ON LT j ~~~~~~~. e - t6 t I I i i i -'N I E4 C4 P4 1. 6 g -1 I -;. 0 41 rf) P4 E. fA .4 0 .I.'C',', *-, -1.. it S LIBRARIEt 26192 MARCH 1930 ,ADDIIESS OF HION. C. C. NOURSE. MR, PRESID-ENT, AND LADIES AND GENTLEMEN:-On the 13th of May, A. D., 1673, James Marquette and Louis Joliette, under the direction of the French authorities of Canada, started from the Straits of Mackinaw, in their frail bark canoes, with five boatmen, "to find out and explore the great river lying to the west of them, of which they had heard marvelous accounts from the Indians about Lake Michigan." From the southern extremity of Green Bay they ascended the Fox river, and thence carried their boats and provisions across to the Wisconsin. Descending that streamn, they reached the Mississippi on the 17th of June, and entered its majestic current, "realizing a joy," wrote Marquette, "that they could not express." Rapidly and easily they swept down to the solitudes below, and viewed on their journey the bold bluffs and beautiful meadows on the western bank of the stream, now revealed for the first time to the eyes of the white man. This was the discovery of Iowa. By right of discovery, France claimed jurisdiction over the country thus visited, until 1763, when she ceded it to Spain. Spain ceded her possession in the Valley of the Mississippi back to France in 1801. By treaty, signed on the 30th of April, 1803, the First Consul of the French Republic ceded these possessions to the United States. At this date the greater portion of the country afterwards constituting Iowa, was in the possession of the confederated tribes of Sac and Fox Indians. The first occupation under claim of title, by a white man, of any portion of Iowa soil, was by Julian Dubuque, a native of Canada, who, in 1788, obtained from Blondeau and two other chiefs of the Fox Indians, what he asserted was a grant of lands. Hebounded his claim as seven leagues on the west bank of the Mississippi, from the mouth of the Little Maquoketa river to the Tete Des Morts, and three leagues in depth. He also had a qualified confirmation of this grant from Carondelet, the Spanish Governor at New Orleans. He took to wife an Indian squaw, and occupied the mines until the time of his death, Is 10I, employing about ten white men in digging mine-ali. Hle was buri'led on the bluff of the Mississippi at the mouth of Catfish creek, and the city and county of Dfibuque were afterwards named for him. (k 4 The Supreme Court of the United States in 1854 decided that his grant was no more than a temporary license to dig ore, and constituted no valid claim to the soil. (16 Howard Rep., 224.) On the 30th of March, 1799, Louis Honore Tesson, also a native of Canada, obtained permission from the Lieutenant Governor of Upper Louisiana to establish a trading post at the head of the lower rapids of the Mississippi river, with the concession of a "sufficient space to make the establishment valuable for the commerce of peltries, to watch the Indians, and keep them in fidelity to his Majesty." He made such a settlement, and it was sold to one of his creditors at sheriff's sale on the 15th of IMay, 1803, for $150. This claim was afterwards allowed to the extent of 640 acres, and Martin Van Buren issued a patent therefor, February 7, 1839. The Supreme Court of the United States in 1852 adjudicated the title valid, and it now constitutes the oldest legal title to any land within the State. (14 How. Rep. 513.) By an act of Congress approved March 26, 1804, the boundary between Upper and Lower Louisiana was established. The lower country was called the Territory of New Orleans, and the upper the District of Louisiana. The District of Louisiana embraced the present States of Arkansas, Missouri, and Iowa, and was attached to the Territory of Indiana for political and judicial purposes. In 1865 General Pike made an official visit to the Mississippi border of our State, chiefly to advise the Indians that the United States had acquired the sovereignty over the country. In 1804 the expedition of Lewis and Clarke to the head waters of the Missouri, visited the western border of Iowa. They buried one of their number, Sergeant Floyd, on a bluff of the Missouri, near the mouth of the Sioux river. It has ever since been known as Floyd's Bluff. They also held a council with the Indians near the northwest corner of the present county of Pottawattamie, thereafter known as Council Bluffs. The name has since been transferred to the county seat of the county, now known as the city of Council Bluffs, the present eastern terminus of the Union Pacific Railroad. In 1807 Iowa was organized with the Territory of Illinois; and in 1812 she was included in the Territory of Missouri. In 1821, when Missouri was admitted into the Union as a State, Iowa was left, for the time being, a "political orphan," until attached to Michigan Territory, in June, 1834. During this interregnum it is probable that the only civil law in force in Iowa was that provision of the Missouri bill that prohibited slavery and involuntary servitude in the territories of the United States, north of 36 degrees 30 minutes, 5 north latitude; and the constitutionality even of this precious remnant of Lex Scripta was afterwards seriously questioned bv the Supreme Court of the United States. At the close of the Blackhawk war, and on the 15th of September, 1832, General Winfield Scott concluded a treaty at the present site of the city of Davenport, Iowa, with the confederated tribes of Sac and Fox Indians, by which the Indian title was extinguished to that portion of Iowa known as the "Blackhawk Purchase." This was a strip of land on the west bank of the Mississippi river, the western boundary of which commenced at a point where is now the southeast corner of Davis county; thence to a point on Cedar river, near the northeast corner of Johnson county; thence northwest to the neutral grounds of the Winnebagoes, thence to the Mississippi to a point above Prairie du Chien, and contained about six million acres of land. By the terms of this treaty the Indians were to occupy the land until June 1, 1833. After the death of Julian Dubuque, in 1810, the Spanish lead mines were worked but little. In 1833 the miners from the east side of the Mississippi were permitted to cross the river and settle upon the land; but as soon as they commenced raising the mineral the United States put in an appearance by an agent, who assumed control of the mineral lands and required the miners to take out permits for limited privileges, and to deliver their ore to a licensed smelter, who paid the government a royalty on the lead manufactured. These restrictions became so odious, and were so hard to enforce, that the government abandoned them in 1846 and put the lands into market. In the spring of 1836 John King purchased at Cincinnati, Ohio, and brought to Dubuque, a Smith press with the necessary type, and published a newspaper called the Dubuque Visitor. William Cary Jones was foreman of the office at a salary of $350.00 a year and boarding. Andrew Keesicker was compositor. In 1842 this press and type were taken to Lancaster, Wisconsin, and on it was printed the Grant County Ife~ald. Subsequently the same press was taken to St. Paul, Minnesota, and from it was issued the first paper printed in Minnesota Territory, called the St. Paul Piogeer. In 1858 the same press was taken to Sioux City Falls, in Dakota Territory, whereon to print the first newspaper published in that Territory, called the Dakota Democrat. In March, 1862, the Sioux Indians burned the town of Sioux City Falls, and this pioneer of American civilization perished in the flames. From 1834 to 1837 the government had a camp established at Mont 6 rose, on the Mississippi, which was called Camp Des Moines. At the foot of the rapids was an old trading house, afterwards known as "Rat Row," and two or three old cabins. This was known as the poinit afterwards named for Keokuk, the eloquent old chief of the Sac tribe. The first settlers here were engaged chiefly in lighting and towing freights over the Des Moines Rapids. In a treaty made with the Sac and Fox Indians in 1824, there was reserved for the use of the half-breeds of their tribes, in the south part of what was afterwards Lee county, a very valuable tract of land containing about one hundred and thirteen thousand acres. By an act of Congress, approved June 13, 1834, the government released to these half-breeds, as tenants in common, the fee simple title to these lands. The treaty with the Sac and Fox Indians did not fix either the names, number or identity of the persons for whom the reservation was made. Here was a chance for speculation and fraud. Half-breeds multiplied by means before unknown in the settlement of this couLtry. A company was duly incorporated to buy up half-breed titles. The Territorial -Legislature of Wisconsin, which held its session at Burlington, ir 1838, passed a special act appointing Edward Johnston, Thomas S. Wilson, and David Brigham, commissioners, before whom claimants to the half-breed tract should mnake proof of their titles, and requiring the commissioners to report their findings to the Territorial District Court, and authorized the court, after notice by publication, to enter a decree establishing titles. Before this work was completed, the next legislature, January 25, 1839, repealed the law, but in the repealing act authorized the commissioners to sue the owners of the half-breed tract for their services. This they did, and Johnston and Brigham each recovered judgments against the "owners of the halfbreed tract," by that general name and description. Executions were issued on these judgments, and the half-breed tract was levied upon, and sold at sheriff's sale to Hugh T. Reid. The Supreme Territorial Court at one time held this title to be valid, and Reid narrowly escaped being a great land proprietor. Meantime the Territorial Legislature began to encourage settlements on the half-breed tract, by legislative assurances to squatters, that if all other titles should fail, possession should be, not only nine, but ten points of the law. The very worst that a settler had to fear was, that his improvements should be assessed by a "jury of his peers," and that their value thus ascertained should be a lien on the land. In 1840, a suit in partition was commenced in the Territorial courts in the name of Josiah Spaulding and twenty-two others, purchasers from some of the half-breeds, against the known and unknown owners of shares in the "half-breed tract." Service was made by publication. Commissioners were appointed by the court, who divided the tract into 101 shares, of which forty-one were assigned to the New York Company. The title under this decree of partition, after years of litigation, was finally established and quieted. In the meantime the question involved between the squatters and other claimants entered very largely into the politics of the country and the State; and political fortunes depended on the grave complications growing out of the settlement of the half-breed tract. These complications developed a great deal of bad blood, but little of which flowed through the veins of the descendants of the Sac and Fox Indians. One of the first settlers writes that "in the fall of 1836, when the question of a separate Territorial organization for Iowa was agitated, a public meeting was held on the claim of John Gaines, six miles west of Keokuk; that it was seriously thought by many who attended the meeting that the half-breed tract could not be included in any other organization, and that they contemplated starting out'on their own hook,' and forming an independent government; but that after several gentlemen present had successively mounted the head of a whisky barrel, and exhausted their eloquence, they became convinced that the reservation was still within the jurisdiction of, and that they owed allegiance to, the Government of the United States." As a representative of the two races of men that at this time occupied Iowa, we notice one whose life was an episode in the history of each. Antoine Le Claire was born at St. Josephs, Michigan, in 1797. His father was French, his mother a grand-daughter of a Pottawattamie chief. In 1818 he acted as official interpreter to Col. Davenport at Fort Armstrong, (now Rock Island). He was well acquainted with a dozen Indian dialects, and was a man of strict integrity and great energy. In 1820 he married the grand-daughter of a Sac chief. The Sac and Fox Indians reserved for him and his wife two sections of land in the treaty of 1832, one at the town of Le Claire, and one at Davenport. The Pottawattamies, in their treaty at Prairie du Chien, also, reserved for him two sections of land at the present site of Moline, Illinois. He received the appointment of postmaster and justice of the peace in the Black Hawk Purchase, at an early day. In 1833 he bought, for $100, a claim on the lands upon which the original town of