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ers to bear their just share of the burden of governinent, and all bonds hereafter issued should be made subject to State and municipal taxation at the same rates as other property.

Resolved, That the Democrats of New Hampshire hereby pledge their earnest and united efforts to insure the election of the candidates this day nominated.

The resolutions of the Republican State Convention, convened nearly at the same time, were more full, and decidedly expressed the views of the Republican party in the Eastern States. The total vote for Governor was 77,077; of which Walter Harriman received a majority of 2,523. For President the total vote was 69,426; of which the Republican electors received a majority of 6,956. The majority in favor of a constitutional convention was 127. In the Legislative body there were nine Republican Senators and three Democratic, also 194 Republican Representatives, and 138

Democratic.

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NEW JERSEY. The Legislature of New Jersey assembled at Trenton on the second Tuesday in January, and continued in session until the 17th of April, during which time no less than 813 bills were disposed of, and several important joint resolutions adopted. With regard to the general results of this legislation, one of the local newspapers says: "If Legislature had done nothing more than to rescind the mischievous legislation of the last two years, and to reinstate the people in the enjoyment of their long-accustomed rights and privileges, it would have deserved the commendations of the public; but besides this, it has settled some of the vexed questions that have always attended the conflicting rights of the State and the people, and left the course of future legislation comparatively unembarrassed." How all this was accomplished does not distinctly appear.

One of the most im

portant acts, rescinding past legislation, was the passage of a joint resolution withdrawing the assent of the State to the Fourteenth Amendment of the Federal Constitution. This resolution was preceded by a preamble, which set out with the following declaration:

The Legislature of the State of New Jersey, having seriously and deliberately considered the present situation of the United States, do declare and make known, That the basis of all government is the consent of the governed; and all constitutions are contracts between the parties bound thereby; that, until any proposition to alter the fundamental law, to which all the States have consented, has been ratified by such number of the States as by the Federal Constitution makes it binding upon all, any one that has assented is at liberty to withdraw that assent, and it becomes its duty to do so when, upon mature consideration, such withdrawal seems to be necessary to the safety and happiness of all. Prudence dictates that a consent once given should not be recalled for light and transient causes; but the right is a natural right, the exercise of which is accompanied with no injustice to any of the parties; it has, therefore, been universally recognized as inhering in every party, and has ever been left unimpaired by any positive regulation.

It then declares that the amendment was not proposed by the requisite two-thirds of both

Houses of Congress, "at least seventy representatives from ten States of the Union" being excluded, "upon the pretence that there were no such States in the Union," and New Jersey herself, having been "practically denied its equal suffrage in the Senate;" and proceeds to arraign the national legislative body for its subsequent "usurpations" in passing "pretended laws for the establishment in ten States of martial law, which is nothing but the will of a military commander, and therefore inconsistent with the very nature of law, for the purpose of reducing to slavery men of their own race in those States; or, compelling them, contrary to their own convictions, to exercise the elective franchise in obedience to the dictation of a faction in those assemblies" (the two Houses of Congress). This document then contains the following array of objeetions to the proposed amendment:

It proposes to make it a part of the Constitution of the United States that naturalized citizens of the United States shall be citizens of the United States as if that were not so without such absurd decars tion.

It lodges with the legislative branch of the Gov ernment the power of pardon; which properly be longs, by our system, to the Executive.

It denounces and inflicts punishment for past f fences by constitutional provision, and thus wo make the whole people of this great nation, in their most solemn and sovereign act, guilty of violating a cardinal principle of American liberty, that no pu ishment can be inflicted for any offence unless it is provided by law before the commission of the offers. It usurps the power of punishment, which in y coherent systen of government belongs to the j ciary, and commits it to the people in their sovereign

capacity.

It degrades the nation by proclaiming to the world that no confidence can be placed in its honesty of morality.

It appeals to the fears of the public creditors by publishing a libel on the American people, and fr ing it forever in the national Constitution as a stiz upon the present generation, that there must be stitutional guards against a repudiation of the publ debt; as if it were possible that a people who we so corrupt as to disregard such an obligation we be bound by any contract, constitutional or othe

wise.

It imposes new prohibitions upon the power of the State to pass laws, and interdicts the execution of such parts of the common law as the national jo ciary may esteem inconsistent with the vague p visions of the said amendment, made vague for the purpose of facilitating encroachments upon the Le liberties, and property, of the people.

It enlarges the judicial power of the United States so as to bring every law passed by the State, every principle of the common law relating to liberty, or property, within the jurisdiction of t Federal tribunals; and charges those tribunals duties to the due performance of which they, fr their nature and organization, and their distance fr the people, are unequal.

