The American Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year, 1861-1865, vols. 1-5. New York: Appleton & Co., 1868.

Union States in 1863, Part 1: California through Michigan

NORTHERN STATES - UNION – 1863

CALIFORNIA. One of the Pacific States of the Union first settled in 1769, ceded to the United States by Mexico, by the treaty of March 16th, 1848, and admitted into the Union as a State in 1850. Its capital is Sacramento, population in 1860,13,788. The area of this State is 188,982 square miles, and its population in 1860 was 379,994, of whom 23,848 were Chinese and Mexican half-breeds, and 14.555 Indians. The governor of the State, from December 1863 to January 1868, is Frederick F. Low, whose official residence is at Sacramento. His salary is $7,000. The election for State officers, except superintendent of public instruction, was held September 3d, 1863. Governor Low, Union, received 63,165 votes; the democratic candidate, John G. Downey, receiving 43,229. In October, an election was held for judges of the supreme and district courts, and the Union candidates, Oscar L. Shafter, Lorenzo Sawyer, 8, W. Sanderson, John Curry, and A. L. Rhodes, were elected. The Union majority in the State was about 20,000. The Legislature elected at the same time stood as follows: Senate, 35 Unionists to 5 Democrats; Assembly, 72 Unionists to 8 Democrats—Union majority on joint ballot, 94. Under the provisions of the amended Constitution the sessions of the Legislature are to be biennial, meeting on the 1st of December of the odd years, 1863, 1865, etc. The time of session is limited to 120 days; senators are elected for four years, one half being elected every second year; the Assembly is elected for two years. The population of California has probably diminished somewhat during the year 1868, from the great excitement among the mining people in relation to the extraordinary productiveness of the gold mines of Idaho and of the Colorado river region in Arizona, and the large yield of the Nevada and Colorado Territory silver and gold mines. In California, placer mining is almost wholly abandoned in the oldest mining districts, though it pays well in the more recently discovered deposits, and in some sections, where the auriferous earth is deep. The shallow placers, where the gold was washed out in a cradle or torn, are now only resorted to by the Chinese miners who are contented with small gains. Sluice and hydraulic mining are now the processes most in use in placer diggings. The former requires a considerable stream of water, in such a position that it will permit a fall of from twenty to one hundred feet. This stream is conducted through an artificial aqueduct composed of sluice boxes (boxes of rough boards twelve feet long and from five to twenty feet wide, one end being four inches narrower than the other, so that the ends of the boxes may slide into each other); these boxes are set upon trestles at different angles of depression, according to the character of the dirt—tough clayey dirt requiring a steeper pitch than that which is more sandy. An eight-inch pilch or grade, that is, eight inches for each sluice box, or length of twelve feet, is the lowest grade generally used, and sixteen inches the highest. The sluice boxes have riffle-bars or clusters of slates with spaces between, wedged into them either longitudinally or at different distances across, to catch the gold and fine dirt, and to give the quicksilver an opportunity to come in contact with the fine particles and form an amalgam with them. The quicksilver is usually put in near the head of the sluice, which may be fifty or five hundred feet in length, according to the circumstances, and the dirt being thrown in by the miners, and the water let on, the washing of the gold goes on without cessation, usually from three to ten days, when the miners "clean up " by taking out a portion of the riffle-bars at a time, and collecting the coarse gold and the amalgam, pressing the gold from the mercury by straining it through cloth or buckskin, and sometimes increase the product by panning the fine sand, which is usually rich in gold, which has collected in the rifts and corners of the sluice. Where there are considerable quantities of boulders, the sluice boxes wear out very rapidly, and hence, where it is practicable, the miners often make the bottom of the sluice of cobble stones instead of wood. As water is not over-abundant in most parts of California, and it is desirable to use it as economically as possible, the miners sometimes, where they find a hill of auriferous earth situated near their sluice, resort to blasting to bring down and loosen large quantities of the earth so that it can be more rapidly thrown into the sluice while the water is running. Hydraulic mining requires the use of the sluice, but subjects the pay dirt, as it is called, to a preliminary process, and this dispenses with the severe digging required in the ordinary sluice mining. The water is collected either in a natural or artificial pond, flume, or canal, by some of the numerous hydraulic companies, and thence conducted by hose of from four to ten inches diameter to a point where it can be directed, under a pressure of from fifty to two hundred feet of vertical elevation against a hill of auriferous earth. The earth is rapidly washed away, and the stream of mud and water directed into the sluice, when it undergoes the further processes of amalgamation, panning, cleaning up, etc. The water is furnished to the miners at a rental of so much per inch of orifice of hose, usually about twenty cents per inch. Quartz mining is an entirely different process, though one now carried on extensively in California. The beds of auriferous quartz are found in the mountains, at elevations ranging between two thousand and ten thousand feet Though most of the quartz veins between these elevations contain some gold, but a small portion of them have enough to be washed profitably. Unless the yield is at least ten dollars per ton of quartz the vein will not pay for working. The quartz is first quarried at a cost of two dollars or more per ton, then carried to the stamping mill to be crashed to a fine powder, and then, by a variety of processes, the gold is separated from the quartz and caused to amalgamate with mercury. The capital invested in these enterprises is large, and when veins of quartz rich in gold are quarried the returns are ample. The Mariposa Mining Company's works yield from $75,000 to $100,000 of pure gold monthly; the Allison Company, in Nevada county, from $60,000 to $80,000 per month; and the Sierra Butte Company, in Sierra county, from $25,000 to $60,000 per month. In agricultural products California is rapidly becoming a leading State. The climate and soil are admirably adapted to the growth of the vine, and she is in a fair way to become the vineyard of the Union. The production of wine in 1863 was very large, and she exported of her wines to the appraised value of $79,026, an amount which will probably be doubled the coming year. One and a quarter millions of lbs. of grapes were also sent to market. Considerable attention is paid to the culture of tobacco, of which a superior quality can be produced in the State; and in Santa Clara county, as well as in some other portions of the State, a large amount of capital is invested in silk growing. The silk of California is regarded as superior in quality to that of any other country. The worms are fed mostly on the leaves of the morns maretti and other varieties of the white mulberry, though the morus multicaulis is used to some extent in the first two stages of its growth. The silkworms are perfectly healthy, and the eggs are in demand to a far greater amount than can be supplied by the silk growers in Europe. The dryness of the climate, and the entire absence or infrequency of thunder-storms, as well as the strength and richness of the mulberry leaves produced in the fertile soil of California, render it certain that this State must become one of the best silk-growing regions in the United States. The great staple product of California at present is gold. Of this, $39,938,699 were received from the interior at San Francisco in the year 1863, besides $2,836,973 from Oregon, and $1,347,523 from Victoria, and $2,156,677 from foreign parts. The wool product of the State for the last eight years has been: issue 600,000. 1857 1,100,000 83 1668 1,428,000 80 18.9 2,8X8,000 66 1860 8,260,000 87 1861 4,600.000. 41 1862 6.400,000. 40 1863 7,600,000. 19 Of Wheat, 1,983,655 sacks were received at San Francisco, and 1,146,478 sacks exported. Of flour, 124,863 bbls. were received, and 153,454 bbls. exported. Of barley, 607,216 sacks were received, and 50,026 exported. Of oats, 260,366 sacks were received, and 87,075 exported. Of hides, 808,189 were exported in 1863, a falling off of 7,562 from the exports of the previous year. Fruits are sold almost entirely by the pound, box of 25 lbs., or basket of 30 lbs. The receipts of the principal fruits wore: strawberries, 800,000 lbs.; raspberries, 200,000 lbs.; blackberries, 200,000 lbs.; gooseberries, 15,000 lbs.; cherries, 75,000 lbs.; currants, 8,000 to 10,000 lbs.; apricots, 600,000 lbs.; figs, 10,000 to 15,000 lbs. (grown in California) ; nectarines, 15,000 lbs.; quinces, 80,000 to 40,000 lbs.; plums, 450,000 lbs.; peaches, 2,400,000 to 3,000,000 lbs.; grapes, 1,250,000 lbs.; apples, 75,000 boxes of 25 lbs.; pears, 80,000 boxes, a large proportion of them winter varieties. Besides these there were very large quantities of dried fruit, principally peaches and plums, sent to market. The high price of turpentine and rosin has led to the collection of these articles from the pines of California. The business is yet in its infancy; but 7,250 gallons of turpentine and 1,150 barrels of rosin were sent to market in 1868, and the quality is so good that there can be no doubt that the production will be rapidly developed. The income of the Federal Government on the California coast in the past year has been as follows: From duties on Imports $4,688,899 From Internal taxation, estimated 2,000,000 From postal Department, estimated 200,000 From Branch Mint ,.. 240,000 Total Income $7.12S,899 Deficit of Income 2,787,182 Total expenditures In 1862 6,726,598 Total Income In 1862 A 4,190,645 The large increase in duties on imports as compared with last year, $4,688,899, against $3,277,808, will attract attention, and results mainly from an increase of foreign trade. The official returns of the internal duties for the San Francisco district gave $969,447, of which $351,943 was for incomes. The tax on manufactures indicates that the production has doubled in the year. The disbursements of the Government were as follows: Quartermaster's Department $5,344,526 Paymaster's Department 1,700,000 Commissary Department 609,494 Total army $7;654,020 FOR THE MAVY. Coast squadron, estimated 1,000,000 FOR TOT REVENUE SERVICE. Custom-house, light-house, and marine hospital,estimated J' Cost of collecting Internal revenue, estimated 240,000 FOB POSTAL SERVICES. Transportation of mails on this coast not 1 including overland route to Atlantic V (210,000 States), estimated I Compensation expenses of officers, esti'd. 65,000

MISCELLANEOUS. Mint Department, gross, estimated 1801,511 Judicial Department, estimated 25,000 10,000 $275,000 -$366,511 Total disbursements $9,885,581 The duties are all collected in gold, amounting to $4,688,399, and which is sent to the Atlantic States for use, while all the payments of the Government are in notes. Those received by the Government officials, contractors, Ac., are paid out to the extent of nearly $10,000,000; but they will not circulate, the receivers sell them to the brokers, who re-sell to taxpayers, and for shipment to the Atlantic States. The price at which they sell undergoes fluctuations. In January it was 68 and 72 cents per dollar; in March the rate had fallen to 50 cents; in July it had risen to 80 cents, and subsequently declined to 70 and 68 cents. The California merchants profited largely from the paper currency at the expense of their Eastern creditors. This was emphatically the case in 1862, when paper receded from par to about 30 per cent, discount. Parties who were in debt at that time to Eastern creditors, or who purchased merchandise on credit at any time during the year, were enabled to meet their obligations fully and satisfactorily with remittances that cost much less in gold currency than the amount of their indebtedness or their invoices. The debtor classes and credit buyers were benefited largely. Meantime the value of most articles of merchandise at the East, according to the gold standard, underwent but little change…

From the silver districts (included in the northern mines), the total receipts for the past year were $12,438,915, against about $6,000,000 in 1862. They were divided as follows: Total disbursements $9,S85,581 From Washoe $11,846,916 From Esmeralda 687,000 $12,438,916 The receipts from the south coast in 1863 amount to $110,322 through regular channels, and probably as much more by private hands. From all the new mining localities the proportion of private receipts is much greater than from the older ones. Over all the established routes through the interior of this State, and from Nevada Territory, very little treasure comes in the hands of individuals. ( United States, and Sanitary Commission.)

