the vote on 



March 28th, when all the members of either 

 House, excepting only one Senator and one 

 Representative, adopted the following : 



RESOLUTION TO PROPOSE AN AMENDMENT TO THE 

 STATE CONSTITUTION. 



Resolved, A majority of all the members elected to 

 each House of the General Assembly voting therefor, 

 that the following amendment to the Constitution of 

 the State be proposed to the qualified electors of the 

 State, in accordance with the provisions of Article 

 XIII of the Constitution, for their adoption, to be de- 

 nominated Article V of Amendments, to wit : 



ARTICLE V. The General Assembly may, a major- 

 ity of all the members elected to each House voting 

 therefor, authorize the qualified electors of the several 

 towns and cities to elect as many delegates to a Con- 

 stitutional Convention as the said towns and cities 

 are respectively entitled to elect members of both 

 Houses of the General Assembly, and the delegates, 

 when elected, shall assemble in convention at a time 

 and place to be provided by law, and may then re- 

 vise, alter, or amend the Constitution ; but no such 

 revision, alteration, or amendment shall take effect 

 unless, when the same is first submitted to the quali- 

 fied electors of the State for their adoption in a man- 

 ner to be provided by law, three fifths of all the said 

 electors voting thereon shall have voted in favor of 

 such revision, alteration, or amendment. 



CONVENTIONS. In preparation for the April 

 election of State officers, the Republicans as- 

 sembled at Providence on March 16th, and by 

 acclamation renominated all of the incumbents 

 for their respective offices, excepting Willard 

 Sayles, Attorney-General, who declined, on 

 account of his health, to be again a candidate. 

 Samuel R. Colt, of Bristol, was nominated for 

 Attorney-General ; Samuel Clark, of Lincoln, 

 was nominated for Treasurer. No platform 

 was adopted by the convention. 



The Democratic party of Rhode Island con- 

 vened at Providence on March 22d, and nomi- 

 nated the following State ticket: Governor, 

 Horace A. Kimball, of Providence; Lieuten- 

 ant-Governor, J. G. Perry, of South Kings- 

 ton ; Secretary of State, Jonathan M. "Wheel- 

 er, of Cranston ; General Treasurer, George 

 P. Leonard, of Newport ; Attorney- General, 

 Amos R. Perry, of Providence. 



The following platform was adopted : 



It is resolved by the Democrats of Ehode Island in 

 convention : 



1. That we are in favor of such a change in the 

 State Constitution as will guarantee equal political 

 rights to all citizens in the United States resident in 

 this Commonwealth, whether of native or foreign 

 birth. 



2. We are in favor of reform in civil service. 



3. That we are resolutely opposed to any affiliation 

 of the Democratic party with a political faction which 

 has for its cardinal principle repudiation of the pub- 

 lic debt, either State or national. 



4. That we demand of the national Government 

 the most energetic measures tending to the immediate 

 abolition in Territories of the United States of that 

 relic of barbarism, too long a disgrace to the honor 

 of our country and the civilization of the Christian 

 world polygamy. 



The Greenbackers also held their State Con- 

 vention at Providence, on March 22d, but no 

 nominations were made. 



At the election, in April, the Republican 

 nominees were generally elected. The aggre- 