It makes a new apportionment of representation in the national councils, for no other reason than the by to secure to a faction a sufficient number of 2 votes of a servile and ignorant race to outweigh the intelligent voices of their own.

It sets up a standard of suffrage dependent entir upon citizenship, majority, inhabitancy, and a hood, and any interference whatever by the St imposing any other reasonable qualification, as the

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of inhabitancy, causes a reduction of the State's rep- of the national and constitutional rights of the people resentation.

The resolution itself is in these words:

1. Resolved by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey, That the joint resolution approved September 11th, Anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixty-six, relative to amending the Constitution of the United States, be and the same is hereby rescinded, and the consent on behalf of the State of New Jersey to ratify the proposed fourteenth amendment to the Constitution of the United States is hereby withdrawn.

2. And be it resolved, That copies of the foregoing preamble and resolution, certified to by the President of the Senate and Speaker of the General Assembly, be forwarded to the President of the United States, the Secretary of State of the United States, to each of our Senators and Representatives in Congress, and to the Governors of the respective States.

3. And be it enacted, That these resolutions shall take effect immediately.

Having been submitted to Governor Ward for his approval, these resolutions were returned by that official to the Senate, in which body they had originated, with his objections, stated at considerable length. Such resolutions, he said, had no validity. The ratification having already been made, no further action could be taken by the State, unless the matter were again submitted by Congress. No time was set for ratification by a sufficient number of States, and therefore New Jersey could not avail herself of any right to withdraw her assent because of delay by other States. Notwithstanding the Governor's objections, the resolutions passed both Houses by a two-thirds majority, and were forwarded to the proper authorities at Washington. They were submitted to the consideration of the

House of Representatives by Charles Haight, a member from New Jersey, and were returned to that gentleman before the reading of them had been completed, under the following resolution:

Resolved, That the resolutions of the Legislature of New Jersey, purporting to withdraw" the assent of the said State to the Constitutional Amendment, known as the Fourteenth Article," be returned by the Speaker of the House to the gentleman who presented them, for the reason that the same are disrespectful to the House, and scandalous in character, and that their title only shall be referred to in the journal and in the Congressional Globe.

When this action of the House of Representatives was made known in the Senate of New Jersey, that august body vented its resentment in the following set of resolutions, which were promptly acquiesced in by the Assembly and sent to the President, "to encourage him in his efforts against a disloyal Congress."

Be it resolved by the Senate, the House of Assembly cmcurring, That the return of the joint resolution of the Legislature, withdrawing the assent of this State to the proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States, entitled Article Fourteen, to the Representative who presented the same, by virtue of the resolution of the House to that effect, and he passage of a resolution, pronouncing the joint esolutions of New Jersey disrespectful to the House and scandalous in character," when only a ortion of the paper had been read, was a violation

of this State, oppressive, arrogant, and imperious.

That the manner in which the said joint resolutions were received, demonstrates the wholesome truths contained in them. It confirms the statement that "the origin and objects of the said proposed amendments were unseemly and unjust, that the necessary result of its adoption must be the disturbance of the harmony if not the destruction of our system of government," that the object of Congress was to absorb to itself all executive, judicial, and legislative power necessary to secure to itself immunity for the unconstitutional acts it had already committed, and those it had since inflicted on a too patient people.

Resolved, That if it be true, as stated by the House of Representatives, that the joint resolutions sent to them by this Legislature were 66 disrespectful to the House and scandalous in character," they were only disrespectful to the House, inasmuch as they recited its acts, and scandalous only because they recited the scandalous proceedings of Congress.

resolutions should only be referred to in the journal and Resolved, That the order made" that the title of the

Congressional Globe," after a portion of the resolutions had been read, made the record untruthful and unfaithful. It recorded not what transpired, but what the prevailing faction desired to be recorded. It was an effort to close the ears of the people at large, as they had closed their own, to a fair and constitutional statement of grievances; to a recital of their own actings and doings; by demolishing the record and making it only a partial witness of the proceedings. of the resolution on the floor of the House of RepreResolved, That the statement made by the mover sentatives, that it was done "as a rebuke to a disloyal Legislature," should have been sufficient to have prevented any representative from this State from voting for said resolution. That we, on the part of the Legisla deny the truth of the statement that the Legislature is ture of New Jersey and all the people of the State, disloyal, or ever has been, but pointing proudly to the record for the evidence of our past devotion to the government of our fathers, and constitutional liberty, we solemnly appeal to the people of this State to maintain, unabridged, the sacred right of freedom of speech and petition, so grossly violated by the action of the House in the presentation of these resolutions; and to that end we call on them so to speak at the polls, that the House of Representatives will be obliged to hear, be they never so unwilling, and so to record the protest of New Jersey against the unconstitutional acts of the present Congress, that no resolve of the House of Representatives can mar the record.