CONNECTICUT. The Legislature of Connecticut assembled on May 4th. The receipts and disbursements of the State for the year ending March 30th, 1863, were as follows:

On hand, April 1st, 1883 $298,49 Public revenue 4.158,884 56

Total  Disbursements $4,201,171.94 Paid Interest..: 150,032.00—4.851.258.94 Balance, April, 1888 '(108,170.04 On the 1st of January, 1863, the State owed $1,849,800 of temporary loans, which, with some increased expenditures, was met by the sale of $2,000,000 State bonds. The first million sold at a range of from 9 to 12 per cent, premium, netting $102,535.50.

Of the direct tax of 1861, the quota of the State was $261,981.90. It was paid by a surrender of United States certificates held by the State.

The school fund of the State amounted, on May 1st, to $2,049,426; the income from which during the year had been $137,993, which was a gain of $6,909 over the previous year. The number of children returned between the ages of four and sixteen, was 110,496. A dividend of one dollar and twenty cents for each child was paid for the support of public schools, leaving $26,934 in the treasury. The amount raised by tax on property for schools exceeded that paid by the State. The State Reform School contains 198 inmates. The receipts of the State prison over its expenditures were $961. In the Insane Retreat the number of beneficiaries of the State were 133: also 38 beneficiaries in the Deaf and Dumb Asylum; 164 patients in the Hospital; 15 imbeciles who were beneficiaries. The capital of the several railroads, in whole or in part within the State, is $22,665,490. The length of roads under charters granted in whole or in part by the State, is 782 miles, of which 600 are within the State. Total expenditure, exclusive of interest, $2,033,924; receipts, $3,673,291; net earnings, $1,146,461; miles run, 2,449,706; passengers carried, 2,968,076. There are seventy-five banks in the State. Capital, $21,849,148; deposits, $9,573,074; circulation, $12,850,358; specie, $1,466,857.

Since the commencement of the war to May 1st, 28,219 soldiers had enlisted in the several Connecticut regiments. This number was reduced 7,637, by deaths and discharges, including those who entered the service for three months. The number of volunteers in the field who had families in the State, was 8,330, to whom $70,636 were paid monthly in bounties. The drafts on the treasury for the equipment and support of volunteers, amounted to $2,101,566. Besides the bounty of $402 offered by the United States in July to volunteers, the State also offered $80 per year, of which one third was payable every four months; also, if the volunteer had a family, $6 per month were paid to his wife, and $2 per month to each child under fourteen years of age. If the volunteer was disabled in service, the payment to his family was continued during such disability. Bounties were also paid by the several cities and towns, usually about $300.

The quota of the State, under the draft, was 7,691, of which only 2,508 had been obtained by the 17th of October, making a deficiency of 5,188. The quota under the call for volunteers, made October 17th, was 5,432. The deficiency of the State on former calls was at that time 1,748, according to the estimate of the War Department; but, according to the State accounts, it had a surplus of 581. Under the call of February 1st, 1864, the quota was increased 8,631—total, 9,053. At that date, 4,477 had enlisted and about 2,850 veterans had reënlisted, leaving 1,726 men to be raised by March 10th, 1864. At an extra session of the Legislature, convened November 3d, the returns from the first district (Hartford) showed the number of conscripts obtained under the draft to be 50; substitutes, 642; paid commutation, 628; conscripts who never reported, 843; do. deserted, 11; substitutes deserted, 8. In the second district (New Haven) conscripts secured, 34; substitutes, 564; paid commutation, 296; never reported, 171; deserted, 71; substitutes deserted, 6. In the third district (New London) conscripts secured, 45; substitutes, 843; paid, 232; never reported, 269; conscripts deserted, none; substitutes deserted, 4. The final returns showed:

Conscripts and substitutes 2,276 Paid $300 1,252 Cash paid $375,600 At the extra session of the Legislature, in November, an act was passed, giving to each colored volunteer, out of the State Treasury, such sum as should make his monthly pay equal to the amount received from the United States by the other volunteers from Connecticut, and an allowance of three dollars and fifty cents per month for his clothing in addition.

Ten dollars were paid to the person procuring volunteers, for each man. No volunteer under the act was to be discharged except in the county in which he enlisted. Two hundred thousand dollars were appropriated for this purpose. Another act provided for the payment of three hundred dollars bounty to each volunteer, in addition to all previous sums ordered. The sum of eighteen hundred thousand dollars was appropriated for this purpose.

The returns relative to the various jails in the State showed the whole number of commitments during the year to be 1,500, a decrease of nearly 500 compared with the previous year. Of those, 492 were for common drunkenness; 260 for assault; 190 for larceny; 74 for lewd conduct; 65 for a breach of the peace— 650 were born in the United States; 850 of foreign birth, and 20 unknown.

The election for State officers took place on the first Monday in April. The candidates for governor were, Win. A. Buckingham, Administration, and Thomas H. Seymour, Opposition.

The vote was as follows: Buckingham, 41,032; Seymour, 38,395; Scattering, 36. Total vote, 79,463. The Legislature was as follows: Senate. Home. Administration 13 142 Opposition 8 95 The vote for members of Congress was as follows:

1st dist. 2d dist. 3d dist. 4th dist.

Admin 10,493 10,420 8,873 11,248 Opposition...10,158 11,450 0,381 10,892

A large number of soldiers belonging to the State, in the army, received a furlough abort the time of election, and returned home. The number was between 1,000 and 8,000. At the previous session of the Legislature a law was passed to enable persons absent from the State and enlisted in the armies to vote. This law was decided by the Supreme Court of the State to be unconstitutional.

ILLINOIS. A short session of the Legislature of Illinois was hold during the year, which attracted some attention by the manner in which it was brought to a close. A resolution for fixing a day for final adjournment passed the Senate, and was sent to the House for concurrence. In the House it was amended by the insertion of another day. In this amendment the Senate refused to concur. Under this state of facts, Governor Yates sent the following message to the Lower House:

STATE OF ILLINOIS, EXECDUTIVE DEPARTMENT.

To the General Assembly of the STATE of ILLINOIS:

Whereas, on the 8th day of June, 1863, the Senate adopted a joint resolution to adjourn, sine die on said day, at 6 o'clock p. M., which resolution, noon being submitted to the House of Representatives on the same day, was by them amended by substitute g the 22d day of June, and the hour of 10 o'clock A.M.. which amendment the Senate thereupon refused to concur in;

Whereas, the Constitution of the State contain! following provision, to wit:

Sec. 13. Art 4. In case of disagreement between two Houses with respect to the time of adjournment, the Governor shall have power to adjourn the General Assembly to such time as he thinks proper, provided it be not a period beyond the next constitutional meeting of the same.

Whereas, I fully believe that the interests of the State will be best subserved by a speedy adjournment, the past history of the present Assembly holding out no reasonable nope of beneficial results to the citizens of the State, or the army in the field, for its further continuance:

Now, therefore, in view of the existing disagreement between the two houses in respect to the time of adjournment, and by virtue of the power vested in me by the Constitution aforesaid, I, Richard Yates, . Governor of the State of Illinois, do hereby adjourn the General Assembly, bow in session, to the Saturday next preceding the first Monday in January, A.D. 1865.

Given at Springfield, this 10th day of June, A.D. 1863.

RICHARD YATES, Governor.

After the reading of this message, the minority or Administration party withdrew from the House, thus leaving the majority, or Opposition, without a quorum. Being rendered powerless for the further transaction of business, the majority entered upon the records a protest against the action of the governor, and informally left their seats. Governor Yates was elected in November, 1860, for a term of four years. The Assembly, and one half the Senate, thus adjourned, were elected in November, 1862.

The Supreme Court of the State consists of a chief justice and two judges, and the matter came before that body in four cases, designated "mandamus cases, as follows:"

Four cases, in various forms, were pending, the object of which was to obtain a decision establishing the legal existence of a corporation called " the Wabash Railroad Company;" and they were prosecuted by those in the interest of the supposed corporation.

Whether the supposed corporation bad a legal existence depended upon whether a bill of the last session of the Legislature to incorporate it had become a law; and this, in one view of the case, depended upon another fact, namely: whether that session continued ten days, Sundays excepted, after the 10th day of June, when the bill went to the Governor for his action thereon. the records upon which the parties submitted the case admitted, in effect, the following facts: That on the 10th of June the Governor issued his proclamation adjourning the session—that thereupon there ceased to be a quorum in either house.

That on the 10th and 11th the pay-rolls of the session were made Out under the supervision of the two houses, certified to by the respective Speakers of Senate and House, transmitted to the Auditor for payment of the members, and that the members generally went before the Auditor, receipted the pay roll, received their pay and departed for their homes. That from the 11th to the 23d of June, the halls of the two houses were vacant and locked, the members having departed to their homes without any indication of intention to return, or to resume legislation, and that on the 23d two senators met in the Senate hall, and three representatives in the ball of the House, and assumed legislative powers by, among other things, meeting and on the morning of the 24th adjourning the session to January, 1864.

Under the Constitution, a less number than a quorum—two thirds—may adjourn from day to day and compel the attendance of absentees, but a quorum only can exercise the powers of a General Assembly.

A memorandum of the decisions, was made by the judges and properly filed, which was as follows:

The People on the relation of Keyes vs. The Auditor of Public Accounts and the People on the relation of Harlen vs. The Secretary of State.—A peremptory mandamus in the above case is refused, Judges Walker and Breese holding that the proclamation of the Governor, acquiesced in by the General Assembly, terminated the session on the 10th day of June. Separate opinions will be filed early in January next

December 11th, 1863, 

For the action of the Assembly, by a vote of 47 to 13, relative to the order of General Burnside, suppressing the Chicago "Times" newspaper, to Freedom of the Press.