Davenport was surveyed and platted in 1836. In 1836 Le Claire built the hotel known since, with its valuable additions, 7 8 as the Le Claire House. HIe contributed largely to the public enter prises of the town, its churches, schools, and ferries, and lived to see the village grow into a city, among the most beautiful and flourishing in the State. He died September 25th, 1861. Before its settlement by the whites, Burlington was known as the Flint Hills, and was an Indian trading post under the control of the American Fur Company. In 1833 the settlers found here a number of old trading houses. In January, 1837, the town contained less than, three hundred inhabitants. The dwellings were chiefly log, and the place was without church or school-house. By act of Congress, ap proved April 20, 1836, which took effect the following 3d of July, the territory now comprising the States of Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota, was organized as Wisconsin Territory. Henry Dodge was appointed Governor. The country west of the Mississippi, known as the Black Hawk Purchase, was divided into two counties named Dubuque, and Des Moines, and at the first census, 1836, the population numbered 10,531. The. second session of the Wisconsin legislature met at Burlington, in Des Moines county, in November, 1837. At the first ses sion of the Wisconsin legislature, the county of Des Moines was divided, and the counties of Des Moines, Lee, Van Buren, Henry, MIuscatine, and Scott, then called Cook, were formed from it. The second session divided the county of Dubuque, and made of it the counties of Dubuque, Clayton, Fayette, Delaware, Buchanan, Jackson, Jones, Linn, Benton, Clinton, and Cedar. The territory of Iowa was organized by act of Congress, approved June 12, 1838, which took effect on the 3d of July thereafter. The organic act provided for a Governor, Secretary, Chief Justice, Associate Judges, Attorney, and Marshal; to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate; and provided for the election, by the white male inhabitants, citizens of the UInited States over the age of twentyone years, of a House of Representatives, consisting of 26 members, and a Council, to consist of 13 members. It gave the Governor an absolute veto power over the acts of the legislature, and appropriated $5,000 for a public library, and the sum of $20,000 for the erection of public buildings. Robert Lucas, formerly Governor of Ohio, was appointed Governor; William B. Conway, Secretary; Charles Mason, Chief Justice, and Joseph Williams and Thomas S. Wilson, Judges. Burlington was selected as the temporary seat of government, and the first Territorial legislature was convened November 12, 1838. Wm. H. Wallace, of Henry county, was chosen Speaker, and Jesse B. Brown, 9 of Lee county, President of the Council. Among the members from Dubuque county was Stepehen Hempstead, afterwards Governor of the State. Another name appears in the list of members from Des Moines county, at the mention of which every patriotic heart in our State throbs with pride. The record reads: "James W. Grimes, age 22 years, occupation, lawyer; nativity, New Hampshire." This session of the legislature was a stormy one. Governor Lucas seemed disposed to make the most of his veto power, and the Hawkeyes could tolerate absolute rule with a poor grace. By acts approved March 3d, 1839, Congress amended the organic act and limited the veto power of the Governor to the two-thirds rule, and took from him also the power of appointing sheriffs and magistrates, which had been conferred by the organic act. The first Territorial Legislature selected Johnson county for the location of the future Capital. The treaty of September 21st had reserved to the use of the Indians four hundred sections of land on the Iowa river, including the Indian village of the chief,Keokuk. In September, 1836, this reserve was ceded to the United States, and the Indians removed to the valley of the Des Moines. In the fall of 1837 the general government called to Washington a deputation of Indian tribes of the Northwest, for the purpose of securing peace among them. The Sioux and the Sacs and Foxes were in open hostility at this time. At this convention peace was restored among these tribes, and the government also secured a treaty with the Sac and Fox Indians, by which it obtained a tract of land, west of the "Black Hawk Purchase," containing one million two hundred and fifty thousand acres. The first settlement in Johnson county was made in 1837. The county was organized in 1838. In May, 1839, a section of land was selected on the Iowa river for the future seat of government, and in June, 1839, Iowa City was surveyed, and the hazel brush and scruib oak were grubbed frpm her streets. In 1840 the building for the capitol was commenced, but it was not occupied for public use until December, 1842. The Legislature met for the first time at Iowa City, in December, 1841. In 1841 John Chambers succeeded Robert Lucas as Territorial Governor. In defining the boundaries of the counties on the southern border, the authorities for Iowa had fixed a line, that has since been established as the true boundary between Iowa and Missouri. The constitution of Missouri defined her northern boundary to be the parallel of latitude which passes through the rapids of the river Des Moines. The lower rapids of the Mississippi, which are immediately above the 2 10 mouth of the Des Moines river, had always been known as the Des Moines Rapids, or the rapids of the Des Moines river. The Missouri ans (not well versed in history or geography) found rapids in the Des Moines river just below the town of Keosauqua, and insisted on run ning a line west from that point for their northern boundary; thus taking from Iowa a strip of country eight to ten miles in width. Mis souri attempted to assert her jurisdiction over this disputed territory, by assessing taxes and sending her sheriffs to enforce them by dis training the personal chatties of the settlers. Whereupon the sheriffs of Van Buren and Davis counties arrested the Missouri officers, and put them in "durance vile." Governor Boggs, of Missouri, called out the militia of his State to enforce the claims of Missouri, and sustain its officers. Governor Lucas called out the militia of Iowa. About 1200 men were enlisted, and 500 were actually armed and encamped in Van Buren county, ready to maintain the issue on our part. Subsequently Gen. A. C. Dodge, of Burlington, Gen. Churchman, of Dubuque, and Dr. Clark, of Ft. Madison, were sent as poace commissioners to Missouri to adjust difficulties. When they arrived in the enemy's country, they found that the county commissioners of Clarke county, Missouri, had rescinded the order for the collection of taxes, and the Governor of Missouri had sent messengers to the Governor of Iowa, proposing to submit an agreed case to the Supreme Court of the United ttates for the settlement of the boundary question. This proposition was declined; but afterwards, upon petition of Iowa and Missouri, Congress authorized a suit to settle the controversy. The suit was afterwards duly instituted, and resulted in the determination that Iowa had only asserted "the truth of history," and that she knew where the rapids of the river Des Moines were located. Thus ended the Missouri war. There was much good sense in the basis upon which peace was secured, to-wit: "If Missourians did not know where the rapids of the river Des Moines were located, that was no sufficient reason for killing them off with powder and lead; and if we did know a little more of history and geography than they did, we ought not to be shot for our learning. We commend our mutual forbearance to older and greater "peoples." Under an order from the Supreme Court of the United States, William G. Miner, of Missouri, and Henry B. Hendershott, of Iowa, acted as commissioners and surveyed and established the boundary. The expenses of the war on the part of Iowa were never paid, either by the United States or the Territorial government. The patriots who 11 furnished supplies to the troops had to bear the cost and charges of the struggle. In obedience to our progressive and aggressive spirit, the governmeneit of the United States made another treaty with the Sac and Fox Indians on the 11th day of August, 1842, for the remaining portion of their lands in Iowa. The treaty provided that the Indians should retain possession of all the lands thus ceded until May 1, 1843, and should occupy that portion of the ceded territory west of a line running north and south through Redrock until October 11, 1845. These tribes at this time had their principal village at Ottumwah-nro, now called Ottumwa. As soon as it became known that the treaty had been concluded, there was a rush of immigration to Iowa, and a great nurmber of temporary settlements were made near the Indian boundary, waiting for the first day of May. As the day approached hundreds of families encamped along the line, and their tents and wagons gave the scene the apprearance of a military expedition. The country beyond had been thoroughly explored, but the United States military authorities had prevented any settlement, or even the marking out of claims by any monuments whatever. To aid them in marking out their claims, when the hour should arrive, the settlers had placed piles of dry wood on the rising ground at convenient distances, and a short time before twelve o'clock of the night of the 30th of April, these were lighted, and when the midnight hour arrived it was announced by the discharge of firearms. The night was dark, but this army of occupation pressed forward, torch in hand, with axe and hatchet blazing lines with all manner of corners and angles. When daylight came and revealed the confusion of these wonderful surveys, numerous disputes arose, settled generally, by compromise, but sometimes by violence. Between midnight of the 30th of April and sundown of the first of May, over one thousand families had settled in this new purchase. While this scene was transpiring the retreating Indian was enacting one more impressive and melancholy. The winter of 1842-3 was one of unusual severity, and the Indian prophet, who had disapproved of the treaty, attributed the severity of the winter to the anger of the Great Spirit because they had, sold their country. Many religious rites were performed to atone for the crime. When the time for leaving Ottumwah-no arrived, a solemn silence pervaded the Indian camp, and the faces of their stoutest men were bathed in tears; and whenr their cavalcade was put in motion, toward the setting sun, there was a spontaneous outburst of frantic greaf from the entire procession. 12 The Indians remained the appointed time beyond the line running north and south through Redrock. The government established a trading post and military encampment at the Raccoon Fork of the Des Moines river, then and for many years known as Fort Des Moines. Here the red man lingered until the 11th of October, 1845, when the same scene that we have before described was re-enacted, and the wave of immigration swept over the remainder of the "New Purchase." The lands thus occupied and claimed by the settlers still belonged in fee to the general government. The surveys were not compieted until some time after the Indian title was extinguished. After their survey the lands were publicly proclaimed or advertised for sale at public auction. Under the laws of the United States a pre-emption or exclusive right to purchase public lands could not be acquired until after the lands had thus been publicly offered and not sold for want of bidders. Then, and not until then, an occupant making improvements in good faith, might acquire a right over others to enter the land at the mini mum price of $1.25 per acre. The "claim laws"' were unknown to the United States statutes. They originated in the "eternal fitness of things," and were enforced, probably, as belonging to that class of natural rights not enumerated in the constitution, and-not impaired or disparaged by its enumeration. The settlers organized in every settlement prior to the public land sales, appointed officers, and adopted their own rules and regulations. Each man's claim was duly ascertained and recorded by the secretary. It was the duty of all to attend the sales. The secretary bid off the lands of each settler at $1.25 per acre. The others were there, to see, first, that he did his duty, and bid in the land, and, secondly, to see that no one else bid. This, of course, sometimes led to trouble, but it saved the excitement of competition, and gave a formality and degree of order and regularity to the proceedings they would not otherwise have attained. As far as practicable the Territorial legislature recognized the validity of these "claims" upon the public lands, and in 1839 passed an act legalizing their sale and making their transfer a valid consideration to support a promise to pay for the same. (Acts of 1843, p. 456.) The Supreme Territorial Court held this law to be valid. (See HIill v. Smith, 1st Morris Rep. 70.) The opinion not only contains a decision of the question involved, but also contains much valuable erudition upon that "spirit of Anglo-Saxon liberty" which the Iowa settlers unquestionably inherited in a direct line of descent from the said "Anglo-Saxons." 