On the general question of negro suffrage the House of Assembly adopted the following, by a vote of 35 to 7:

Whereas, The Republican State Convention, which assembled at Taylor Hall, in the city of Trenton, on the 22d of July, 1867, did adopt, among others, the following resolutions, viz.:

"Resolved, That pledging ourselves for the eradication of the word "white" from the constitution of

New Jersey by every legal and honorable means, we also call upon Congress to take measures to induce or compel all the States of the Union to establish a joint and uniform rule of suffrage, excluding all distinctions of class, and race, and color, so that the citizens of each State shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of citizens in the several States, and the United States shall redeem its original promise to guarantee to every State in the Union a republican form of government.

"Resolved, That the Republican party of New Jersey, encouraged by the past, and proud of the record of its Executive, and its legislative, and its Senators, and Representatives in Congress, cheerfully accept the issue of impartial suffrage, as one of the most

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cations of its own voters.

Resolved, That we are opposed to striking out the word "white" from the constitution of New Jersey, by an amendment thereto.

The registry law of New Jersey was repealed by the Legislature and a new election law enacted, to take its place. This provides for a division of the townships and city wards of the State into election districts, each of which shall contain not more than eight hundred voters. The division is to be made by the mayor and Common Council of cities and the committees of townships, who are also to choose a clerk and their judges of election for each district to perform the duties already prescribed by law for "clerks and judges of election in wards and townships which are not divided into election districts." In addition to these duties, the clerk at each polling-place in incorporated cities and towns is required to enter on the list the place of residence of each person offering to vote; and, if such person refuses to state the street and house in which he resides, his vote is to be rejected. These are the only new features in the

law.

The Republicans of New Jersey held a Convention at Trenton on the 18th of March, to choose delegates to the National Convention of the party, which was to meet at Chicago in May. Resolutions were adopted, asserting:

1. The right and duty of Congress to declare the terms on which the rebel States shall be restored, and commending their efforts to that end, although thwarted at all points by a faithless Executive.

2. That in repudiating the consent of New Jersey to the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution, the Democratic Legislature transcended their powers and reversed the expressed will of the State, and they appeal from this action to the people.

3. Indorsing impeachment as the only constitutional mode of removing an Executive who abrogates the Constitution, and desiring he shall have a fair and speedy trial."

4. Anticipating and desiring the early establishment of the revolted States upon a sound and permanent basis, and a resumption of national prosperity. 5. Favoring General Grant for the presidency deserving, as he does, the highest honors of his country for his services in maintaining her honor and

her institutions in all his official acts.

6. Warned by sad experience, they ask that the candidate for the vice-presidency may be a man of unblemished character and incorruptible integrity.

7. Indorsing the official acts of Governor Ward.

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The regular convention, for the nomination of candidates for Governor and other State

officers, met at Taylor Hall, in Trenton, on the 9th of July. John J. Blair, a citizen of Blairstown, in Warren County, was unanimously nominated for Governor, and a Board of presidential electors was named at the same convention. The platform of the party, as laid down on this occasion, was embraced in the following series of resolutions:

Resolved, That we indorse fully and heartily the National Convention of the Republican party, and declaration of political principles promulgated by the President and Schuyler Colfax as Vice-President of the nominations then made of Ulysses S. Grant as the United States, and we pledge to them our most hearty and active support, feeling assured that with resent, New Jersey will not hesitate to give them such standard-bearers, and the principles they rep

her electoral vote.

Resolved, That the proposition of the Democratic tional debt by compelling national creditors to seet party to pave the way for the extinction of the Ein payment of the national obligations a depreciated currency and to tax Government securities, when they were disposed of with the specific agreement that they should not be taxed, is a dishonest and infamcas measure, tending directly to destroy our national credit, depreciate the value of our country's securi ties, and dishonor us in the eyes of the civilized world and that such action is but in accordance with the ef forts of the Democratic party during and since the rebellion to destroy the credit of our Government. Resolved, That the people of New Jersey owe it to themselves to drive from power in this State the s called Democratic party, who, by removing the ot stacles to fraudulent voting, by attempting to unde the ratification of the Fourteenth Article of the Const tution, by which only the Union could be safely en structed, and by their wasteful expenditure from the public funds of the State during the last session of the Legislature, have proved false to the interests committed to their charge and utterly unworthy d the public confidence.