At this session, the Legislature elected W. A. Richardson a senator in Congress. The vote was: for W. A. Richardson, 66; Richard Yates, 37.

The number of State banks is twenty-five, the securities of which are: Illinois, 6 per cent., $974,660; United States 5's, $8,000; North Carolina 6's, $2,000; total, $984,600. Circulation, September, 1868, $888,146. Six National Banks were established in 1863, viz.: 1 at Cairo, capital, $50,000; 1 at Chicago, capital, $250,000; 1 at Monmouth, capital, $50,000; 1 at Danville, capital, $60,000; 1 at La Salle, capital, $50,000; 1 at Rock Island, capital, $100,000; total, $550,000.

The number of public schools in the State at the close of 1862 was 9,811, the number of scholars 516,037, and the number of persons in the State between five and twenty-one years of age, 618,014. The amount paid for teachers' wages was $1,315,686. The amount of the school fund was $4,973,842. The number of students in the Normal University was 291. There is a State institution for deaf mutes at Jacksonville, having about 240 pupils; also an insane hospital at the same place, having 302 patients; also an institution for the blind, having 64 pupils.

The number of men furnished by the State to the army up to the beginning of 1868, was as follows: infantry, 119,404; cavalry, 16,917; artillery, 8,999; total, 140,320. No draft for men was made during the year, and the quota of the State was completed by volunteers. The liberality of the State in furnishing men and providing for them has been great.

A novel plan was adopted for the supply of the city of Chicago with water. It consisted in constructing a tunnel some distance under the bed of Lake Michigan for some miles from the shore, by which pure water could be obtained. The plan contemplates the sinking of octagonal cribs eighty feet in diameter, with central spaces, say thirty feet in diameter, leaving an average of twenty-five feet thickness to the crib around the shaft. In the central space, protected by the crib from the action of the waves, it proposed to sink iron cylinders nine feet in diameter, by the pneumatic process. The outmost shaft would be constructed with reference to its becoming the inlet for the water. The others might be removed to such a depth as not to interfere with navigation.

INDIANA. The State of Indiana was twice invaded during the year by small forces of the enemy. The first force which entered the State consisted of a portion of the 2d Kentucky cavalry, Capt. Bines. On the night of June 16th they crossed the Ohio river at Flint Rock, near Leavenworth, by fording it. They went to Leavenworth, Corydon, and Paoli. After plundering the stores and citizens at these places, they began to be hard pressed by the local militia, and escaped across the river with difficulty and some loss. The second invasion was made by a force under command" of General Morgan.

The excitement occasioned by this invasion surpassed any previous one. In about sixty hours ten regiments of infantry, four companies of cavalry, and two batteries of artillery, were organized at Indianapolis and on the move. The services of over forty thousand men were tendered to the authorities. (See Army Operations.)

The total number of troops which had been furnished to the Union army to the 1st of September, was 93,895 three years' "men. The quota of the State under the several calls of 1861 and 1862 was 65,394. The excess of the State, therefore, was at that time 28,501. According to the enrolment of the State there were of the first class 134,163 men, one fifth of whom were called for by the draft, which amounted to 26,832, thus giving the State still an excess of 1,669 at that date. After the call for troops in October liberal bounties were offered to volunteers of $50 to $200 in addition to the Federal bounty. About five persons were appointed in each county where recruiting was actively done, to secure volunteers, and many soldiers returned to unite their efforts. Thus troops were more promptly and speedily raised than probably in any other State. The quota to be raised under the call in October was 18,597.

A difficulty occurred in the Legislature of the State some days previous to the time for the close of the session, which suspended entirely the proceedings of that body. It consisted in the withdrawal of a portion of the members of the House, by which no quorum to do business was left. The occasion of this withdrawal of members was reported to be an apprehension on their part that the majority of the House, who were designated as democrats, "would pass a bill which, deprived the governor of that full control of the State militia, Page 530 which had been conferred upon him." This militia bill, it appears, conferred the right upon those enrolled under it to elect their own company and regimental officers, and reserved to the General Assembly the right to say in what manner brigadier and major generals should be appointed. With regard to the latter appointments, it was claimed by the majority to be the "constitutional" right of the Assembly to say how they should be made; but by those who withdrew, it was claimed that the power to make the appointment was conferred by the Constitution of the State on the governor. The consequence was that the Legislature adjourned without passing any bills appropriating money to meet expenditures. The State owes a foreign debt contracted previous to the present war, the aggregate annual interest on which is $830,00(1, payable semi-annually, on the 1st of January and July, in the city of New York, to such persons as may hold her bonds. As the time approached for the payment of the interest due in July, it was manifest that the Auditor and Treasurer of the State would not have the funds in New York for the purpose, although the money was in the State Treasury. The grounds urged for their position may be briefly stated.

In 1846 (the State having failed to pay the interest upon the publio debt for some years) a compromise was made with her creditors, by which they released one half of the indebtedness for new obligations, and for the other the Wabash and Erie Canal and the lands unsold which had been appropriated by the General Government for its construction, and the State pledged its faith for the punctual payment of the interest on the new bonds. In 1859 the Legislature enacted a law prohibiting the Auditor and Treasurer of State from withdrawing any money, from the treasury, unless in pursuance of appropriations made by law. The General Assembly of that year provided for the payment of the interest upon the State debt for the succeeding two years, in the general appropriation bill. In 1861 the Legislature passed what is known as the embezzlement law, providing heavy penalties for any violation of the law establishing a treasury system, which had been enacted two years previous, and also provided for the payment of the interest upon the public debt for the two succeeding years in the general appropriation bill.

The Constitution requires that no law shall be enacted unless a quorum of each House shall bo present, which is made to consist of two thirds of the members of each branch of the Legislature. The Constitution restricts the sessions to sixty-one days, and all laws must be enacted within fifty-nine days. Thirteen days previous to the expiration of the constitutional term of the Legislature and before the appropriation bills necessary to sustain the State Government and provide for the payment of the obligations of her creditors, a sufficient number of the members of the lower House, to break a quorum, withdrew as above stated, and thus suspended the legislation.

As the time approached to place the funds in New York to meet the interest, Governor Morton requested the Auditor and Treasurer of State to assume the responsibility of withdrawing money from the treasury for that purpose, and argued that the laws compromising the State debt were in effect a continuous appropriation which authorized them to do so. They did not place such a construction upon those acts. To test this question, the President of the Sinking Fund applied for a mandate directing the Auditor to draw his warrant upon the treasury to pay the interest. Judge Finch, of the Indianapolis circuit, first allowed the mandate. From this decision an appeal was taken to the Supreme Court. The judge then changed his decision and refused to allow a mandate, and from this decision an appeal was taken to the court of last resort. The object of these suits was to decide the law in the case. The Supreme Court, after an investigation of the questions at issue, decided that the State officers had no authority to pay the interest unless in pursuance of specific legislative appropriations.

The house of Winslow, Lanier & Co., New York, offered to pay the interest on certain conditions, which was declined by the State agent, and it remained unpaid to the close of the year.

The sessions of the Legislature being held once in two years, the reports of the State officers relative to internal affairs are made up and presented at the commencement of each session.

On the 25th of April, General M. S. Hascall in command of the district of Indiana, in the Department of the Ohio, issued an order the better to enforce General Order No. 38, issued by Major-General Burnside. (See Habeas Corpus) It led to the following correspondence: HEADQUARTER’S, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Indianapolis, May 5th, 1863.

Editors Journal: I have received the following letter from Hon. Joseph K. Edgerton, member of Congress from the Tenth Congressional District, and, as it refers to matters which interest others as well as himself, and as there are some who claim that they do not understand fully the meaning of General Order No. 9, recently issued from these headquarters, 1 publish his letter, together with my reply, for the information of all concerned:

Fort Wayne, (Ind)., May 2d, 1863.

Sir: I have read with the interest due to it your General Order No. 9, dated 25th ultimo. In this order you say that you have no partisan feelings or interests yon intend to advance, hut desire to confer freely and fully with the prominent men of all political parties, and invoke their hearty cooperation in all measures calculated to restore harmony and good feeling in the State. This sentiment is patriotic It seems to recognize the fact that opposing political parties may still be permitted to e.vl-<t. and yet co-operate to restore harmony and good feelings in the State. In a corresponding spirit, I. aa a citizen, though not perhaps a  prominent one, in the sense of your order, desire to confer freely with you, by way of inquiry, as to the meaning of a part of your order, which I do not fully understand. You will, of course, admit that if the people are to obey your order, it is important they should know the exact scope and desire.

Will you do me the favor to inform me what yon mean In your Injunction to u all newspapers and public speakers," by, the term "for endeavoring to bring the war policy of the Government Into disrepute;" and further, what you mean by the phrase u actively opposed to the war policy of the Administration," or what you use as a synonymous expression, "opposed to the Government"? A waiting your reply, I am, respectfully,

Your obedient servant,

JOSEPH K. EDGERTON.

M. S. Hascall, Brigadier-General.

It will perhaps be well enough, in order to a full understanding of this matter to reproduce that paragraph of No. 9, which is claimed to contain ambiguous matter. It reads as follows:

11. The commanding general is charged with the duty of carrying into effect the provisions of General Order No. 88, recently issued by Major-Gen, Burnside. He purposes doing so. Unmistakable evidence reached him that the provisions of this order have been, and are being, violated in various parts of the State. This is unfortunately done, in many instances, by well meaning men who are led astray by newspapers and public speakers. The latter will therefore be held to the most rigid accountability. There Is no use in trying to dry the stream while its fountains are allowed to flow. All newspapers and public speakers that counsel or encourage resistance to the Conscription Act, or any other law of Congress passed as a war measure, or that endeavor to bring the war policy of the Government Into disrepute, will be considered as having violated the order above alluded to, and treated accordingly. The country will have to be saved or lost during the time that this Administration remains in power, and therefore he who Is factiously and actively opposed to the war policy of the Administration is as much opposed to his Government

It seems to me that, taken as a whole, no one need misunderstand anything in this paragraph unless he chooses to do so.

