Increase Allen Lapham. — Winchell. 25 
the possibility of artesian wells, the educational incentives 
that will accrue to the schools of agriculture from a study of 
the geological structure of the state — these are briefly men- 
tioned. 
In the midst of this energetic and harmonious prosecution 
of the survey, whose very quietness had attracted the public 
attention, a disgraceful transaction was perpetrated by the 
politicians of Wisconsin. The so-called "Granger party" had 
elected to the governorship a man whose chief aim seemed to 
be to undo as much as possible of what had been done by his 
predecessors in office. Gov. C. C.Washburn, founder of Wash- 
burn Observatory at Madison and of several benevolent insti- 
tutions of the State, had received the hearty approval of 
everyone when he nominated and commissioned Dr. Lapham 
as chief geologist. This was after the legislature of 1873 had 
adjourned. This transaction is succinctly stated in the words 
of Dr. O. W. Wight:* 
"The commission of the undersigned bears date February 16, 1875. His 
predecessor was appointed by Gov. Washburn in the spring of 1873, af- 
ter the adjournment of the Legislature. His name was not sent to the 
senate for confirmation during the session of the subsequent Legisla- 
ture. It was, therefore, decided (so the undersigned is informed) by 
the judiciary committee of the Senate, in the early part of the session 
of the last Legislature, that the office of the Chief Geologist was va- 
cant. His Excellency, Gov. Wm. R. Taylor, did the undersigned the 
honor to send in his name to the Senate, and the Senate confirmed the 
appointment with singular unanimity. "t 
Near the middle of February Dr. Lapham learned from the 
newspapers that he had been superseded by the nomination of 
another man. It was nearly a month later when he received 
the following official communication from Gov. Taylor: 
Madison. March 10, 1815. 
Dr. I. A. Lapham, Milwaukee, Wis. 
Dear Sir: — You are hereby notified that, by reason of the non-con- 
firmation, by the Senate, of your appointment as Chief Geologist, and 
by reason of the nomination and confirmation by the Senate, and the 
appointment of Dr. O. W. Wight, of Milwaukee, as Chief Geologist, 
*Geology of Wisconsin, vol. u, p. 71. 
jit has been stated by some biographers of Lapham that his nomi- 
nation was not confirmed by the Senate; and by others that the Senate 
"refused to confirm" the nomination. It appears, however, that the 
Senate never had his name before it for confirmation. It is plain that 
the responsibility of this underhanded transaction rests solely with 
Gov. Taylor. 