13 But the early settler was not always able to pay even this dollar and twenty-five cents per acre for his land. The financial troubles of 1837, that had paralyzed business and spread financial ruin over the older States, drove many families into the wilderness to begin anew the business of life. Many had nothing to begin with, save their health and courage, and those family jewels that are the "pledges of love" and the "consumers of bread." Following in the wake of the settler was the army of money usurers, who stood ready to take advantage of his necessities. The legislature of 1843 fixed ten per cent as the legal rate of interest for which parties might contract. But it was only too easy to evade the law. There was nothing in the law to compel the usurer to loan his money at ten per cent., nor was there anything to prevent his entering the land by consent of the settler, with an agreement to convey it, upon the payment of an amount equal to the entrance money and forty per cent. Neither was it easy for the settler to earn the money to redeem his land. However fertile the soil, or however industrious the toiler, yet without a market for his produce it was hard to accumulate money. It was not until many years of patient toil and the severest economy, that-some of our best citizens could call their farms their own, and rid themselves of the exactions of the usurer. One of the old settlers describing those early days, writes as follows: "Well do the'old settlers' of Iowa remember the days from the first settlement to 1840. Those were days of sadness and distress. The endearments of home in another land had been broken up; and all that was hallowed on earth, the home of childhood and the scenes of youth were severed, and we sat down by the gentle waters of our noble river; and often'hung our harps on the willows."' Another from a different section of the State writes: "There was no such thing as getting monev for any kind of labor. I laid brick at three dollars per thousand, and took my pay in anything I could eat or wear. I built the first Methodist Church at Keokuk, 42 x60 feet of brick, for six hundred dollars, and took my pay in a sub scription paper, part of which I never collected, and upon which I only received $50 in money. Wheat was hauled 100 miles from the inte rior and sold for 371 cents per bushel." And still another old settler writes of a later period, 1843: "Land and everything had gone down in value to almost nominal prices. Corn and oats could be bought for six or ten cents a bushel; pork one dollar per hundred; and the best horse a man could raise sold 14 for fifty dollars. Nearly all were in debt, and the sheriff and constable, with legal process, were common visitors at almost every man's door. These were indeed'the times that tried men's souls.'" A few, who were not equal to the trial, returned to their old homes, but such as had the courage and faith to be the worthy founders of a great State, remained to more than realize the fruition of their hopes, and the reward of their self-denial. At the close of the Blackhawk war, the Winnebago Indians ceded to the United States their lands in Wisconsin, and removed west of the Mississippi to a strip of land extending twenty miles on each side of the upper Iowa river, which strip of country had been obtained by the United States for this purpose by treaty with the Sac and Fox and Sioux tribes. On the 13th of October, 1846, the Winnebagos relinquished this reservation and removed to the upper Mississippi, north of the St. Peter's river. By treaty of 1830, the United States had also obtained a cession of the southwestern part of Iowa as a reservation for the Pottawattamie Indians. In June, 1846, this reservation was relinquished, and these Indians removed west of the Missouri river. Brigham Young, with his Mormon followers, made his exit from Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1846, and made his headquarters in Pottawattamie county, Iowa, in the winter of 1846-7. They built the town of Kainsville, since the city of Council Bluffs. This peculiar people, zealous in many things besides good works, remained in the southwestern part of the State, and controlled its local affairs, until 1852. The census of 1850 shows over six thousand Mormans in this portion of the State at that date. In 1852 the final order came for the Saints to assemble about their temple in Utah, wherefore the Gentiles rejoiced. The Mormons sold out their improvements at a great sacrifice. A good farm claim was bought for a few hundred dollars, or a span of horses and a wagon. From this time forward the "Slope" began to attract attention, and settlement progressed rapidly. The Sioux Indians, who were the most treaclherous and cruel of the northwestern tribes, continued to occupy the northwestern portion of the State until 1853. They sold their lands by treaty, July 23, 1851, and were to surrender possession two years thereafter. A land office was established at the present site of Sioux City in October, 1855, and by the first of December, 1856, a hundred neat and comfortable dwellings had been erected. This formed the nucleus of settlement in the northwest of Iowa. We return now to our political history. The Territorial Legislature 15 held its eighth and last session at Iowa City, commencing December 1, 1845. James Clark was the same year appointed the successor of Governor Chambers, and was the third and last Territorial Governor. In 1843 the Territorial Legislature compiled and published a code of general statutes, making a volume of 800 pages, that continued in force until July, 1851. During our Territorial existence we were represented in Congress by William C. Chapman and Augustus Cesar Dodge. Our first constitutional convention was held at Iowa City in October, 1844, but its work was rejected by the people by a majority of 421 votes. A second convention convened at the same place on the 4th of MIay 1846, and completed its work on the 19th of the same month. This constitution was adopted by the people in August of the same year, and on the following 28th of December, Iowa became one of the States of the Republic. The United States by ordinance of compact at the time of her admission, gave to Iowa the 16th section of every township of land in the State, or its equivalent, for the support of schools, also seventy-two sections of land for the purpose of a university; also five sections of land for the completion of her public buildings; also the salt springs within her limits, not exceeding twelve in number, with six sections of land adjoining each; also, in consideration that her public lands should be exempt from taxation by the State, she gave to the State 5 per cent. of the net proceeds of the sale of public lands within the State. Thus provided for as a bride with her marriage portion, Iowa commenced "house-keeping" upon her own account. A majority of the Constitutional Convention of 1846, were of the Democratic party; and the instrument contains some of the peculiar tenets of the party at that day. All banks of issue were prohibited within the State. The State was prohibited from becoming a stock-holder in any corporation for pecuniary profit, and the General Assembly could only provide for private corporations by general statutes. The Constitution also limited the State's indebtedness to one hundred thousand dollars. It required the General Assembly to provide public schools throughout the State for at least three months in the year. Six months previous residence of any white male citizen of the IUnited States constituted him an elector. The government was started on an economical basis. The members of the General Assembly received each two dollars per day for the first fifty days of the session, and one dollar per day thereafter. The sessions were to be biennial. The salaries of the State officers were limited for the first ten years as follows: Governor, $1,000 per annum; 16 Secretary of State, $500; Treasurer of State, $400; Auditor of States $600; and Judges of the Supreme Court, $1,000 each. And it may here be recorded as a fact that these prices did not discourage the best talent of the State from seeking these positions, and that during this ten years of our history none of these officers were ever known to receive bribes, or to steal one dollar of the public money. At the time of our organization as a State, we had a population of 116,651, as appears by the census of 1847. Ansel Briggs, of Jackson county, was elected our first Governor, and the first General Assembly met at Iowa City, November 30, 1846. The most important business transacted was the passage of a bill authorizing a loan of fifty thousand dollars for means to run the State government and pay the expenses of the constitutional conventions. The great excitement of the session was the attempt to.choose United States Senators. The Whigs had a majority of two in the House, and the Democrats a majority of one in the Senate. After repeated attempts to control these majorities for caucus nominees, and frequent sessions of a joint convention for purposes of an election, the attempt was abandoned. A school law was passed at this session for the organization of public schools in the State. In pursuance of its provisions, an election for Superintendent of Public Instruction was held the spring following, and James Harlan received a majority of the votes cast. After the election, the Democratic Secretary of State discovered that the law contained no provision for its publication in the newspapers, and he claimed it had not gone into effect, and he, with the Governor, refused Harlan a certificate of election. The Supreme Court sustained their action. After the adjournment of the General Assembly the Governor appointed Joseph Williams Chief Justice and George Green and John F. Kinney Judges of the Supreme Court. They were afterwards elected by the second General Assembly, and constituted the Supreme Court until 1855, with the exception that Kinney resigned in January, 1854, and J. C. Hall, of Burlington, was appointed in his place. Hall was one of the earliest and ablest lawyers of the State, and his memory will long be cherished by the early members of the profession. Some changes having occurred by death and removal, the Governor was induced to call an extra session of the General Assembly in January, 1848, with the hope of an election of United States Senators. The attempt, however, was again unsuccessful. At this session Charles Mason, William G. Woodward, and Stephen Hempstead were appointed commissioners 17 to prepare a code of laws for the State. Their work was finished in 1850, and was adopted by the General Assembly. This "Code" con tained among other provisions a Code of Civil Practice, superseding the old common law forms of actions and writs, and it was admirable for its simplicity and method. It remained in force until 1863, when it was superseded by the more complicated and metaphysical system of the revision of that year. Our first representatives in Cmongress were S. Clinton Hastings of Muscatine, and Shepard Lefier of Des Moines county. The Second General Assembly elected to the United States Senate Augustus Cmsar Dodge and Geo. W. Jones. The State government, after its first session, was under the control of Democratic administrations till 1855. The electoral vote of the State was cast for Lewis Cass in 1848, and for Franklin Pierce in 1852. The popular vote shows that the free-soil element of the State during this period very nearly held the balance of power, and that up to 1854 it acted in the State elections, to some extent, with the Democratic party. In 1848, Lewis Cass re ceived 12,093 votes, Zachary Taylor 11,034, and Martin Van Buren, the Free-Soil candidate, 1226 votes, being 167 votes less than a majority for Cass. In 1852, Pierce received 17,762 votes, and Scott 15,855 votes, and Hale, Free-Soil, received 1,606, being for Pierce 301 votes more than a majority. From 1858 to 1860 the Sioux Indians became troublesome in the northwestern part of the State. They made freq(uent raids for the purpose of plunder, and on several occasionsmurdered whole families of settlers. In 1861 several companies of militia were ordered to that portion of the State, to hunt down and expel the thieves. No battles were fought. The Indians fled as soon as they ascertained that systematic measures had been adopted for their punishment. The passage by the Congress of the United States of the act organizing the Territories of Kansas and Nebraska, and the provision it contained abrogating that portion of the