What I mean by the expression "or endeavor to bring the war policy of the Government into disrepute is this: Certain measures have been determined upon by the Congress of the United States and the Executive, such as the internal revenue and tax bills (necessary for the support of the Government in time of war), the Confiscation Act, the Conscription Act, the act authorizing the Executive to use negroes in every way possible to cripple the enemy ana assist us, the proclamation of emancipation in certain rebellious districts, and other measures having an immediate bearing on the war; and these I call the war policy of the Government or Administration. These measures, most of them, have been concluded upon after very mature deliberation and discussion, ana after more than a year's experience in actual warfare. Possibly they are not the wisest and best that could have been enacted. That, however, is a matter which does not now concern either of us. Enough for us to know that they have been agreed upon by the only rightful and proper authorities known to our Government, and that they are likely to remain in force until time and experience shall suggest some modification, and this though you and I should talk ourselves hoarse in opposition. The only practical effect, then, of allowing newspapers and public speakers to inveigh against these measures is to divide and distract our own people, and thus give material " aid and comfort" to our enemies. In this connection allow me to call your attention, and that of the whole State, to the following extract of a letter written by Hon. Reverdy Johnson to certain citizens of Baltimore, who had invited him to address them:

The sole ministers of pence at present are our gallant officers, soldiers, and sailors. Let these be used as they may be, and the end will soon be accomplished; and let us, in pressing on the foe, not halt to criticize the conduct of the Government Let us, on the contrary, give it a hearty, zealous support, while the peril Is upon us, reserving for a period of restored peace whatever of censure we have to pass on the conduct of the men who are administering it.

If such be the sentiments of Senator Johnson, a Southern man, it ought to be no hardship for you and me and all the citizens of Indiana to live up to the requirements of General Order No. 9. Again, I give it as my opinion that this rebellion will have to be either established or crushed between this time and the 4th day of March, 1865, or during this Administration, and that, therefore, he who is factiously and actively opposed to the war policy of the Administration is as much opposed to this Government. If my premises are correct the conclusion follows. I never yet have seen any one who thought this war could endure two years longer. If there are any such it must be those who intend to throw everything in the way of this Administration in order that the war may be prolonged by some possibility, and another Administration get the credit of settling it. As I value the lives of our hundreds of thousands of gallant soldiers in the field; as I regard the feelings, bereavements, and sufferings of their anxious families and friends at home, and as I regard the true interests of our State and nation, I am going to see to it that in Indiana, at least, such men have no abiding-place.

It is a more serious thing than many are wont to suppose to divide and distract our country and prolong the war. In putting a stop to such practices I shall hold the leaders responsible. As well might I establish a number of small-pox hospitals in the heart of this city, and then punish the people for becoming infected with that loathsome disease, as to allow newspapers and public speakers to belch forth (heir disloyal and treasonable doctrines, and blame the people for becoming contaminated therewith. Such things will not do in these times. To kill the serpent speedily it must be bit in the head. General Order No. 9 has been approved by General Burnside, and the force placed at my disposal to enforce it. I shall do so in every case where a palpable violation comes to my knowledge.

Hoping I have made myself understood, and thanking you for your frank and manly letter, I am yours, with great respect,

MILO S. HASCALL, Brigadier-General Vols., Commanding District

To Hon. Joseph K. EDGERTON, M. C.

Some resistance was made to the officers engaged in making the enrolment under the act of Congress, and to the officers and soldiers engaged in arresting deserters from the army, in which some lives were lost.

No election was held in the State during the year except for county and other local officers.

A case involving the question of the military power of the Federal Government within the States was decided by the Supreme Court of the State. (See Martial Law.)

IOWA. The election for State officers was held in Iowa on the second Tuesday in November. The candidates for Governor were William M. Stone, Administration, and J. M. Tuttle, Opposition. The Opposition Convention, which assembled July 8th, nominated Maturin L. Fisher as their candidate for Governor. lie subsequently declined, and General Tuttle was nominated by the State Central Committee of that party. Both candidates were in favor of a vigorous prosecution of the war, and of sustaining the Government in all measures for that object, and of making peace only on the unconditional submission of the enemy. The convention which nominated Colonel Stone adopted the following resolution:

That we fully and heartily endorse the policy of the Administration, and we will to the utmost continue to sustain the Government in suppressing the rebellion, 'and to effect that object ire pledge our fortunes and our lives.

General Tuttle, in his letter accepting the nomination, said:

For the present, let us all unite heartily in support of the Government. If the Administration adopts measures for the prosecution of the war that do not coincide with our peculiar views, let us nuke no factious opposition to them, but yield to the constituted authority. Mr. Lincoln is the legally elected executive of this Government, and during his presidential term we can have no other. The fact that we did not vote for him renders us under no less obligation to support the Government under his administration than it we had been his most ardent supporters.

The election resulted in the choice of Mr. Stone for Governor. The vote of the soldiers was: Stone, 16,791; Tattle, 2,904. Total, 19,695. The whole number of votes cast for Governor, including the army vote, was 142,314; of which Stone received 86,107, and Tuttle 56,132; scattering, 75. The majority for Col Stone was 29,975. The Legislature was divided as follows:

Senate. House,

Administration

Opposition. 

An act had been passed by the Legislate granting to soldiers the privilege of voting their encampments, for State officers. For purpose of taking this vote, the Governor pointed a number of commissioners to proc to the different camps in other States and' the election. This measure induced the O sition Central Committee to address letter Gens. Grant, Rosecrans, and Schofield, in mand of the Western armies, making th lowing inquiries:

First—Whether the Iowa officers and men < command will be permitted to hold an untraxt election under said law; and if so—

Secondly—Whether a member of this comr any competent agent of their selection 'will nisbed by you with the same safe conduct ax ties which may be granted to the Governor' missioners," for the purposes of distributing the officers and men, and exercising the legal challenge, as to any vote offered at such which may be supposed to be illegal, and of 1, by other lawful means the fail and impartii •and return of said elections?

The reply of General Grant was as follows

HEADQUARTERs. Department of Vicksburg,

Sir: Your letter of the 6th of July, as citizens of the State of Iowa will be allowed army, and distribute tickets when the ele for soldiers to vote, 4c, is just received, will state, that loyal citizens of Northen be allowed to visit the troops from their time. Electioneering, or any coarse arouse discordant feeling, will be pro volunteer soldiers of this army will be al an election, if the law gives them the 1 and no power shall prevent them from v et of their choice. I have the honor to be, very respectful obedient servant,

U. S. GRANT, 

A case involving the constitutional act of the Legislature was brough court of the 8th Judicial District of the State, Judge Isbell. The court said:

We see no force in any of the objections to the constitutionality of the act except this, whether our constitution requires a personal presence of the voter within the county of his residence, for the last sixty days, in order to vote. We think the whole question narrowed down to this, and the only clause of the Constitution bearing upon it, except by remote inference, is that contained in Art. 2, sec. 1, which provides that" every white mole citizen of the United States, of the age of twenty-one years, who shall have been a resident of this State six months next preceding the election, and of the county in which he claims his vote sixty days, shall be entitled to vote at all elections which now or hereafter may be authorized by law." That the affirmative description of a voter contained in this clause implies a negative as to all not coming within it we have no doubt. Otherwise the Legislature could have struck out the word " white" without a submission to the people. We must not confound the voter with the person of the voter. A voter as defined by the clause represents a complex idea made up of several less complex. The word combines the idea of a white person—a male—a citizen of the United States—a resident of the State of Iowa for six months next preceding the election, and a resident of the county, in which he claims his vote, for sixty days. Is not the claiming the vote in the county of his residence as essential to the perfect idea of a voter as that he be white? True, the incidents of citizenship, residence in the county, and the claiming his vote therein, do not inhere in the person of the voter, as do those of age, sex, and color, nt do they not equally inhere in the voter by force of the constitutional description? While the primary or leading object of the section may be to define who shall enjoy the right of suffrage, instead of where he shall exercise the right, it is to our mind clear that in describing the voter, an incident is attached to him, which as necessarily limits the place of the enjoyment of the right to the county of his residence (that is, requiring him to claim bis rote there), as though it had been the primary object of the section to determine where the right should be exercised. If this is so, it is of little consequence whether the end is attained by attaching such incident to the description of the voter, or whether it be effected by a separate title, headed, "Where the right of suffrage shall be exercised," and a separate section declaring, " Any person entitled to vote shall claim his rote in the county of his residence for the last sixty days." We conclude that the limiting the field for the exercise of the right to the county in which it is claimed is a material feature of the description of a voter by the clause. We can but believe the clause here mentioned is an actual personal claim, in contradistinction to an ideal, or (if such a thing is possible) legal claim. Believing the clause requires a voter to claim his vote in the county of his residence, we must hold such as were cast outside illegal, and, therefore, reject them.

An appeal was taken from this decision to the Supreme Court, and with two other cases came before that body. The court held that:

The Constitution, as applied to the legislative department of the Government, is a restriction, and not a grant of power, and it is competent for the Legislature to prescribe the qualifications of electors, and the time, place, and manner of exercising the elective franchise, when not expressly prohibited from so doing, or when the prohibition is not implied from some express prohibition of the Constitution.

Sect. I, Art. 2, of the Constitution of 1857, defines only the qualifications of an elector, and does not proscribe the place of exercising the elective franchise, as a test of qualification. The power to fix the place and manner of its exercise is left with the Legislature.

The provisions of an act approved September 11th, 186-2, entitled " an Act to amend Title 4, of the Revision of 1860, so as to enable the qualified Electors of the State in the military Service to vote at certain elections," are not inconsistent with Section 1, Articles, of the Constitution of 1857, for the reason that they permit such electors to cast their votes at polls opened and conducted beyond the limits of the county and State, of which they claim to be residents.

The revenues and expenses of the State for the past two years, embracing the war and defence fund, were as follows:

RECEIPTS. 1861. November 4. Balance in the Treasury, of m State revenue $28,089.18 "" Balance in the Treasury, of war and defence rend.... 24,629.98 "" Balance of both funds In Treasury 452,669.06 Amount received on account of State revenue, during the two years... 866,816.62 Amount received on account of the war and defense fund during the two years 027,852.15-1,446,887.88

DISBURSEMENTS. Amount paid out for redemption of warrants and interest ana apportionment of railroad tax on account of State revenue (695,097.51 Amount paid out for redemption of » warrants and Interest on account of war and defence fund 710,986.22-1,406,088.78 Leaving balance in Treasury of State revenue, November 2d, 1868 $40,754.10 The war and defence funds were derived as follows, to November l6t, 1863: From sale of State bonds 1277,820.00 "collection of Federal tax 802,282.08 "U. 8. war expenses refunded.. 100,000.90 "all other sources 9,018.12 Total receipts $688,621.05 Excess of warrants issued over amount of receipts 184,109.18 $872,780.18

Warrants have been issued and charged to this fund as follows: Amt. issued prior to November 4th 1861. ..$288,665.48 from November 4th, 1861, to November 1st, 1868 689,168.85 Total warrants Issued $872,729.28

The State debt, in December, 1862, was $1,122,296. The number of national banks organized in Iowa in 1863, was seven, with a capital of $400,000.

