398 



IOWA. 



so far that the question was submitted to the 

 Legislature of 1878 of having a dome and 

 turrets added, at an estimated expense of 

 $461,190.24. 



The assessed value of real estate in Iowa, 

 for the year, was $302,277,661 ; but the aver- 

 age valuation put upon it by the assessors was 

 but $7 an acre, which is said to be less than 

 half the actual value. The returns of live 

 stock show 1,452,546 cattle, 659,385 horses, 

 42,887 mules, 318,439 sheep, and 1,654,708 

 swine, in the State. 



The number of savings-banks is 20, the 

 gross assets $3,301,209.45 ; liabilities, includ- 

 ing capital stock, $3,104,614.85; undivided 

 profits, $196,594.60. There are 31 banks of 

 deposit and discount organized under State 

 law, an increase of 8 in two years. Their 

 assets are reported at $3,190,063.15, an in- 

 crease of $504,712.76. The increase of cash 

 capital is $315,750.04. 



The total value of railroad property in the 

 State is $22,421,215.10. .The number of miles 

 of track is 3,922.2. The assessed value per 

 mile ranges from $1,000 for the Burlington 

 & Northwestern, narrow gauge, to $12,000 

 for the main line of the Chicago, Burlington 

 & Quincy. The total amount built in the 

 last two years is 275 miles, as follows : The 

 Sigourney branch of the Chicago, Rock Isl- 

 and & Pacific Eailroad, extended to Knox- 

 ville, 49 miles; the Pacific division of the Bur- 

 lington, Cedar Rapids & Northern Railway, 

 from Traer into Grundy County, 25 miles; 

 main line of the same, from Plymouth to a 

 junction with the Central Railroad of Iowa, 

 and from Norwood northward to Albert Lea, 

 in Minnesota, the addition in Iowa being about 



9 miles; the Iowa Pacific Railroad, operated 

 by the Chicago, Dubuque & Minnesota Com- 

 pany, extended from Elkport to Lima, 35 

 miles ; the Des Moines & Minnesota Railroad, 



10 miles, to Story City ; the Chicago, Newton 

 & Southwestern, which has passed into the 

 hands of the Iowa, Minnesota & North Pacific 

 Company, completed from Newton to Mon- 

 roe, 13 miles; the Sioux City & Pembina, op- 

 erated by the Dakota Southern Company, 11 

 miles, in Plymouth County; a new nnrrow- 

 gauge road constructed by the Burlington & 

 Northwestern Railway Company, from Bur- 

 lington to Winfield, 34 miles ; the Maple River 

 Railroad, from the Chicago & Northwestern 

 Railway to Mapleton ; the Fort Dodge & Fort 

 Ridgely Railroad, 11 miles into Humboldt 

 County; the Crooked Creek Narrow-Gauge 

 Railroad, from Fort Dodge, 9 miles, to Tyson's 

 Mill; and the Chicago, Clinton & Western, 

 from Iowa City to Elmira, on the Burlington, 

 Chicago & Northwestern Railway, 9 miles. 



The Government canal constructed around 

 the Des Moines Rapids of Keoknk was for- 

 mally opened in August. The^vork had been 

 in progress 10 years. The canal is 7 miles 

 long, and 300 feet wide, and has 3 locks, each 

 850 feet long. It has cost the United States 



Government $4,281,000, and $100,000 more 

 will be necessary for the final completion of 

 the work. 



The convention of the Republican party of 

 the State was held at Des Moines on the 27th 

 of June, the Hon. James F. Wilson presiding. 

 It was characterized chiefly by a lack of sym- 

 pathy with the policy adopted by the National 

 Administration affecting the Southern States. 

 Hon. John H. Gear, of Burlington, was nomi- 

 nated for the office of Governor; Frank T. 

 Campbell, of Jasper County, for Lieuten ant- 

 Governor ; James G. Day for Judge of the Su- 

 preme Court, and Prof. C. W. Van Coelln for 

 Superintendent of Public Instruction. 



The platform adopted was as follows : 



Acting for the Republican party of Iowa, by its au- 

 thority and in its name, this Convention declares 



1. The United States of America is a nation, not a 

 league. Bv the combined workings of the National 

 and State Governments under their respective Con- 

 stitutions, the rights of every citizen should be se- 

 cured at home and protected abroad, and the common 

 welfare promoted. Any failure on the part of either 

 the National or State Government to use every pos- 

 sible constitutional power to afford ample protection 

 to their citizens, both at home and abroad, is a crim- 

 inal neglect of their highest obligation. 



2. The Republican party has preserved these Gov- 

 ernments to the commencement of the second cen- 

 tury of the nation's existence, and they are embodied 

 in the great truths spoken at its cradle, that " all 

 men are created equal," that they " are endowed by 

 their creator with certain inalienable rights, among 

 which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness : 

 that for the attainment of these ends governments 

 have been instituted among tnen, deriving their just 

 powers from the consent of the governed," which 

 consent is evinced by a majority of the lawful suf- 

 frages of the citizens determined in pursuance of law. 

 Until these truths are universally recognized and 

 cheerfully obeyed, the work of the Republican party 

 is unfinished ; and the Republican party of Iowa will 

 Btand by its colors and fight the good fight to the 

 end. 



3. The permanent pacification of the Southern sec- 

 tion of the Union, and the complete protection of all 

 its citizens in the free enjoyment of all their rights, is 

 a duty to which the Republican party stand sacredly 

 pledged. The power to provide for the enforcement 

 of the principles embodied in the recent Constitu- 

 tional Amendments, is vested by these Amendments 

 in the Congress of the United States, and we declare 

 it to be the solemn obligation of the legislative and 

 executive department of the Government to put into 

 immediate and vigorous exercise all their constitu- 

 tional powers for removing any just causes of dis- 

 content on the part of any class, and for securing to 

 every American citizen complete liberty and efcact 

 equality in the exercise of all civil, political, and pub- 

 lic rights. To this end we imperatively demand of 

 Congress and the Chief Executive a courage and 

 fidelity to these duties which shall not falter until 

 their results are placed beyond dispute or recall. 



4. That the puolic credit should be sacredly main- 

 tained, and all the obligations of the Government 

 honestly discharged, we favor the early attainment 

 of a currency convertible with coin, and, therefore, 

 advocate the gradual resumption of specie payment 

 by continuous and steady steps in that direction. 



5. That the silver dollar naving been the legal 

 unit of value from the foundation of the Federal 

 Government until 1873, the law under which its coin- 

 age was suspended should be repealed at the earliest 

 possible day, and silver made, with gold, a legal ten- 

 der for the payment of all debts, both public and pri- 