Missouri bill that prohibited slavery and involuntary servitude north of 36 degrees and 30 minutes of north latitude, was the beginning of a political revolution in the Northern States, and in none was it more marked than in the State of Iowa. Iowa was the "first free child born of the Missouri compromise," and always has she resented the destruction of her foster parent. In the summer of 1854, there was a tacit coalition or union of the Whig and Free-Soil elements of the State. Alarmed at the aggressive spirit manifested by the adherents of the peculiar institution, 3 18 the "Free-Soilers," who almost held the balance of power in the State, readily adopted as their candidate the Whig nominee for Governor. Many of the old-line Whigs abandoned their party because of this coalition, but many strong and able men among the Democrats cooperated with it. James W. Grimes was the nominee of the Whig, and Curtis Bates, of Polk County, was the nominee of the Democratic party. Grimes was then in the vigor of his manhood, and all the energies of his being appeared to be aroused by what he denominated the aggressions of the slave power. He was thoroughly in earnest, and canvassed most of the organized counties of the State. The people flocked by the thousands to hear him, and were electrified by his eloquence. No one of the opposition attempted to meet him in debate. The result was his election by a majority of 1,404, in a vote of 21,794. A majority was also secured in the General Assembly on joint ballot of the two houses in opposition to the Democratic party. The Senate excluded Jordan of Polk, and retained a Democrat, who wrongfully held a certificate of election, until after the Senatorial contest. Browning, of Des MIoines county, formerly elected as a Whig, acted with the Democrats in the session of 1854-5, and by these means the Democrats held a majority of one in the Senate and controlled its action. The RepuLblicani party was not organized in Iowa until 1856. The opposition to the Democracy in 1854-5 were known as Anti-Nebraska Whigs. A caucus of this opposing element nominated James Harlan as their candidate for United States Senator, Geo. G. Wright for Chief Justice, and Norman W. Isbell and Wm. G. Woodward for Judges of the Supreme Court. A portion of the opposition, however, refused to go into this caucus, or to abide by its decision as to the United States Senator. They were the personal friends of Ebenezer Cook, of Scott county. A joint convention was secured, and the Judges of the Supreme Court were elected. After frequent ballotings and adjournments, it was at last understood that Cook's friends had yielded, and would support Mr. Harlan. When the hour arrived to which the joint convention had adjourned, messengers were sent to the Senate by the House to inform that body that the House was ready to meet them in joint convention. Before this mess age could be delivered, the Senate had adjourned over until the next day. The Anti-Nebraska Senators," however, entered the hall of the House and took their seats in joint convention. Much confusion pre vailed, but finally a President pro tem. of the convention was chosen, and Mr. Harlan was elected. His seat was contested, and his election 19 declared invalid by the United States Senate. At the next session of the General Assembly, held in 1857, Mr. Harlan was re-elected and was permitted to take his seat. At the regular session in 1854-5 an act was passed for the relocation of the Capital of the State at Des Moines. The year 1856 marked a new era in the history of Iowa. In 1854 the Chicago and Rock Island Railroad had been completed to the east bank of the Mississippi river, opposite Davenport. In 1854, the cornerstone of a railroad bridge, that was to be the first to span the "Father of Waters," was laid with appropriate ceremonies at this point. St. Louis had resolved that the enterprise was unconstitutional, and by writs of injunction made an unsuccessful effort to prevent its completion. Twenty years later in her history, St. Louis repented her folly, and made atonement for her sin by imitating our example. On the first of January, 1856, this railroad was completed to Iowa City. In the meantime two other railroads had reached the east bank of' the Mississippi-one opposite Burlington and one opposite Dubuque-and these were being extended into the interior of the State. Indeed, four lines of railroad had been projected across the State from the Mississippi to the Missouri, having eastern connections. On the 15th of May, 1856, the Congress of the United States passed an act granting to the State, to aid in the construction of railroads, the public lands in alternate sections, six miles on either side of the proposed lines. An extra session of the General Assembly was called in July of this year, that disposed of the grant to the several companies that proposed to complete these enterprises. The population of our State at this time had increased to 500,000. Public attention had been called to the necessity of a railroad across the continent. The position of Iowa, in the very heart and center of the Republic, on the route of this great highway of the continent, began to attract attention. Cities and towns sprung up through the State as if by magic. Capital began to pour into the State, and had it been employed in developing our vast coal measures and establishing manufactories among us, or if it had been expended in improving our lands and building houses and barns, it would have been well. But all were in haste to get rich, and the spirit of specular tion ruled the hour. In the meantime every effort was made to help the speedy completion of the railroads. Nearly every county and city on the Mississippi, and many in the interior, voted large corporate subscriptions to the stock of the railroad companies, and issued their negotiable bonds for the 20 amount, Thus enormous county and city debts were incurred, the payment of which these municipalities tried to avoid upon the plea that they had exceeded the constitutional limitation of their powers. The Supreme Court of the United States held these bonds to be valid; and the courts by mandamus compelled the city and county authorities to levy taxes to pay the judgments recovered upon them. These debts are not all paid, even to this day; but the worst is over, and the incubus is in the course of ultimate extinction. The most valuable lessons are those learned in the school of experience. In 1846 Congress madea grant to the State of the alternate sections of land five miles in width on each side of the Des Moines river, for the improvement thereof by means of slack water from the mouth to the Raccoon Forks. In 1847 the State organized a Board of Public Works, and proceeded to sell the lands and let contracts for the building of locks and dams. In 1854 but little real progress had been made in the work, but the State had sold nearly all the lands of the grant below the Raccoon Fork, and 58,000 acres above it, and had incurred an indebtedness of $70,000 over and above the proceeds of sales. In June, 1854, a Board of State Comrnmisioners contracted with the Des Moines Navigation and Railroad Company, an organization composed principally of New York capitalists, to undertake the work and pay off the debt, agreeing to convey to the company lands at $1.25 an acre for all moneys advanced and expended. In the meantime difficulties arose in regard to the extent of the grant. The State claimed lands throughout the whole extent of the river to the north line of the State. The Department of the Interior changed its rulings under the several administrations. The Commissioner of the General Land Office certified to the State about 320,000 acres of land below the Raccoon fork of the river, and about 270,000 acres above it prior to 1857, when he refused to certify any more. This led to a settlement and compromise with the Navigation Company, in 1858, whereby the company took all the land certified to the State at that date, and paid the State $20,000 in addition to what they had already expended, canceled their contract and abandoned the work. The General Assembly granted to the Des Moines Valley R. R Co. the remainder of the grant to the State line, to aid in building a railroad up and along the Des Moines valley; and Congress in 1862 extended the grant, by express enactment, to the north line of the State. One of the most injurious results to the State, arising from the spirit of speculation prevalent in 185.6, was the purchase and entry of great bodies of government land a 21 within the State by non-residents. This land was held for speculation and placed beyond the reach of actual settlers for many years. From no other one cause has Iowa suffered so much as from the shortsighted policy of the Federal Government in selling lands within her borders. The money thus obtained by the Federal Government has been comparatively inconsiderable. The value of this magnificent public domain to the United States was not in the few thousands of dollars she might exact from the hardy settlers, or that she might obtain from the speculator who hoped to profit by the settler's labors in improving the country. Statesmen should have taken a broader and more comnprehensive view of national economy, and a view more in harmony with the divine economy that had prepared these vast fertile plains of the West for the "homes of men and the seats of empire." It was here that new States were to be builded up, that should be the future strength of the nation against foreign invasion or home revolt. A single regiment of Iowa soldiers during the dark days of the rebellion was worth more to the nation than all the money she ever exacted from the toil and sweat of our early settlers. Could the statesmen of forty years ago have looked forward to this day, when Iowa pays her $1,000,000 annually into the treasury of the nation for the extinction of the national debt, they would have realized that the founding of new States was a greater enterprise than the retailing of public lands. Fortunately the financial crash of 1857 put an end to this spirit of speculation. In 1856 the Republican party of the State was duly organized, in full sympathy with that of the other free States, and at the ensuing Presidential election the electoral vote of the State was cast for John C. Fremont. The popular vote was as follows: Fremont............................................................................. 43,954 Buchanan.......................................................................... 36,170 Fillmore.............................................................................. 9,180 In January, 1857, a Constitutional Convention was convened at Iowa City, which framed our present State Constitution. One of the most pressing demands for this convention grew out of the prohibition of banks under the old Constitution. The practical result of this prohibition was to flood the State with every species of "wild-cat" currency. Our circulating medium was made up in part of the free bank paper of Illinois and Indiana. In addition to this, we had paper issued by Iowa brokers, who had obtained bank charters from the Territorial Legislature of Nebraska, and had their pretended headquarters at Omaha and 22 Florence. Our currency was also well assorted with the bills from other States, generally such as had the best reputation where they were least known. This paper was all at two, and some of it from 10 to 15 per cent. discount. Every man who was not an expert in detecting counterfeit bills, and who was not posted in the history of all manner of banking institutions, did business at his peril. The new Constitution made ample provision for home banks under the supervision of our own laws. The limitation of our State debt was enlarged to $250,000, and the corporate indebtedness of the cities and counties were also limited to five per cent. upon the valuation of their taxable property. The Judges of the Supreme Court were to be elected by the popular vote. The permanent seat of government was fixed at Des Moines, and the State University located at Iowa City. The qualifications of electors remained the same as under the old Constitution, but the schedule provided for a vote of the people upon a separate proposition to strike the word "white" out of the suffrage clause, which, had it prevailed, would have resulted in conferring the right of suffrage without-distinction of color. Since the early organization of Iowa there had been upon the statute books a law providing that no negro, mulatto, or Indian should be a competent witness in any suit or proceedings to which a white man was a party. The General Assembly of 1856-7 repealed this law, and the new Constitution contained a clause forbidding such disqualification in the future. It also provided for the education of "all youth of the State" through a system of common schools. In the Presidential election of 1856 the Republican candidate