The valuation and taxes of the State of Iowa were as follows: Acres of land 2S,836,845. Value $111,658,109 Town property "22,992,2^9 Personal" "82,468,106 Total valuation $167,108,974 State tax, 2 mills 884,218

During the year two regiments of infantry and one of cavalry completed their organization, which had been commenced previously, and in addition, twenty-four regiments of infantry, five regiments of cavalry, and one battery, had enlisted for three years.

KANSAS, a Western Central State of the United States, organized as a Territory in May, 1854, admitted as a State January 29th, 1861. It has an area of 80,000 square miles, and had a population in 1860 of 107,200 inhabitants. The Governor and other State officers were elected in November, 1862, for two years, and there was no election in 1863 except for Legislature, Chief Justice and local officers. The candidates for Governor in the election of November, 1862, were Thomas Carney, Republican, and W. R. Wagstaff, Democrat. Governor Carney received 9,990 votes, and Mr. Wagstaff 5,464. the Legislature elected in 1863 was Republican and Union by a very large majority. The Democratic members constituting only one tenth of the whole number of representatives. Robert Crozier, Republican Union, was chosen Chief Justice, for six years, in November, 1863, by about 18,000 majority.

The State has a funded debt of $181,000, of which $150,000 (7 per cent, bonds) are due July, 1876, and the remainder, $31,000, was due in July, 1863. It has also a floating debt of $48,509. There has been great difficulty in collecting the taxes in portions of the State, from the scarcity of money, but the finances of the State are now improving the school system of the State is not yet very fully developed, and very little of the school fond lands have been sold. Of the 14,766 persons between the ages of five and twenty-one years, in the State in 1863, 8,593 were enrolled as having attended school some part of the year. They had been taught by 210 teachers, and the cost of maintaining the Schools had been $15,756.90. The State Legislature has passed acts for the location and organization of a State university, a State normal school and an agricultural college, and there are besides, four other colleges in the State, all of them, as yet, in their infancy, but with fair prospects of future success. A college has been organized on the Ottawa reservation, 20 miles from Lawrence, the land for the endowment of which was contributed by the Indians themselves. Provision has been made for an institution for deaf mutes and the blind, as well as for the Page 561 insane. A State penitentiary is building near Leavenworth. Kansas has been very active in its support of the war, having furnished over 14,000 troops, or about one seventh of its actual population, and its troops, a large portion of them cavalry, and trained to service in the previous border contests, have proved their valor on most of the battle-fields of the West. In the operations in Missouri, Arkansas and the Indian Territory, they have particularly distinguished themselves, both as partisan troops and as the most unflinching and untiring soldiers in the line. The State, especially toward its eastern border, has suffered severely from the raids of the irregular Confederate troops and guerilla bands from Missouri and Arkansas, who have ravaged and plundered the border towns and murdered their citizens as often as they had opportunity. Irregular Federal troops raised to oppose and revenge these raids, have retaliated on secessionists on the borders of Missouri and Arkansas, and have rendered some of the counties. along the line almost a desert.

The most atrocious outrage of the war was the attack of Colonel Quantrell and his band of Confederate guerillas upon the thriving city of Lawrence, on the 21st of August, 1863. The attack was made in the early morning, and entirely without warning. The citizens, unarmed, were unable to make any defence, and were many of them shot down in the streets in cold blood. The Eldredge House, the largest hotel in the city, and all the stores on Massachusetts street, the principal business street, were plundered and burned, as were many dwellings and stores in other parts of the city. Two hundred and five men were killed and many others wounded. No women or children were killed or wounded, though one assailant snapped his pistol at Miss Lydia Stone, a heroic woman, who had exposed her life for the preservation of others. Several of the churches were destroyed, and the property stolen and burned was estimated to exceed the value of $2,000,000. Quantrell, the leader of the gang, had been at one time a resident of Lawrence. Senator Lane (General James H. Lane) was in Lawrence at the time, but succeeded in avoiding the guerilla«, and as soon as they left the town, raised such force as could be gathered and started in pursuit. Some thirty or forty of the guerillas were overtaken and slain, but the remainder got away safely with their plunder. Much indignation was felt by the citizens of Kansas at the alleged remissness of General Ewing, who was in command of the district of Kansas and Western Missouri, and of General Schofield, who commanded the department of Missouri. Two days after the attack, General Ewing issued the following order: 

General Order, No. 11.

Kansas City, Mo., August 23d, 1863

All persons living in Jackson, Cass and Bates counties, Missouri, and that part of Vernon county included in this district, except those living within one mile of the limits of Independence, Hickman's Mill. Pleasant Hill and Harrisonville, and except those in Kaw township, Jackson county, north of this creek and west of the Big Blue, embracing Kansas City and Westport, are hereby ordered to remove from their present places of residence within fifteen days from the date hereof.

Those who within that time prove their loyalty to the satisfaction of the commanding officer of the military station nearest their present places of residence, will receive from him certificates stating the fact of their loyalty and the names of the witnesses by when it can be sworn. All who have received such certificates will be permitted to remove to any military station in this district, or to any part of Kansas except the counties on the eastern border of the State. All others shall remove out of this district. Officers commanding companies and detachments serving in companies, will see that this paragraph is promptly obeyed.

All hay or grain in the field or under shelter in the district from which the inhabitants ore required to remove within reach of the military stations after the 9th of September next, will be taken to such stations and turned over to the proper officers there, and a report of the amount so turned over made to the district headquarters, specifying the names of all loyal owners and the amount of such produce taken from them. All grain and hay found in such districts after the 9th of September next, not convenient to such stations, will be destroyed.

Quantrell and his band of marauders still hovered around the Kansas border, and on the 7th of October, having ascertained that Major-General Blunt and his escort were on their way from the Indian Territory to Fort Scott, Kansas, and near that fort, he disguised his. men, about 300 in number, in Federal uniforms, and attacked the little body of about 100 men composing the escort, very suddenly, intending to capture General Blunt, who was especially obnoxious to these guerillas from his habit of hanging promptly all of thorn whom he succeeded in capturing. The escort broke, from the suddenness of the attack, but General Blunt succeeded in rallying nine of them, and kept the guerillas at bay till he could rejoin his own forces, which were near. Seventy-eight of the escort were killed, most of them shot clown after surrender; among the number was Major Curtis, a son of Major-General Curtis, who was on General Blunt's staff. It was supposed by the Confederates that General Blunt was among the killed.

There have been in Kansas, and probably in Western Missouri, also, a considerable number of men, soldiers of fortune, who, while professing to belong on the side of the Union, have been ready to plunder and rob, in the name of freedom, all against whom they could raise any suspicion of sympathy with the Confederates. These "jayhawkers," as they were called, had really as little interest in the success of the Union cause as their counterparts, the guerillas, had in that of the Confederates; the controlling motive being in both instances the obtaining of plunder for their own emolument.

MAINE. The political campaign in this State commenced on July 1st, when a convention of the Republican party, numbering nearly I, 300 delegates, from 300 towns, assembled at Bangor, to nominate candidates for Governor and other State officers. The call for the convention was made by the Republican State Committee, but embraced all persons in favor of sustaining the administration in its efforts to subdue the rebellion. On the second ballot Samuel Cony was nominated as candidate for Governor; and subsequently a series of resolutions were adopted declaring, in substance: First—That it is the solemn duty of all loyal men to take a firm stand in favor of the national administration in conducting the war. Second—That the convention would " unite as one man in sustaining the civil and military policy and measures of the Government, without qualification or reservation." Third—That those assemblages of northern citizens who had protested against the arrest of persons engaged in discouraging enlistments, "while they have expressed no execrations against the foe now invading the free States," were not to be trusted as counsellors in the present crisis of the country; and Fourth—That Vice-President Hamlin and the two Senators in Congress be requested to repair immediately to Washington and urge upon the President "the importance and necessity of placing along the coast a sufficient naval and military force to protect the commerce of the country from the piratical depredations of the rebels." Mr. Cony, who had in the previous year been a prominent member of the party known as the "War Democrats," and had canvassed the State in favor of the election of Jameson, the candidate of that party, accepted the nomination and the platform of principles established by the convention, and during the succeeding canvass the Republicans and the War Democrats, by whom he was supported, formed an organization under the name of the Union party.

On August 6th, the Democratic party met in convention at Portland, about 900 members being present, and organized by the choice of Samuel Jaycox, of Fairfield, a former Whig, as president. The prominent candidate for Governor was Bion Bradbury, who had been selected in the same capacity the previous year, and as doubts existed in the minds of several delegates as to the views which lie held respecting the conduct of the war and the policy of the administration, a letter from him on the political position was read to the convention. The following extracts indicate the purport of this communication:

The convention has most important duties to perform. It assembles amid the unspeakable horrors of a bloody and desperate civil war. The country is oscillating between despotism and anarchy. The long continuance of the war has stirred the deep passions of men. The voice of reason is almost drowned in the terrific storm that rages around us, and madness rules the hour. The times and the occasion demand calm deliberation and the exercise of the highest wisdom and the noblest patriotism. All mere party views sink into insignificance, and the intensely absorbing question arises, what can be done to save the country from impending ruin? It seems to me that the hope of restoring the Government rests in the united action of all conservative men, in resisting the fanatical spirit of radicalism largely pervading the land, which now controls, with its revolutionary doctrines, and pernicious influence, the counsels of the present national administration, and in substituting in its stead an enlarged patriotism and a liberal statesmanship which look alone to the conservation of the Constitution and the restoration of the Union with all the rights of the States unimpaired.

After recapitulating what he considered the arbitrary and unjust acts of the administration, he continued:

Are the people of Maine ready to concede the claim set up by the national administration to that despotic power which could deprive them of their dearest rights and most sacred privileges—of all those noble guarantees affecting life, liberty and property, which are secured to them by the grand old Constitution established by their fathers", as the embodiment of the great principles upon which rests the base of the mighty fabric of the Government? I believe the people will never acquiesce in such doctrine. * * * *

But opposition to the present war policy and war measures of the administration is not opposition to the Government. The administration is not the Government. Those in authority are but the agents of the people to carry on the Government under the Constitution. They may exceed or pervert their constitutional powers—they may destroy the Constitution itself. Under such circumstances, to oppose the administration is to support the Government.