Resolved, That we congratulate the country, and especially the people in the States lately in revel against the Government, on the rapid restoration of those States to their former position of equality of representation and rights in the Union on the bas administration of government only to the hands of of justice, equality, and the intrusting the powers and loyal and patriotic citizens, and that the thanks of the people are due to our Senators and Representa tives in Congress assembled who have faithfully complished this difficult and important national work.

Resolved, That the brave boys in blue nobly held the flag of the Republic amid the storms of war. We call upon them to rally once again around the standard of the great soldier who led them to victory, feeling assurred that with their aid we will a weave the conqueror's chaplet around the brow of the hero and patriot who conquered the hosts of the re

bellion.

Resolved, That we recognize and appreciate the eminent and faithful services of Hon. Marcus L. Ward, Governor of the State, during his term of of fice, and we heartily tender him the thanks of the Union Republican party of this State for the same.

The Democratic Convention, for the appointment of delegates to the National Convention, was held at the capital of the State on the 10th of June. The following resolutions were unanimously adopted:

Resolved, That the Democracy of the State of New Jersey, by their representatives here assembled, pr claim their continued adherence and devotion to the

Constitution of the United States, with all its limitations of power upon the Federal Government.

Resolved, That it is the right of each State to determine for itself all questions relating to suffrage, and that any legislation of Congress upon this subject, affecting the States, is in violation of the Constitution and an infringement upon the reserved rights of the States.

Resolved, That the history of the Republican party, as at present controlled by its radical leaders, is char Lacterized by a series of gross violations of the rights guaranteed by the Constitution to the States and to Individuals, and at the same time a record of the most flagrant acts of tyranny and corruption that ever disgraced a civilized and Christian people.

Resolved, That the only hope of the country is the restoration of the Democratic party to power. Under its wise and conservative rule, the people have ever prospered, and, on the contrary, its defeat has invari

ably been the source of disaster and misrule.

Resolved, That we are opposed to all forms of repudiation of the national indebtedness, and insist that the pledged faith of the Government, at home and yabroad, be maintained inviolate. Resolved, That the gratitude of the people of New Jersey is due to those brave men who maintained the honor of the flag, by sea and by land, in the war for the preservation of the Union.

Resolved, That as this is the first time that the Democracy of the State have met by their representa

tives in convention since the close of the administration of the Hon. Joel Parker, it is deemed appropriate to give expression to the general approval of his conduct as Governor of this State, in the most trying period of the country's history, when with the prudence and wisdom of good statesmanship he fulfilled all the obligations of the State to the Federal Government, and at the same time upheld the civil and political rights of the people, and maintained the supremacy of the civil over the military power.

Resolved, That we pledge our unwavering support tion to assemble in the city of New York on the fourth day of July next; that, without intending in any way to instruct our delegates, New Jersey would feel honored by the nomination of ex-Governor Joel Parker as a candidate for the office of President of the United

to the nominee of the National Democratic Conven

States.

Another convention of the Democracy was held in July for the purpose of nominating candidates for Governor and electors, and of "expressing the sentiments of the party upon the issues presented for the decision of the people in the coming campaign." The expression of sentiments was contained in the following resolutions:

Resolved, That we heartily indorse the nominations of Horatio Seymour and Frank P. Blair, Jr., for President and Vice-President of the United States, and the platform of principles enunciated by the National Convention of New York.

Resolved, That we congratulate the people of New Jersey upon their spontaneous repudiation of the Republican proposition of last year, to strike out the word "white" from the State constitution and to establish political equality between the white and black races in this State.

Resolved, That the Democracy of New Jersey, accepting the settlement of slavery effected by the war, and by the consent of the Southern States to the Constitutional Amendment abolishing the institution, do, nevertheless, insist upon the right of all the States, under the Constitution, to regulate their own domestic affairs in their own way, without congressional inter

erence.

Resolved, That the Democratic party of this State emember with pride and gratitude the gallant serices of her volunteer soldiers and sailors in the late

war, and will faithfully redeem all the pledges made in their behalf.

Resolved, That the representatives of the Democracy this day assembled pledge to the nominees of this convention their undivided support, believing that their election will redound to the welfare of the State and the prosperity of the country.