had received 1,296 votes less than a majority of the popular vote of the State. This gave the Democrats strong hopes of carrying the election in 1857. Their nominee for Governor was Ben M. Samuels, of Dubuque, a Virginian by birth and education, and an earnest and impressive speaker. The Republican nominee was Ralph P. Lowe, of Lee county. The Democrats made a bold attack upon the Republican party because of their repeal of the black laws, and their provision for negro education; and made a strong appeal to the caste prejudice still prevailing in the States especially among the Fillmore men, who now constituted the floating vote. The result was, however, a success for the Republican party. Lowe was elected by a majority of 1,406 and a plurality of 2,410, and the legislature was largely Republican in both branches. The vote on the new constitution was 40,311 votes for and 38,681 against it. In January, 1858, the General Assembly met for the 23 first time at Des Moines, in a temporary building, furnished for the purpose by the Capitol Building Association, composed of a number of enterprising citizens, who borrowed from James D. Eads, State Superintendent of Public Instruction, the money wherewith to build the house, and afterward sold the building to the State in consideration of a release of the debt. At this session of the General Assembly, James W. Grimes was elected U.S. Senator as successor to George W. Jones. When the Republican administration came into power, it found the State with the inconsiderable debt of $50,000, borrowed at the organization of the State government. The Democratic administrations had observed the most rigid economy, but had ontly economized. With a population of nearly half a million, we had no provision for the insane, the deaf and dumb, or the blind. Temporary schools for the latter had been provided; but save the old State House at Iowa City, and a very inadequate penitentiary at Ft. Madison, the State was without public buildings. In 1856 and 1858 large appropriations were made for the erection of public buildings, and the support of the unfortunate classes, and a loan of'$200,000 was authorized. In 1859 the Republicans nominated for Governor Samuel J. Kirkwood, and the Democrats selected as their candidate, Augustus Cesar Dodge, then just returned home from a mission to Spain. The contest was a spirited one. In addition to the slavery question, the charge of extravagance was made against the Republican State administration; and the size and extent of the insane asylum at Mt. Pleasant was made a specialty by Democratic speakers. The result was the election of Kirkwood by a majority 2,964 votes. The Presidential campaign of 1860 was the most remarkable and exciting of any in our history as a State. The fact that civil war might be inaugurated and was threatened, in case Mr. Lincoln was elected, was well understood and duly considered. The people of Iowa indulged in no feelings of hatred or ill-will toward the people of any State or section of the Union. There was, however, on the part of the majority, a cool determination to consider and decide upon our national relations to this institution of slavery, uninfluenced by any threat of violence or civil war. The popular vote of Iowa in 1860 gave Mr. Lincoln 70,409 votes to Stephen A. Douglas 55,011, to Breckenridge 1,048. The General Assembly of the State of Iowa, as early as 1851, had by joint resolution declared that the State of Iowa was "bound to maintain the Union of these States by all the means in her power." 24 The same year the State furnished a block of marble for the Washing ton Monument at the National Capital, and by order of the General Assembly there was inscribed upon its enduring surface the following: "Iowa —Her affections, like the rivers of her borders, flow to an In separable Union." The day was now approaching in her history when these declarations of attachment and fidelity to the Nation were to be put to a practical test. Certainly the people of no State in the nation could be more vitally interested in the question of our national unity than the people of our State. The older States of the Union, both North and South, were rep resented in our population. We were nearly all emigrants, bound to these older communities by,the most sacred ties of blood, and most endearing recollections of our early days. In addition to these con siderations of a personal character, there were others of the' gravest political importance. Our geographical position as a State, made the dismemberment of the Union a matter of serious concern. The Mississippi had been for years our highway to the markets of the world. We could not entertain the thought that its navigation should pass under the control of a foreign government. But more than this, we had to fear the consequences of introducing and recognizing in our national system the principle of secession or disintegration. If this should be recognized as a right, what security had the*States of the interior against their entire issolation from the commerce of the world by the future secession of the Atlantic and Pacific States. And the fact also remained, that secession or separation removed none of the causes of the war. Whatever there was in the peculiar institution that created differences of sentiment, or feeling, or caused irritation, still existed( cfter the separation, with no court or constitution as the arbiter of rights, and with the one resort, only, of the sword to settle differences. In secession and its logical and necessary results, we saw nothing but dire confusion and anarchy, and the utter destruction of that nationzlity, through which alone we felt that our civil liberties as a people could be preserved, and the hopes of our Christian civilization perpetuated. The declaration of Mr. Buchanan's last annual message, that the nation possessed no constitutional power to coerce a seceding State, was received by the great majority of our citizens with humiliation and with distrust. Anxiously they awaited the expiring hours of his administration, and looked to the incoming President as to an expected deliverer, that should rescue the nation from the hands of traitors, and the control of those whose non-resistance invited her destruction. The 25 firing upon the National flag at Sumpter aroused a burning indignation throughout the loyal States of the Republic, and no where was it more intense than in Iowa. And when the proclamation of the President was published, on the 15th day of Apri], 1861, calling for 75,000 citizen soldiers, to "maintain the honor, the integrity, and the existence of our national Union and the perpetuity of popular government," we were more than willing to respond to the call. Party lines gave way, and, for awhile at least, party spirit was hushed; and the cause of our common country was supreme in the affections of the people. Peculiarly fortunate were the people of Iowa at this crisis, in having a truly representative man as Executive of the State. Thoroughly honest and thoroughly earnest, wholly imbued with the enthusiasm of the hour, fully aroused to the importance of the crisis, and the magnitude of the struggle upon which we were entering, with an indomitable will under the control of a strong common sense; our war Governor, Samuel J. Kirkwood, was indeed a worthy chief to organize and direct the energies of our people. Within thirty days after the date of the President's call for troops, the First Iowa Regiment was mustered into the service of the United States-a second regiment was in camp ready for the service; and the General Assembly of the State was convened in special session, and had by joint resolution solemnly pledged our every resource of men and money to the national cause. The Constitution of our State limited the State debt to $250,000, except debts contracted to "repel invasion, suppress insurrection, or defend the State in war." The General Assembly authorized a loan of $800,000 for a war and defense fund, to be expended in organizing, arming, equipping, and subsisting the militia of the State to meet the present and future requisitions of the President. Those in power looked to the spirit rather than to the letter of the constitution; and acted upon the theory that to preserve the Nation was to preserve the State, and that to prevent invasion was the most effectual means of "repelling" it. A few, however, in both branches of the General Assembly, were more careful of the letter of the Constitution. Three votes in the Senate and seventeen in the House were cast against the loan bill. These bonds were at seven per cent. interest. Only $300,000 were ever issued, and they were purchased and held chiefly by our own citizens. We had at this crisis James W. Grimes and James Harlan in the United States Senate, and General Samuel R. Curtis, and General Vandever to represent us in the House of Representatives. During the first year of the war, Iowa furnished sixteen regiments of infant_,. 4'... ~.: six of cavalry, and three batteries, making a total of 22,000 soldiers. Our State had no refuse population to enlist, as "food for powder." Her cities contained none of that element, found about the purlieus of vice in the great centres of population. Her contribution to the armies of the Republic was a genuine offering of manhood and patriotism. From her fields, her workshops, her counting houses, her offices, and the halls of her schools and colleges, she contributed the best muscle, sinew and brain of an industrious, enterprising, and educated people. The first regiment of Iowa soldiers fought the battle of Wilsonl's Creek after their term of enlistment had expired, and after they were entitled to a discharge. They were citizen soldiers, each of whom had a personal interest in the struggle. It was to them no question of enlistment, of bounty, or of pay. When the gallant General Lyon placed himself at their head, and told them that the honor of Iowa and of the Nation was in their hands; he addressed men who knew what the appeal ment, and to whom such an appeal was never made in vain. At the fall election of 1861, party spirit had revived; and the contest for the control of the State administration was warmn and earnest. A strong opposition to Governor Kirkwood's renomination had manifested itself inside of the Republican party. The State convention of the party, however, gave him a full and unequivocal endorsement. The State convention of the Democratic party was torn by dissensions between the war Democracts and those who had opposed coercion. The committee on platform made a majority and a minority report. Upon the adoption of the majority report, the President of the con vention, Lincoln Clark, resigned the chair, and with the Dubuque and Des Moines delegations, seceded from the convention. Those who re mained nominated Charles Mason as their candidate for Governor, and W. H. Merritt, late Lieutenant Colonel of the Frst Regiment of Iowa Volunteers, for.Lieutenant Governor. A coalition of war Democrats and disaffected Republicans also held a convention, and nominated Adjutant General Baker as their candidate for Governor. This honor the Adjutant General peremptorily declined. Mason first accepted the nomination tendered him and endorsed the platform upon which he was nominated. This platform condemned the war measures adopted by the National and State Administrations, and declared the $800,000 loan unconstitutional. Subsequently Mason declined the nomination, and an attempt was made to rally the entire opposition upon Lieutenant Colonel Merritt, who was a war Democrat, and had made a good mili t.a~';record. The attempt was unsuccessful. Kirkwood was re-elected -......... *... 