To uphold the Government, to maintain the Constitution, to restore the Union as it was—is the first duty of every citizen. To fail in the duty is to be false to ourselves, to posterity and to the great cause of constitutional liberty, and it is equally a duty to protest Page 604 against a policy calculated to prolong the war and subvert the Constitution.

This letter proving satisfactory to the convention, Mr. Bradbury was nominated by a large majority. A series of resolutions was also adopted. The first three announced the devotion of the Democracy to the Constitution and the Union. The next announced that, in the opinion of the convention the war was conducted by the present administration "not for the restoration of the Union, but for the abolition of slavery and the destruction of the Union." The next declared that the "people are the only lawful sovereign in this country;" that public functionaries are but the servants of the people, and, as such, responsible to them, and that there is a manifest difference between the Government and the administration of the Government, the latter being merely the agents of the people, subject to their approval or condemnation. The next was in the following terms:

Resolved, That whenever the people of the seceded States or any one or more of such States, shall express their desire to return to the Union, to be represented in the Congress of the United States, and to resume their obligations to the Constitution and the Union, the Democratic party will hail their return with joy, and will freely welcome them back under the protecting folds of the national flag, " with all the dignity, equality and rights of the several States unimpaired; and we condemn and denounce the new and startling doctrine, now fur the first time avowed by the organs of the Republican party, that the extinction of slavery in such States should be made a condition of their restoration to the Union, as a violation of the public pledges of the party, and as a wicked attempt to overthrow the Constitution, revolutionize the Government, prolong the war indefinitely, and finally to establish a military despotism on the ruins of our republican Government.

The next two resolutions protested against interference in elections and martial law, to which succeeded the following:

Resolved, That we unite with the Democracy of the other States, in denouncing the arrest and mock trial by court-martial, and banishment of Clement L. Vallandigham, a citizen of Ohio, for no other reason than words addressed to a public meeting, in criticism of the course of the administration, and in condemnation of a certain military order, as a high-handed outrage upon the rights of the citizen under the Constitution of his own State and that of the United States.

Resolved, That the conscription law, in the opinion . of this Convention, is an unnecessary, unwise, unequal' and oppressive law—deemed by many to override the Constitution and the rights of the States, and to be destructive of the liberties of the people. While the Democratic party counsel obedience to the laws and respect for the constituted authorities, and deprecate all illegal and violent resistance to the execution of any law, however unjust and oppressive, we believe that common justice requires that the burdens arising under this act shall be assumed and equalized by the State, und we appeal to the administration to suspend the enforcement of this law, until the courts of competent jurisdiction shall have decided that it is a constitutional enactment.

The two concluding resolutions were complimentary to the army, and to Governor Seymour of New York, who was thanked for his "able stand taken and maintained in defence of the citizen and State as against the encroachments of centralized power."

The following additional resolution was also adopted:

Resolved, That the convention cordially approves every effort of towns to enable, by bounties, its conscript citizens to go to the war, or to obtain a substitute, or to pay to the Government the $300 which it asks in lieu of a substitute, because the conscript law is in force and not yet judicially decreed unconstitutional: and we recommend every town to elect to the next legislature representatives who will support a law to legalize, or to have adopted by the State all such bounties and aid furnished by towns to the conscripts.

The election was held September 14th, with the following result:

Samuel Cony, Union 67,916

Bion Bradbury, Democrat 50,866

Majority for Cony 17,550

The total vote was 118,282, being larger by 80,643 than the vote of 1862. The legislature elected at the same time consisted of, Senate: Union 30, Democrat 1; House of Representatives: Union 120, Democrats 31.

During 1863 ten regiments of Maine volunteers were mustered out of the service of the United States, the terms of their enlistments having expired, and at the close of the year there remained in active service sixteen regiments and one battalion of infantry, one regiment and one company of cavalry, one regiment of heavy and six batteries of light artillery, and one company of sharpshooters. At the same date two veteran regiments of infantry, recruited under the authority of a general order from the War Department, a second regiment and an additional company of cavalry, and a battery of light artillery were nearly ready for the field. A considerable number of men also went into regiments in the field, making between four and five thousand enlisted under the October call of the President for 300,000 men. In addition to the Government bounty of $402 for veteran recruits, and $302 for new recruits, the State, in October, offered a bounty of $100 to all recruits entering incomplete organizations then in the State, ana $55 to recruits entering regiments or corps in the field, and, as in 1862, numerous cities and towns paid extra bounties to recruits enlisted within their limits, anticipating legislative grants for legal authority in such cases. These latter bounties were considerably larger than in the previous year, and under the stimulus to recruiting thereby afforded it was hoped that the quota of Maine would be filled without resorting to a draft. As in former years, considerable numbers of the seafaring population entered the naval service, for whom the State has not yet received credit in the apportionment of her several quotas.

The draft ordered by the President proceeded, during the summer months, in a peaceable and orderly manner, and the number of men held for service, or accepted as substitutes, was  Page 605 about 2,000. Various towns having voted in public meeting sums sufficient to pay the commutations of such of their citizens as might be drafted, Governor Coburn, in view of the complications and embarrassments which might result from these proceedings, asked the opinion of the justices of the Supreme Court upon the legal questions involved in the following interrogatories:

1. Has a city or town any legal right to pledge its credit-to raise money for the purpose of paying the commutations of such of its citizens as may be drafted into the service of the United States under the law aforesaid?

2. Has a city or town any legal right to raise money by taxation to provide commutations for such of its citizens as may be thus drafted?

The Court held that Congress had full power, under the Constitution," to command ail the resources of the nation, the lives of its citizens, to prevent, by any and all proper means, that fearful anarchy which would be so imminent if its dissolution should become an accomplished fact;" that the liability to serve, procure a substitute, or pay the commutation fee, as created by the Enrolment Act of March 8d, was of a purely personal nature; and that the question really amounted to this: "Whether a town can legally raise money gratuitously to discharge the pecuniary obligations of its citizens, or to procure their exemption from military or other service." Such a power, they decided, was not conferred upon the municipal corporations of the State. They concluded their opinion as follows:

Were a town to raise money to be distributed to favored individuals, the tax assessed for such a purpose could not for a moment be upheld. Still less can it be when the obvious and inevitable tendency of it would be to defeat the object for which the act of Congress before referred to was passed. That was an act to raise soldiers, not to raise money. Its preliminary and special purpose was to suppress insurrection by means of an armed force, to be raised in pursuance of its provisions. If one town may assess taxes to pay the commutation money of those who may be drafted, so may all, and the Government would be left without a soldier for its protection, and the nation surrendered into the power of those who are warring for its overthrow. By such a course the wealth and taxable property of the community would be diverted from the defence of the Government, and the resources of the State would be turned to its destruction, by depriving it of the means necessary for its preservation.

We therefore answer each of the interrogatories in the negative.

At the outbreak of the rebellion, the bonded State debt amounted to $699,000. On January 1st, 1868, this had been increased by expenses incidental to the war to $1,472,000, and during 1868 there was added a further war debt of $950,000, making the total debt of the State, on January 1st, 1864, $2,422,000. This increase was caused by the payment of bounties to soldiers and the aid advanced, in 1862, to their families. To provide for the payment of the interest on the public debt, and, in some part, for the other extraordinary charges of the Government, the Legislature of 1863 increased the State tax oi that year by the addition of a mill on the dollar of valuation, to the tax of the previous year. In addition to the money expended on account of volunteers, directly by the State, which constitutes a claim against the General Government, there had been expended, at the commencement of the present year, by cities, towns, and plantations in the State, upward of $4,000,000, chiefly for bounties, to which sum large additions have since been made.

The following table represents the condition of the sixty-nine banks of Maine on December 1st, 1863.

LIABILITIES.

Capital Stock $8,008,000.00

Circulation 6,019,156.00

Deposits 6,421,005.80 Due to Banks 118,020.42

Profits 769,859.02

Total $21,826,040.74

REASORCES.

Notes and Bills Discounted $11,408,848.60

United States Securities.  8,575,261.16

Real Estate 245,846.00

Due from Banks 4,870,562.06

Bills of other Banks and Checks 1,047,979.44

Specie . 678,048,48

Total $21,826,040.74

In 1862 the Legislature passed an act exempting the State banks, for the space of one year, from the severe penalties imposed by their charters in the event of their suspending specie payments. In 1863 this act was renewed, and in consequence of the imposition by Congress of a tax upon the circulation and deposits of the Ideal banks, the Legislature remitted one half of the State tax imposed upon the banks by their charters.

By a resolution adopted, March 25th, the Legislature accepted, in behalf of Maine, the grant of land guaranteed by act of Congress, July, 1862, to each State, for the purpose of establishing an Agricultural College. A board of thirteen regents was also created, with authority to receive scrip for the land, to locate the same, to examine localities for the proposed college, and to examine and report upon similar institutions in other States.

The comparatively defenceless condition of the Maine seaboard was, from the outset of the war, a subject of much solicitude to her citizens, and, in conformity with resolutions adopted by the State Legislature, and the urgent solicitations of Governor Coburn, the General Government expended, during the year, large sums upon the permanent fortifications in the harbor of Portland, at the mouth of the Kennebec river, and in the narrows of the Penobscot, beside constructing earthworks at Rockland, Belfast, and Eastport, at each of which places two batteries of five guns each were mounted, and single batteries of five guns each at Castine and Machiasport. The northeastern frontier of the State is entirely unprotected, and the only means of defence yet suggested Page 606 is the construction of a railroad connecting it with the seaboard, by which an army with supplies and munitions could be speedily concentrated. The excitement on the subject of coast defences was heightened during the summer by the daring exploit of the crew of the rebel privateer "Archer," who, on the night of June 29th, surprised and captured the U. S. revenue cutter "Caleb Cushing," in the harbor of Portland, and carried her to sea. She was pursued by two steamers manned by armed volunteers, overhauled a short distance from the city, and blown up by her crew who escaped in boats, but were speedily captured. The crops of the State were considerably injured by the drought which prevailed so extensively over the United States, in 186't, the hay crop, one of the chief staples, being much below the average. The demands of the war also caused such a scarcity of laborers that, in many parts of the State, it was a common thing to see women working in the fields.