The State election occurred on the same day with the presidential election in November, and resulted in the choice of the Democratic candidate, Theodore F. Randolph, for Governor, by a majority of 4,618. The whole vote was 163,284, Randolph having 83,951, and Blair 79,333. The whole vote cast for presidential electors was 163,122, of which 80,121 were in favor of the election of Grant, and 83,001 for Seymour, giving the latter candidate a majority of 2,880 votes. Five members of Congress were chosen, three of whom were Democrats and two Republicans. The new members in the House and twelve in the SenLegislature contains thirty-two Democratic ate, and twenty-eight Republicans in the House and nine in the Senate. A Senator in Congress is to be chosen by this body in 1869, in place of Mr. Frelinghuysen.

The State received $269,613.46 during the year from the various railroads, in the form of transit duties levied upon railway corporations. The question of putting an end to this form of taxation has been brought to the attention of the Legislature by a memorial of the "United Delaware and Raritan Canal Company, Camden and Amboy Railroad and Transportation Company, and New Jersey Railroad and Transportation Company;" and Governor Randolph, in a message to the Legislature of 1869, recommends the enactment of a law, "upon the acceptance of which by the companies now paying transit duties (if such acceptance be requisite), all payments by them of such duties, whether upon passengers or freights, shall cease."

The receipts and disbursements of the State Treasury during the fiscal year ending November 30, 1868, were as follows:

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This is paid over to the county superintendents in three equal instalments, on the 15th of May, August, and November.

Just before the close of the last Legislature, a bill was introduced to incorporate a company to act with another, under a charter from the State of Pennsylvania, for the purpose of constructing a bridge across the Delaware River, between the cities of Camden and Philadelphia. The subject has occupied considerable attention since that time, and committees from the two cities chiefly interested have investigated the subject and published reports favorable to the feasibility of the proposed work. The river at this point is upward of 3,000 feet

wide.

A decision was given in the Supreme Court of New Jersey, in which the rights of the Episcopal clergy were defined on the following points: 1. A minister of the Protestant Episcopal Church has either the possession of the church, or a right in the nature of an casement to enter therein, on all occasions set apart in the parish for divine services, and a substantial interference with such right will lay the ground for an action at law. 2. The English ecclesiastical law forms the basis of the law regulating the affairs of this denomination of Christians. 3. In order to vest the pastor with the ordinary rights in the temporalities pertaining to his office, it is not necessary for the congregation to be incorporated, nor that the title to the church school should be lodged in such congregation.

A subject occupying a large share of the attention of the present Legislature (1869) is that of reform in the government and discipline of the State Prisons. The last Legislature authorized a commission to visit various penal and reformatory institutions throughout the country, for the purpose of gathering such information as might form the basis of a more efficient system of government for the New Jersey State Prison. This commission has submitted a report at the present session, and several bills have been introduced providing for various improvements in this important matter.

NEW YORK. The Constitutional Convention of New York, which met on the 4th of June, 1867, and reassembled after an adjourn ment of two months, on the 12th of Novem ber, continued its sessions for several weeks in the year 1868. The work during that time was chiefly in the hands of the Committee on Revision, and some important changes were made. The suffrage clause, as finally adopted removes the property qualification required of negroes, by the old constitution, and admits them to the exercise of the rights of citizenship on a footing of equality with the whites A registration of all qualified electors is required to be completed four days before the election, and no one is allowed to register who has not lived thirty days in the town or ward and ten days in the election district where proposes to vote. The provisions relating to the administration of the State canals abolish the Canal Board and the offices of State Egineer, Canal Commissioner, and Canal Ap praiser, and give to the Governor authority to appoint a Superintendent of Canals, with for assistants, to hold office five years. The Cont of Claims is to be composed of five judges, ap pointed by the Governor. The judiciary ar ticle, as modified, leaves the election of judges to the people, but provides that the question of the appointment by executive authority shall be submitted to the vote of the electors in 1873. The judicial term of office is fixed s fourteen years. There are to be four Gener Terms of the Supreme Court instead of eigh and the clerk of the Court of Appeals is to be chosen by the judges. An unpaid board of five persons holding office for ten years, and a clerk who is to have a salary, charge of the prisons of the State, with sac right of inspection into jails and other penal and reformatory institutions as future Legis latures shall define. The subject of allowing the Legislature to exercise authority in the government of cities was discussed, and vi orous efforts were made to introduce a provi sion prohibiting and restricting such interfer ence, but the matter was finally left as it was found. When the work of revising the con stitution was finished, a law was introduced in the Legislature, which was then in session, providing for its submission to a vote of the people. This passed the Assembly, but was defeated in the Senate.

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