26 27 by a majority of 16,600 votes, with an overwhelming Republican majority in both branches of the General Assembly. In 1863 the Republican party again carried the State, electing their candidate for Governor, WVm. M. Stone, by a majority of 29,000. In the meantime the General Assembly had passed a law authorizing the "soldiers vote"; that is, citizens of the State in the volunteer military service of the.United States, whether within or without the limits of the State, were authorized to open a poll on the day of the election, and to make return of their votes to the proper civil authorities. In the presidential contest of 1864, the popular vote at home was as follows: Lincoln, 72,122 votes; McClellan, 47.703. The soldiers' vote returned was: Lincoln, 16,844; McClellan, 1,883. During these years of our history, the thoughts and energies of our people were intent upon the war. The State was simply a recruiting redezvous for the army. Our railroads and express lines were carrying away the strong and vigorous, and returning to us the bodies of the cherished dead. The social life of the people was made up to a great extent of meetings to raise means for sanitary and hospital supplies. Sociables were held, concerts given, festivals made; all with one object -to raise money for the sanitary commissions. The hearts of the women of Iowa, followed their loved ones to the field; and their every thought was, how they could alleviate the sufferings they were not permitted otherwise to share. Sanitary commissions, official and unofficial, were organized, that provoked one another to good works, and were sometimes provoked at one another for their good work. In the meantime the General Assembly did all in its power to encourage enlistments and to protect the soldiers in the field and their families at home. Statutes were enacted suspending all suits against soldiers in the service, and all writs of execution or attachment against their property; and county boards of supervisors were authorized to vote bounties for enlistments, and pecuniary aid to the families of those in the service. The spirits of our people arose and fell, according to the success of our armies. One day the bells rung out with joy for the surrender of Vicksburg, and again the air seemed full of heaviness because of our defeats on the Peninsula; but through all these dark and trying days, the faith of the great majority never wavered. The emancipation proclamation of the President was to them the in spiration of a new hope. The contest had been conducted upon the ories that made slavery the very strength of the rebellion. Every slave in the field cultivating grain for the subsistence of the rebel army 28 was the equivalent of a citizen of the loyal States detained from the army to perform the same labor. To offer freedom to the slaves was to destroy the rebel base of supplies. But stronger than all these theories of political economy, was the religious faith of the people, that there was a Higher Power controlling the course of events-a Power that was no respector of persons; that heard the cry of the oppressed; and that commanded men and nations to do justice and to love mercy. They believed that this Power had its own righteous purpose to fulfill in this clash of armies and shock of battles-that the "wrath of man would be made to praise Him, and the remainder of wtrath he would restrait." They believed that when slavery was ended, the war would end. It is impossible, in the reasonable length to which this paper should be limited, to write-even a summary of the battles in which Iowa soldiers took a part. The history of her troops would be sutb stantially a history of the war in the South and West. To recount a portion of those battles and sieges would be to give a partial history to the neglect of others, equally deserving of honorable mention. A task alike impossible would it be to give here the names of the heroes, living and dead, who distinguished themselves by their courage and valor. Our efficient Adjutant General has preserved in the archives of his department, the material from which this glorious history will one day be written, for the honer of the State and the inspiration of the generations that' shall come after us. In the Adjutant's Department at Des Moines, are preserved the shot-riddled colors and standards of our regiments. Upon them, by special authority, were inscribed, from time to time during the war, the names of the battlefields upon which these regiments gained distinction. These names constitute the geographical nomenclature of two-thirds of the territory lately in rebellion. from the Des Moines River to the Gulf, from the Mississippi to the Atlantic, in the mountains of West Virginia, and in the Valley of the Shenandoah, the Iowa soldier made. his presence known and felt, and maintained the honor of the State and the cause of the Nation. They were with Lyon at Wilson's Creek, with Tuttle at Donelson. They fought with Siegel and with Curtis at Pea Ridge; with Crocker at Champion Hills; with Reid at Shiloh. They were with Grant at the surrender of Vicksburg. They fought above the clouds with Hooker at Lookout Mountain.. They were with Sherman in his march to the sea, and were ready for battle when Johnston surrendered. They were with Sheridan in the Valley of the Shenandoah, and were 29 in the veteran ranks of the Nation's deliverers that stacked their arms in the National Capital at the close of the war. The State furnished to the armies of the Republic during the war about seventy thousand men, and twenty thousand of these perished in battle or died of wounds received or diseases contracted in the service. The State has already paid into the National Treasury, under the provisions of the internal revenue act, over fifteen millions of dollars, and is still paying annually one million toward the extinction of the national debt. Her Senators and Representatives in Congress never failed to sustain the national administration in its most vigorous and radical war policy. According to her strength and her ability, Iowa redeemed the pledge she had made of her fidelity and attachment to the Union. She has sealed her vows, so freely made and oft repeated, by the suffering and death of twenty thousand of her brave sons, who gave their lives as an offering for the preservation of our nationality and the hope of its perpetuity. In this Centennial year of our nation's being, Iowa remembers at what cost the national life has been preserved. She has "charity toward all," and can forgive her countrymen, however much they may have wronged her living or her dead, but she does ask, in the name of the cause for which she fought and for which her noble dead were sacrificed, that there shall be no confusion in our national morality, between right and wrong, between patriotism and treason, between the effort to preserve our national life and the attempt to destroy it; she asks this, not only for the sake of the past, but for the hope of the future, and for the inspiration to duty that her children and her children's children may draw from the history of those dark and eventful years. And let those beware who would obliterate from the memory of our people a just understanding of the struggle through which we have passed, and a proper appreciation of the right and wrong it in volved. We have everything to fear fiom such a lesson of moral ob liquity upon the minds of those to whom, in the century to come, we must commit the duty of preserving this, our great Republic, the most worthy experiment of free government on earth, to which the nations now look as the brightest hope of humanity and the most cherished inspiration of civil and religious liberty. When, in the plenitude of His goodness the Divine Hand formed the great meadow between the Mississippi and the Missouri, and the finger of Divine Love traced the streamlets and rivers that drain and 30 water its almost every acre, He designed it not for the place of strife, but for the home of peace and plenty, and intended that here the ploughshare and pruning hook should achieve their greatest triumphs. At the close of the war our citizen soldiers returned to their fields, their work-shops and offices, and soon began to repair the losses their absence had occasioned to the productive industry of the State. The limits of this paper will not admit of any further attempt at chronological history. A brief synopsis of the present condition of the State, which may be contrasted with the beginnings we have attempted to describe, will convey some idea of our progress and devel opment. The first railroad across the State was completed to Council Bluffs in January, 1871. The completion of three others soon followed. In 1854 there was not a mile of railroad track laid within the State. In 1874, twenty years thereafter, the official returns show a total length of 3,765 miles in successful operation. The gross earnings of these roads for the years 1873 and 1874, returned by the railroad companies as a basis of taxation, was $15,568,907.00. The average gross earnings per mile for 1873 was $4,138.99, and for 1874 was $4,136.56. The State of Iowa has an area of 55,045 square miles, or 35,228,800 acres. Nearly ninety per cent. of this is prairie land. These prairids are high and rolling, with gently undulating surfaces, forming a perfect system of natural drainage. In this respect our land differs materially from the flat prairies or plains east and west of us. \WVe have no mountains. The bluffs on the Mississippi and Missouri, and upon some of the streams of the interior of the State, are merely of sufficient elevation to give variety and beauty to the scenery. The highest table land of the State is 1,400 feet above the level of the sea. The rivers of our eastern border have a uniform course, fromthe northwest to the southeast, and those on our western border from the northeast to the southwest. The rivers of the State that flow into the MIississippi are the Des Moines, Skunk, Iowa, Cedar, Wapsipinicon, Maquoketa, Turkey, and Upper Iowa. Of these, the Des Moines is the largest. It rises beyond the northern boundary, at the extreme northwest of the State, and reaches the Mississippi at the southeast corner of the State. Its length is 350 miles, and it drains an area of 10,000 square miles. The two branches of the Skunk river aggregate 450 miles in length. The Iowa is 300 miles long; the Wapsipinicon 240; the MIaquoketa 160, and the Turkey 130 miles in length. On the western slope of the State the streams have not such great 31 length, but the country is equally well watered. The principal rivers are the Big and Little Sioux, the Floyd, Rock, Boyer, and Nishnabotna. In addition to these, we have upon the southern border the Fox, Chariton, Platte, and the East, West, and Middle Nodaway rivers. During the early history of Iowa, our streams were subject tofrequent and excessive overflow. When the waters receded, stagnant pools were left in the rich river bottoms. These bottoms were covered with a luxuriant growth of vegetation that decayed each year, filling the atmosphere with malaria, and causing the much dreaded "fever and ague." As our lands have been brought under cultivation, the earth has absorbed more and more of the rains and mnelting snows, and the overflow of the rivers has been modified. Herds of cattle now consumte the vegetation that was formerly permitted to decay, and the ague has become almost a thing of the past. Iowa is not a timber State. Her woodlands are limited. The stumps from which our building material is chiefly taken will be found in the pineries of Wisconsin and Minnesota, and we prefer to have them there. Our best timber for the manufacture of wagons, carriages, and agricultural implements, is also imported. By actual experiment we have ascertained that we have sufficient timber for ordinary farm purposes. We have oak, hickory, black and white walnut, hard and soft maple, and the usual soft woods that grow upon river bottoms in our latitude. No one who has not made an actual examination of the soils of Iowa can form any just appreciation of them. We have now on exhibition in the Centennial buildings 15,000 pounds of Iowa soil, selected from 45 different counties of our State. This exhibition shows a vertical section of the natural formation of the earth to the depth of six feet from the surface. The selection has been made from five several groups of seven counties each. The counties have been classified according to their contiguity, or natural location, as the northwest, northeast, southwest, southeast, and central. These specimens of strata are exhibited just in the condition they existed in the earth. The strata, undisturbed, have been transferred to glass tubes six inches in diameter and six feet in length. These tubes are encasedin black walnut, and each labeled with the name of the county from which the strata have been taken. The object has been in good faith to show the world what Iowa really is, without exaggeration, and without room for cavil. Here is the formation firom nature's own laboratory. Behold, what hath God wrought! Our State is well supplied with an abundance of soft or bituminous 32 coal. It is found to some extent in the valley of the Mississippi, and in greater abundance in the regions of the Des Moines, Iowa, and Skunk rivers. The mines are yet but partially developed. The yield for 1874 was 1,231,547 tons. We also have a good supply of building stone in portions of the State. The value of the stone quarried in 1874 was.