MARYLAND. The most important events in the general history of Maryland during the year relate to the invasion of the State hy the enemy, the progress made toward an emancipation of the slaves, and the civil and military administration of affairs. The object of the enemy at the time of the invasion was generally supposed to be the capture of Baltimore and Harrisburg, with such other advantages as might follow from this success. This impression was created at Baltimore by southern statements of the design of the campaign. The idea was there foreshadowed and enforced that it was not good policy on the part of General Lee to begin "by alarming greatly the hostile populations and give them warning to run off their herds and flocks, so as to leave the country waste before him;" but that with the Federal commander " once well cleared out of his path, he can throw the whole Confederate army into Pennsylvania, wide-winged, far stretching, in one vast, combined movement, enveloping 'Washington on the one side, Harrisburg on the other, and so forward! forward! till our red battle flag reflects itself in the Delaware." For details of the movements of the armies see Army Operations.

Considerable excitement was created in Baltimore on the evening of June 29th, by a report that a body of the enemy's cavalry had appeared at Westminster, and had attacked a body of Delaware cavalry and driven them within seven miles of the city. At eleven o'clock at night the signal agreed upon by General Schenck was made by the fire bells to call the citizens to arms for the defence of the barricades. The signal corps stationed on the different roads had fired rockets, announcing the approach of a hostile cavalry force on the Reisterstown road. Through some parts of the city the cry To arms! To arms!" was shouted, and men with muskets in their hands were seen running to and fro and rapidly assembling at the points of rendezvous. In half an hour several thousands were in arms, and the headquarters of General Schenck were surrounded with bristling bayonets. Quiet was soon restored in the city, and considerable enthusiasm, but no panic, prevailed. The number of the citizens collected at the barricades was between five and seven thousand. All the military in the city were called out and kept under arms all night. No force of the enemy appeared. The mistake arose from the announcement of the movements near 'Westminster. On the next day the following order declaring martial law was issued by General Schenck:

Headquarters Middle Department, )

8th Army Corps, V

Baltimore, June 30, 1863. 

The immediate presence of a rebel army within this Department, and in the State of Maryland, requires, as a military necessity, a resort to all the proper and usual means of defence and security. This security is to be provided against known hostilities and opposition to the lawful and National Government from every quarter and in every form.

Traitors and disaffected persons within must be restrained and made to contribute to the common safety, while the enemy in front is to be met and punished for this bold invasion. Martial Law is therefore declared, and hereby established in the city and county of Baltimore, and in all the counties of the Western Shore of Maryland.

The Commanding General gives assurance that this suspension of the civil Government within the limits defined shall not extend beyond the necessities of the occasion.

All the civil courts, tribunals and political functionaries, of State, county or city authority, are to continue in the discharge of their duties as in times of peace; only in no way interfering with the exercise of the predominant power assumed and asserted by the military authority.

All peaceful citizens are requested to remain quietly at their homes, and in the pursuit of their ordinary vocations, except as they may be possibly subject to calls for personal services, or other necessary requisitions for military purposes or uses hereafter.

All seditious language or mischievous practices tending to the encouragement of rebellion are especially prohibited, and will be promptly made the subject of observation and treatment.

Traitorous and dangerous persons must expect to be dealt with as the public safety may seem to require. "To save the country is paramount to all other considerations."

When the occasion for this proclamation passes by, no one will be more rejoiced than the Commanding General, that he can revoke his order and return to the normal condition of a country at peace, and a Government sustained by a united and loyal people.

ROBERT C. SCHENCK,

Major-General Commanding.

At his request, also, two gunboats were placed by Com. Dornin near the end of Broadway, and one at the bridge on the western side, in positions to bear upon the city end its approaches.

At the same time Morrisville was visited by the cavalry of the enemy; also Sandy Spring, Laurel, and other places. Horses, cattle and forage were taken, but no persons were impressed into their army. No returns have been made of the loss of the citizens of the State in consequence of this invasion. The destruction on the Baltimore and Ohio railroad embraced a range of eighty miles between Harper's Ferry and Cumberland. Twelve large bridges were either burned or blown up; eight first-class water stations were destroyed, and most of the valuable machinery and fixtures removed; more than thirty miles in length/ of the best kind of telegraph wire were taken away, and a thousand supporting poles were cut down ; over seven miles in length of heavy new iron railway track, which had been used only five months, were torn up from its bed of stone ballast, and eighteen thousand of the largest oak and chestnut crossties on which the rails were laid—rails and ties were burned together, and thus the iron rendered unfit for use. The road Page 610 was soon, however, again repaired. Notwithstanding the repeated destructions of large portions of this road by the enemy, during its last fiscal year it paid into the State Treasury two dividends of three per cent, each on the stock in the m:dn stem of the road, and two other dividends of four and a half per cent, each, on the stock in the Washington branch. On account of capitation tax of passengers over the latter branch, it also paid a sum which made its aggregate payments into the State Treasury $310,512.51, showing it to be one of the most remunerative of the State's investments.

The State assumed the payment of the National Tax of August 5th, 1861, and borrowed $173,587 to aid in this payment. It was not needed for the purpose, and the whole was returned to the creditors with interest, a few months afterward.

The condition of the State Treasury at the close of 1863, is thus reported by the Governor: "The receipts and disbursements for three years reduced to the receipts and disbursements on ordinary account, present the following results:

RECEIPTS, Receipts for 1861 $960,813.08 Receipts for 1862 1,449,976.12 Receipts for 1863 1,437,075.39

DISBURSEMENTS. Disbursements for 1861 $1,046,356.41 Disbursements for 1862. 1,120,550.37 Disbursements for 1863. 953,681.91

"The gratifying result of all the Treasury operations is that at the end of the fiscal year 1863 —with no new debt contracted—with more than $100,000 of the old extinguished, and upward of $371,000 paid the General Government—there is a balance on hand of more than a million of dollars, exclusive of the cash to the credit of the Sinking and the School Funds."

"By adverting to the tables which accompany the Comptroller's Report, it appears that whilst the apparent debt of the State on the 30th of September last, was $14,793,742.51, yet, under the system pursued of annually investing the accruing interest of the Sinking Fund in the bonds of the State, that fund is at present the holder of upward of half that portion of said debt, for which the State is required to provide interest; for deducting from the above amount of apparent debt the sum of $3,269,321.11, the interest on which is provided by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company, and the whole debt of the State on which she is in fact required to pay interest, is reduced to the sum of $11,524,421.40: and of this there was held by the Sinking Fund, on the 30th of September last, the sum of $5,649,656.83, and on other bonds to the amount of $144,423.89 have been purchased on account of that fund since that day, making the present amount held by the Sinking Fund, $5,794,080.22, or more than a moiety of the interest bearing debt of the State."

The condition of the Treasury Was considered to be so prosperous, that the Governor refrained from recommending the total repeal of all direct tax laws, only through a consideration of the demands which might arise in consequence of the existing war. A restriction of the rate of taxation, however, he recommended.

There is no uniform school system in the State. In some counties commissioners are elected by the people; in others they are appointed by the Orphans' Court, in others by the county commissioners, and in others still, the courts or the Commissioners perform the duties. Little uniformity exists also in the mode of taxation for this object.

An enrolment of the State militia made in 1862, gave the number between eighteen and forty-five years of age, as 95,442 citizens. After deducting all exemptions for physical disability and other causes, recognized in the State law, there remained 57,558 men subject to military duty. The force sent into the service of the United States and raised for home defence, was fifteen regiments and two companies of infantry; two regiments and two battalions of cavalry, and five companies of light artillery.

There are no institutions for the deaf mutes and blind in the State. Such youthful persons are educated by the State in the institutions of Pennsylvania. The penitentiary of the State pays a fair profit by hiring the services of its inmates to contractors at a fixed rate.

The value of merchandise exported to foreign countries from Baltimore during 1863, was $8,054,012. The imports during the same time was $4,078,139; of this amount the value of articles free of duty, was $118,738; do. paying duty, $3,959,401.

A part of Maryland is in the middle military department which embraces New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Western Virginia, the eastern shore of Maryland and Virginia, and the counties of Cecil, Hanford, Baltimore and Anne Arundel, Md. With headquarters at Baltimore, General Robert C. Schenck was in command until .near the close of the year. The difficulties which occurred at Baltimore in 1861, and the well-known sympathy of a considerable portion of the citizens of Maryland at that time with the South, and the importance of the State to the Federal Government, and its location between Washington, the capital, and the northern free labor States, have caused an important military force to be retained within the State. It has been constantly an object with the commanding general to prevent any "aid and assistance" being given to the enemy, by persons in his department. Some examples will illustrate the strictness of the military vigilance in Baltimore. On June 29th two persons, Elmone and Walters, were arrested on a charge of being disloyal and uttering treasonable sentiments. They took the oath of allegiance and were set at liberty. At the same time one Anchor, arrested for "treasonable practices,"' was examined and paroled.

On the 27th information was communicated to Colonel Fish, provost-marshal, in relation to the conduct of Mrs. Julia Sterrett, wife of Capt. Isaac 8. Sterrett, late of the United States navy, but now in the rebel service, which induced him to order her arrest. Accordingly, about 4 o'clock in the afternoon, Lieut. Marcus Stirling, of the 1st County Cavalry, proceeded to the family residence, No. 115 North Charles street, and stated the object of his visit, whereupon the door was suddenly closed and entrance refused. The lieutenant then called his guard, which previously had not appeared, and was soon inside. He told Mrs. Sterrett that be bad orders to take her into custody, and that she must prepare forthwith to go south. Several persons present remonstrated against the proceedings, and called for the officer to show the authority by which he acted, but he declined complying with their request. But a few minutes elapsed before Mrs. Sterrett appeared, when she was attended to a carriage and driven to the wharf of the Fortress Monroe steamer, and shortly afterward was on her way South. During the proceedings a crowd of four or five hundred persons assembled, and as soon as the lady made her appearance there was a disposition manifested to prevent er departure, but the cavalry in attendance soon cleared the way.

July 7th.—L. Crowther, a British subject, was yesterday before the military authorities, but the nature of the charge did not appear upon the records.

John Brashears was yesterday arrested upon the charge of being disloyal to the Government Held for an examination.

Frank Airey was arrested on the charge of interfering with the enrolment, and remanded to be examined.

William Muller, an alleged refugee from the South, was arrested, and released upon his parole of honor.

William T. Cronin was yesterday arrested by the officers upon the charge of being disloyal. Took the oath and was released.

Mrs. Elizabeth Cronin was also arrested, charged with attempting to resist the enrolment, but was soon afterward released.

John McCaull, arrested upon the charge of violating the orders of General Schenck, served his term of forty-eight hours' close imprisonment, and was released yesterday.