$202,102, and of lime manufactured was $178,290. One of the most valuable products of our mines is the gypsum found in great abundance in the Upper Des Moines Valley, about Fort Dodge. The manufacture of plaster from this has been begun, and already large quantities are exported. It was from these quarries that the Cardiff Giant was taken. There is an abundant supply, enough to furnish New York with giants, and her scientists with material for grave and learned speculation for the next century. The manufacturing interests of our State are in their infancy. We have an abundance of water power, but it has been utilized to a very limited extent. The power generally used in manufacturing is steam. The whole number of manufacturiing establishments in the State in 1874 was 3,202; the total value of articles manufactured, $39,263,319; the number of hands employed, 18,854. The present population of the State is 1,350,000; of these, 563,000 are native Hawkeyes, 583,000 are natives of other States of the Union, and 204,000 are foreign born. Of our naturalized voters we have about 30,000 Germans and 18,000 natives of Ireland. The climate of Iowa is healthful and invigorating. Even the severe winds of winter that come to us with an accelerated sweep directly from the snow-capped summit of the Rocky Mountains, are feared no longer. The artificial groves and improvements upon our prairies, and which are fast filling the plains west of us, are modifying the force of these winter blasts. The dead, humid atmosphere that depresses and enervates in the summer, and the chilling mists and drizzling rains that generate virulent fevers in the winter are unknown to our climate. Iowa is peculiarly an agricultural State. Of the 35,000,000 acres of land in Iowa, only ] 2,658,495 acres have yet been put under cultivaton. In 1874, Iowa produced from 3,244,954 acres of land, 44,139,817 bushels of wheat. She also produced the same year, from 4,019,738 acres of land, 146,993,570 bushels of corn, being the largest yield of corn for 1874, of any State in the Union. The State of Illinois, heretofore the leading State in the production of this valuable grain, for the year 1873 produced 143,634,000 bushels of corn from 6,839,714 33 acres of land, being 2,369,000 bushels less of corn, and 2,820,000 more acres of land planted than in Iowa for 1874. In 1874, Illinois produced 133,579,000 bushels of corn from 7,421,055 acres of land, being 13,414,000 bushels less of corn, and 3,401,000 more acres planted than in Iowa for the same year. In the number of bushels of wheat produced, Illinois led every State in the Union for the years 1873 and 1874, except Iowa. In 1873 our wheat crop exceeded that of Illinois by over 3,000,000 bushels, and in 1874 our wheat crop exceeded that of Illinois over 10,000,000bushels. Our own State census, which we believe to be reliable, further shows that in 1874 Iowa was the third State of the Union in the production of oats, and also of barley. In addition to the wheat, corn, oats and barley as above specified, we produced for the same year 160,805 bushels of buckwheat, 432,008 bushels of rye, 2,414,520 tons of hay, 7,289,953 bushels of potatoes, 102,782 pounds of tobacco, 1,386,908 gallons of sorghum molasses, and 559,836 bushels of flax seed; also 1,451,037 bushels of apples, and 9,400,885 pounds of grapes. We slaughtered and sold for slaughter the same year, 314,677 head of neat cattle, and 2,534,371 head of hogs. We sold for export 27,318 head of horses and 4,498 head of mules. We also sheared the same year 2,340,914 pounds of wool and slaughtered 129,406 head of sheep, and gave 28,934 head to the dogs! The value of farm products in Iowa for the year 1874 was $124,407,078 Of garden produce........................................................ 726,229 Of orchards........................................................ 1,215,659 Of small fruits.............................................................. 488,259 Of product of herds..................................................... 42,261,039 Of product of dairy....................................................... 8,398,212 Of product of forests.................................................... 3,467,020 Total value of agriculture.................................... $180,963,496 Probably 25 per cent. of the value of the herds is included in the farm products of the current year, and to make these figures accurate $10,500,000 should be deducted from the above, leaving net value of agricultural products $170,463,496. To appreciate the magnitude of these figures we must remember them in connection with the fact that it has only been forty years since General Scott stood upon the western bank of the Mississippi, treating with savages for the first strip of this country that the white settler was permitted to occupy. 34 Very early in the history of Iowa an effort was made to give intelligent direction to her agriculture. A State Agricultural Society was organized in 1854, and held its annual fair at Fairfield, Iowa, in October of that year. The Society is now one of the permanent institutions of the State, and has never since its first organization, failed to hold its annual exhibition. The State has made liberal appropriations to sustain the organization, and has required it to make and publish full annual reports. The law has also encouraged county societies by annual appropriations for their benefit. The president of each county society, or other delegate chosen, is a member of the State organization, and has a vote in the selection of its officers and directors. The county societies are required to make their reports annually to the State Society, which is constituted the representative and head of the agricultural interests of the State. Prior to 1862 the State sustained a Secretary of Agriculture as a department of her government. By act of Congress of July 20, 1862, Congress made an appropriation to the several States of the Union of an amount of public lands equal to 30,000 acres for each of their Senators and Representatives in Congress, the proceeds of which should be devoted to maintaining a eollege, wherein the leading object should be "to teach such branches of learning as related to agriculture and the mechanic arts." In 1858 the State of Iowa has organized a board of trustees, of which the Governor of the State was ex offcio the President, for the purpose of establishing an experimental farm. In 1860 the necessary land was purchased in Story county, and suitable buildings were erected. In 1864 and 1866 appropriations were made to erect a college building upon this farm. The building was completed in 1868, and the college has been in successful operation ever since. The pupils receive their tuition and room-rent free of charge, and are boarded at actual cost. Each county in the State is entitled to send three scholars; the other scholarships to the extent of the capacity of the college are distributed by the Board of Trustees to the counties of the State according to population. The law requires that all students shall engage in manual labor an average of two hours and a half each day (except Sundays) during the college year. On the first day of each month the President details for each superintendent of labor a certain number of pupils. At the end of the month the superintendents report the labor performed by each 35 scholar, and its value, and the students receive credit on their board bills for their work, at the rate of three to nine cents per hour, according to the value of the work performed. The school is open to both sexes, and no distinction is made in compensation for.work done by reason of sex. In 1875, the college had an attendance of 277 students. The same year, it had twenty graduates-eleven males and. nine females. The whole number of graduates since its organization is eighty. There is no other subject connected with our civilization and progress in which the people of Iowa have taken so deep an interest as in that of education. Our public schools have especially engaged the attention of our best citizens and legislators. Our last school census shows that we have over 500,000 children and youths in the State between the ages of five and twenty-one. Of these 125,371 are between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one years; and of their number 2,514, or two per cent., cannot read and write. The number of scholars enrolled in our public schools for 1875 was 384,012, and the average daily attendance was 225,415..Number of teachers employed in 1864-males, 6,500; females, 11,645. Average compensation of male teachers per month, $36.68; of female teachers, $28.34. Whole amount paid out for teachers in 1875......................$2,598,446 For school houses.......................-.................................. 798,811 For apparatus and libraries........................................... 26,700 For interest on school bonds............................................. 298,172 Contingent expenses........................................................ 802,626 Total.................................................................. $4,605,747 Value of public school houses in the State in 1875.............. $8,C17,956 Apparatus.......................................-................................ -119,591 Total..................................................................... $8,737,547 UTpon the permanent school fund of the State, created by congressional grants of land and other means, the State realizes eight per cent. for the annual support of schools. The principal of this fund, under the constitution and laws, cannot be impaired. The amount of this fund is $3,363,960. The right and duty of the State to maintain a general system of popular education, and to support the same by the levy of taxes, has thus been recognized and established in Iowa. The theory upon which this right has been asserted, is thus clearly and logically set forth in 36 the inaugural message of Gov. Grimes in December, 1854: "Government is organized to establish justice, promote the public welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty. * * * To accomplish these high aims of government, the first requisite is ample provision for the edution of the yotuh of the State. * * * It is agreeed that the safety and perpetuity of our Republican institutions, depend upon the diffusion of intelligence among the masses of the people. The statistics of the penitentiaries and almshouses throughout the country, abundantly show that education is the best preventative of crime. They show also that the prevention of these evils is much less expensive than the punishment of the one and the relief of the other." In accordance with these principles the Governor recommended, that the then system of per capita taxation upon scholars should be abolished. "Property," continued the Governor, "is the only legitimate subject of taxation. It has its duties as well as its rights. It needs the conservative influences of education, and should be made to pay for its own protection." The common school system of Iowa has, since 1854, been sustained on this just basis of property taxation-a basis wholly inconsistent with the idea that any sect or class in the community may claim exemption from taxation for school purposes because they do not choose to avail themselves of the benefits of the system, or that they may divert to the support of sectarian schools any portion of the taxes thus levied because they educate their own children. So long as property receives the incidental protection arising from the general education of the masses, it must contribute to that general system of education from which the safety and security of all property arises. Popular education, sustained by compulsory taxation, is one of the legitimate functions of government; and it is contrary to the genius of Americai institutions, that any of these functions should be committed to private ecclesiastical establishments. Religious denominations have a right, of their own choice, to supplement the efforts of government in advancing the intelligence and morality of the people, and in doing so may employ their own methods and seek their own peculiar ends; but their work is voluntary, and must, of necessity, be gratuitous. The Iowa State University was organized in 1856, and has its permanent location at Iowa City. It now has in successful operation its Academical, Medical, and Law Departments. For 1875, the Academical Department reports 146 students in the regular collegiate course, and 277 non-collegiate; in the Law Department, 106 students; in the i 37 Medical Department, 94. The institution is supported partly by en dowment and partly by tuition fees. The State has, from time to time, made liberal appropriations for permanent buildings, library, etc. In connection with the State University, the General Assembly in 1857 provided for the organization of a State Historical Society, and small annual appropriations have since been made for the purchase and preservation of books, maps, charts, manuscripts, paintings, etc., illustrative of the history of the State. This Society has published a quarterly magazine, called the "Annals of Iowa," which has now reached its thirteenth volume. It contains many valuable contributions to our early history, and from its coilection of incidents of the early settlement of the State, many of the facts set forth in this paper are taken. The State has not been unmindful of its unfortunate classes. In 1853 a school for the blind was established at Iowa City, in a temporary building. In 1858 provision was made for a permanent institution at Vinton, in Benton county. The school is supported by annual appropriations from the State treasury. In connection with this institution, and under the same management, is an industrial home for the blind, for the employment of such blind persons in the State as a e dependent upon their own labor for support. The department is self supporting. The school for the care and education of the deaf and dumb was first organized in 1855. A permanent building was provided for the institution at Council Blnffs in 1870. The first institution of the State for the care of the insane was erected at Mt. Pleasant, in Henry county. The work was begun in 1855, and the buildings first occupied in 1861. The erection of a second building, for a like purpose, was commenced by the State at Independence, in Buchanan county, in 1868. In 1870, the State made an appropriation for the erection of a permanent State house at Des Moines. The structure is beautiful in design, and is supposed to be permanent and enduring in its material and construction. Its estimated cost is about two millions of dollars. The third story of the building will be complete at the close of this centennial year. At the close of the war, the gratitude of the people of Iowa towards her citizens who had fallen in defense of the country, found a practical expression in the establishment of homes for the maintenance and education of soldiers' orphan children. The first institution for this 38 purpose was established by voluntary contributions, at Davenport, in 1864. In 1866 the institution was adopted by the State, and two others of a like character established-one at Cedar Falls and one at Glenwood. Ten dollars per month for each scholar was appropriated by the General Assembly from the State treasury for their support. The present value of buildings for our State institutions, including the estimated cost of the capitol building, is as follows: State Capitol....................................................................$2,000,000 State University............................................................... 400,000 Agricultural College and Farm.......................................... 300,000 Institution for the Blind.................................................. 150,000 Institution for the Deaf and Dumb................................... 225,000 Institution for Insane at Mt. Pleasant................................ 455,000 Institution for Insane at Independence............................. 694,000 Orphans' Home at Davenport......................................... 62,000 Penitentiary at Ft. Madison............................................. 225,000 Penitentiary at An amosa.................................................. 183,000 Normal School........................................................... 50,000 Reform School............................................................. 90,000 Total........................................................................ $4,834,000 The State has never levied more than 21 mills on the dollar for State tax, and the law at present limits the levy for State purposes to that amount. This levy is upon a valuation upon the real estate of only 40 per cent. of its real cash value. We have no State debt, save the $300,000 "war and defense" bonds, which, by their terms, cannot be paid until 1881,and which are now worth 106 cents on the dollar in the market; and also a debt to our own permanent school fund of $243,000. The present State capitol will be completed from the ordinary revenue arising from the two-mill tax for State purposes. In addition to the public schools and colleges of the State, we have seminaries and colleges under the patronage of various religious denominations. We also have a few unsectarian institutions. The aggregate statistics of these colleges and seminaries are as follows: Number of scholars in collegiate departments, males, 1,491; females, 812. In other departments, males, 990; females, 1,]19. Number of scholars in schools of seminary grades, males, 4,198; females, 4,274. Teachers employed, males, 201; females, 220. Number of volumes in library, 34,645. Aggregate incomes, $166,783. In addition to these, we have also the medical college at Keokuk, one of the oldest and most successful institutions in the Northwest. Besides the educational influences of the schools and colleges, we have those of the pulpit and Sunday-school. The Protestant churches of the State have an aggregate membership of over 200,000: Value of church property......................... $5,000,000 Nnumber of ordained ministers........................................ 2,000 Number of Sunday-school scholars............................. -50,000 Number of Sunday-schlool teach ers.................................... 20,000 The Catholic church numbers 150,000. Value of their church property, 81,080,000. Number of Priests, 135. Scholars in Sunday School, 35,000. No other influence has contributed so much to the progress and development of Iowa as the newspapers of the State. No class of men have labored more assiduously and disinterestedly for the development of the State, and the advancement of her material interests, than her editors. The number and character of the papers read and published in the State, indicate the mental activity of the people, and their general intelligence and enterprise. We have already given some account of the first newspaper published in the Black Hawk purchase, in 1836. T'he Burlington Gazette dates its establishment in 1837, and the HawkEye in 1839. There are now published in Iowa 25 daily papers, 364 weekly papers, and 13 monthly publications. These are well supported by our people, and our daily papers especially exhibit a worthy enterprise. We have every morning, fresh from the gossip of the lightning, the news of the world's doings. Sach is briefly a summary of the history and resources of Iowa-of her early settlement, her party affiliations, her war record, her topography and natural resources, her agricultural productions, her institutions, her schools, colleges, churches, press, and people. There is, perhaps, no other country on earth where so few people are either rich or poor as in Iowa; where there is such an equality of condition, and where so many enjoy a competence. The law exempts from execution a homestead to every head of a family. At the relative price of property and labor, every industrious, sober man can, in a short time, acquire a home. With us, in fact, mechanics and day laborers soon acquire an interest in the soil; and with property to protect, they feel a personal direct interest in the maintenance of law and order. The children of the laboring man have no prejudice of caste to overcome in the effort they may choose to make for the improvement of their cqn; dition in life. Here all men enjoy the inalienable blessings of ife, lbi:'. 119 1) 40 erty, and the pursuit of happiness," not only unfettered by legal disa bilities, but also untrammeled by those fixed conditions of social and business life that elsewhere result from accumulated wealth in the posses sion of the few. As education is free, so, also, the avenues of success are open in every pursuit and calling. The highest incentive exists to ex ertion. Labor and effort, whether manual or mental, are held alike honorable; and idleness and crime are alone considered disreputable. Indeed, the intense mental activity of our people, and their untiring energy in the pursuit of wealth, threaten serious results to their social and moral well-being. How to temper business pursuits with pleasures that relax the mind and body, and refresh and restore without producing vitiated tastes and appetites, is a problem we are yet to solve as a people. The great curse of intemperance is one with which Iowa has struggled for the past twenty-five years of her history. Whether it be the result of climate or natural temperament, or is the reflex influence of our own habits, the fact is, we do nothing in moderation. If we indulge in dissipation, it is with the same earnestness and determination to make a success of it, as though it were some laudable business pursuit. In 1851 our General Assembly prohibited, under severe penalties, the keeping of places of public resort for the sale of intoxicating liquors to be drank on the premises where sold. The code of 1851 declared against the whole system of license, and especially provided that thereafter the people of the State should take no part in the profits of the sale of intoxicating liquors. This was followed, in 1854, by a still more stringent law, sanctioned by a direct vote of the people. In 1858 the law of 1854 was so modified as to permit the sale of beer and native wines. In the cities on the Mississippi, and in some of the larger interior towns, this law has not received sufficient moral support from the masses of the people to insure its enforcement. Even where the law has been enforced many evasions have occurred. In the interior of the State, and especially in the locality of some of our educational institutions the law has been of great value. The people have steadily adhered to it, and all efforts to return to the license system have proved unsuccessful. - In presenting this history of the State and this statement of its re sources, we have not speculated upon the possibilities of the fiuture. Iowa is capable of sustaining a people equal to the present population of the entire nation. We are increasing at a ratio that will, if con:..:lined, give us such a population in the coming century. What may 41 be the result of such a vast accumulation of people, and of the necessary increase of wealth and luxury attending it, we cannot know. Our responsibilities are great, even as our blessings and privileges. We can only do our duty in our day and generation, and leave the future to Hiim who doeth all things well, with the earnest supplication that to us and our children and our children's children, this goodly land may be an inheritance forever. Iowa hails with joy this centennial of our nation's birth. She renews her vows of devotion to our common country, and looks with hope to the future. The institution of slavery, that once rested as a shadow upon the land, that was fast producing a diverse civilization dangerous to our unity and nationality, has been forever abolished. This centennial exhibition of our national greatness and material progress, must re-awaken in the mind and heart of every American emotions of profound love for his country, and of patriotic pride in her success. Surely no American would consent that such a civilization as is evidenced here should perish in the throes of civil war. If there be anything in the history of Iowa and its wonderful development to excite a just pride, the other, and especially the older States of the Union may justly claim to share in it. Such as we are, the emigration from the other States made us. Our free soil, free labor, free schools, free speech, free press, free worship, free men, and free women, were their free gift and contribution. Iowa is the thirty-year old child of the Republic that celebrates the first centennial of its birth. Our State is simply the legitimate offspring of a civilization that has found its highest expression in building up sovereign States. Iowa was not a colony planted by the oppressions of the parent government, and that threw off her allegiance as soon as she gained strength to assert her independence; but she was the outgrowth of the natural vitality and enterprise of the nation, begotten in obedience to the divine command to multiply and replenish-born a sovereign by the will and desire of the parent, and baptized at the font of liberty as a voluntary consecration of her political life. Not a sovereign in that absolute sense that would make the Federal Government an impossibility, but sovereign within her sphere and over the objects and purposes of her jurisdiction, with such further limitations only upon her powers as renders an abuse of them impossible, to the end that the personal liberty and private rights of the citizen, should be more secure. This wonderful exhibition of mechanical skill, of cunning workmanship, and of the fruits of the earth, is but the evidence of the existence 6 4 42 and character of the people that have produced them. The great ultimate fact that America would demonstrate is, the existence of a people capable of attaining and preserving a superior civilization, with a government self-imposed, self-administered, and self-perpetuated. In this her centennial year, America can exhibit nothing to the world of mankind more wonderful or more glorious than her new States-young empires, born of her own enterprise, and tutored at her own political hearthstone. Well may she say to the monarchies of the old world, who look for evidences of her regal grandeur and state: "Behold, these are my jewels." And may she never blush to add: "This one in the center of the diadem is called IOWA." * * 44 A 4