John Montevre was arrested upon the charge of being disloyal, but took the oath, and is now permitted to keep bis soda fountains in operation.

July 11 Mrs. E. N. Toy, who keeps the large boarding house corner of Charles and Centre streets, was summoned before the Board of Enrolment, of the Second District, charged with not giving proper information to the enrolling officers with respect to the male boarders of the bouse. She subsequently furnished the information and was released by the board after being admonished.

John W. McCafferty, J. Casey Barry, and Patrick Lannan were arrested by enrolling officers on the same charge, and were also released on giving correct information, and after being lectured.

Wm. T. Cronin and his wife, residing at Perrymansville, Hartford county, were brought to this city yesterday on the charge of resisting the draft, and taken before Provost-Marshal Cathcart and Commissioner Haverstick. The board, under the circumstances of the case, released the accused after admonishing them of-the consequences of a resistance to the law.

The restaurant known as West White House, corner of Baltimore and Greene streets, kept by S. J. Schaffer, was closed yesterday by order of Colonel Fish, the proprietor having violated the order of General Schenck in Keeping open after the prescribed hour. Schaffer was arrested, but took the oath and was discharged.

Peter Dible, proprietor of a confectionary store on the corner of Baltimore and Schroeder streets, was yesterday arrested upon the charge of being a rebel and keeping his store open after the prescribed hour. He took the oath of allegiance and was released.

July 13th.—John Bosley was arrested by the detectives upon the charge of having powder in his possession. He took the oath of allegiance and was released.

Michael Burke and James Gallagher were arrested upon the charge of abusing the Ethiopians who labor on the fortifications. He was held for further examination.

July 14th.—Thomas Bevan was arrested by Government detectives upon the charge of rendering assistance to rebel soldiers who were wounded, and expressing sentiments of a treasonable character. He took the oath of allegiance, and was set at liberty. Terence McCann was 'taken into custody upon the charge of receiving letters from the rebel prisoners, and in other respects sympathizing with aiders and abetters of the rebellion. Held for further examination.

Mary O'Keefe and Bridget Jennings were yesterday arrested by the officers upon the charge of giving aid and comfort to rebel prisoners, supplying them with whiskey, Ac. Paroled and discharged.

T. J. Huddleston was also arrested upon the charge of having been a soldier in the rebel army and since paroled. He was ordered to be sent across the lines y way of Fortress Monroe. Edward Byrne was taken into custody charged with expressing treasonable language in one of the city hotels. Examined and ordered to be sent across the lines by the Fortress Monroe route.

July 15th—Patrick Kelly and Richard Johnson were yesterday arrested at Havre de Grace and brought to this city by the military authorities, upon the charge of ferrying deserters across the Susquehanna river. Held for further examination.

Thomas Nash and Laura C Durdeny were yesterday arrested by a Government detective, upon the charge of giving aid to rebel soldiers. They took the oath of allegiance and were discharged.

Joseph Burrowitch, arrested a few days ago upon the charge of attempting to obtain a pass under false pretences, was yesterday discharged after taking the oath of allegiance.

Terence McCann, arrested on the charge of receiving rebel letters for the purpose of delivery, took the oath and was released.

July 16th.—George W. Joice was arrested by the military authorities upon the charge of expressing treasonable sentiments. He took the oath of allegiance and was discharged. John Berry was also arrested upon a similar charge and held for further examination. George Dean, charged with being a refugee from the South, was examined, took the oath and was discharged. William Bagnal and Robert Bagnal were arrested upon the charge of being refugees from the South. They were proven to be British subjects, and were released upon their parole of honor. James Logue applied for a pass to leave the city, but upon refusing to take the oath of allegiance was held lor a further examination.

Edward Leary was arrested yesterday by Policeman Frazier, charged with using seditious language, and was sent before Colonel Fish. Eliza Fleming, charged with aiding and sympathizing with, and Catharine Fendley, charged with throwing bread into the cars to, the rebel prisoners on Canal street last evening, were arrested bv Policemen Lamden and Rentzler, and taken before Colonel Fish, provost-marshal.

July 17th.—Albert Lee was yesterday arrested by the military authorities upon the charge of being a rebel, and refusing to take the oath. Held for further examination. Julius Maychow, G. H. T. Merger, John Willey, and Charles Heldricks were yesterday at the military headquarters, and acknowledged they were refugees from the South. They were examined and sent north, with the understanding that they are not to return until the war is over, and if they do they are to be treated as spies. Catharine Finley, Thomas Nash, and James Logue were yesterday arrested by the officers, upon the charge of aiding rebel prisoners in their passage through the city. They all took the oath and, were released.

July l8th.—Mary Staunton was yesterday arrested by the military detectives upon the charge of aiding the rebels—took the oath of allegiance and was discharged. Sarah Start was also taken into custody, charged with being disloyal—took the oath and was released. John Lee, upon the charge of being a disloyal man, was arrested—took the oath and was released.

R. W. Newman, who was arrested a few days ago by one of the pickets, at the suburbs of the city, upon the charge of disloyalty, yesterday underwent an examination before Capt. French—took the oath of allegiance and was released.

An inexperienced youth, named Hans W. Reed, was arrested at a late hour on Thursday night, upon the charge of hissing national airs at the Front street Theatre, lie claimed to be a British subject, and Colonel Fish discharged him with the understanding that his father would control his future conduct.

July 20th.—Colin Mackenzie, arrested a few weeks since upon the charge of recruiting for the South, and for disloyalty generally. Case decided and sent south by way of Fortress Monroe.

William J. Stewart, arrested about one month ago, charged with expressing disloyal sentiments. Sentenced to go south by way of Fortress Monroe.

Richard Johnson, James Church, Dennis Charles Driscoll, George W. Howe, James W. Goodis, Nicholas Owen, William Larkin and John S. Dallam, arrested upon charges of disloyalty and expressing treasonable sentiments, took the oath and were released.

Mrs. Amelia Mariner, arrested upon the charge of aiding rebel prisoners and expressing treasonable sentiments, took the oath and was released. Lucy Smith and Stevenson Hiss, arrested upon the charge of cheering for Jeff. Davis, took the oath and were released. A. J. Shriver, a refugee from the South, took the oath and was paroled.

A few days ago information was given Major-General Schenck, to the effect that a number of slaves belonging to the rebels had been imprisoned for a considerable period in the slave prison of Messrs. B. M. & W. L. Campbell, No. 282 West Pratt street. After due consideration he concluded to discharge and confiscate them; and a member of his stall' was ordered to authorize Colonel Birney, now engaged in the raising of a negro regiment, to proceed to the place and make a suitable-disposition of all therein confined. Yesterday morning Colonel Birney, accompanied bv a small guard, proceeded to the place and informed one of the proprietors of the object of his visit.

He then went through the entire establishment and had all the negroes assembled before him. A number of able-bodied men were found belonging to that old and notorious rebel George II. Stewart, formerly a major-general of militia. All these were enlisted in the negro regiment now forming, whilst other slaves belonging to other rebels were sec at liberty. A number of persons who heard of the proceedings assembled in front of the building and seemed highly gratified with the proceedings.

July 21st.—Patrick McCarthy, John Kamoragh and D. F. Malum were arrested on the charge of expressing treasonable language. They were all held for an examination. Thomas O'Leary was brought from the city jail, where he had been some time upon a similar charge. Samuel li. Wilson was brought in as a refugee from the South, and Henry Kemp and Wm. H. Ward, arrested upon the charge of disloyalty. They took the oath of allegiance and were discharged,

July 22d.—The following cases are recorded on the military police

MASSACHUSETTS. The State Legislature convened at Boston, in January, 1863, and organized by the choice of Jonathan E. Field as president of the Senate, and Alexander E. Bullock as speaker of the House of Representatives, both persons being members of the Republican or Union party. John A, Andrew was again inaugurated Governor, having filled the office during the two previous years, and in his message delivered to both houses, announced that the receipts (ordinary) for the past year had amounted to $2,917,732.48, and the disbursements (ordinary) to $1,6^3,390.93; the receipts (extraordinary) to $7,830,269.77, and the disbursements (extraordinary) to $6,397,767.40. The resources of the State on January 1st, 1863, consisting of real estate, bonds, mortgages, railroad stocks, school funds, claims against the United States, etc., amounted to $18,011,010.05, and the liabilities, consisting of scrip issued on various accounts, to $11,129,578.71, leaving a surplus of resources of $6,881,431.71.

Financial statements to January 1st, 1864, show that, during the year 1863, the receipts of the State Treasury were $7,229,823.18, including a State tax of $2,392,344.00, and a bounty tax of $3.324,274.74; while the disbursements amounted to $6,728,597.70, of which $5,116,032.19 came under the head of State aid in enlistments and reimbursements of bounties paid by cities and towns, leaving a. surplus of $501,224.48 in the hands of the treasurer.

The Legislature adjourned on April 29th, having passed about 350 bills. Among the expenditures provided for were, $1,000,000 for coast defences and $500,000 for the purchase of arms, beside about $5,500,000 for expenses connected with the war. The following resolutions reported by the Committee on Federal Relations were also adopted:

Resolved, That Massachusetts reaffirms her loyalty to the Constitution and to the Union of the United States of America, to the General Government, its officers and magistrate, and to all the laws, acts, and proclamations by which the Government aims to preserve the national authority; and pledges to the maintenance of the same all her moral and material resources.

Resolved, Since it is the main and vital object of our national organization "to promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and oar posterity," that she cordially recognizes the policy, the justice, and the necessity of the ultimate extinction of all those forms of tyranny and vassalage which have hitherto marred our national unity and power; and that she countenances, approves, and will eTer maintain all lawful acts of the constituted authorities which recognize and contemplate this end.

Resolved, That she tenders to the President, and to the officers and men of our national forces, her profound thanks for their untiring efforts in the cause of our country, which, being one with the cause of universal freedom and humanity, is destined, under God, and through our unflinching loyalty, to be crowned with success.

The Democratic State Convention met at Worcester, on September 3d, to nominate candidates for State officers and four delegates to the National Convention to be held in 1864. The following nominations were made: Governor, Henry W. Paine; Lieutenant-Governor, Thomas T. Plunkett; Secretary of State, F. O. Prince; Treasurer, Nathan Clark; Attorney-General, Theodore H. Sweetster; delegates to the National Convention, Josiah G. Abbott, E. D. Beach, Isaac Davis, and James D. Thompson.

The following resolution, alleged to be substantially the same adopted by Congress at the extra session of 1861, was. offered, but alter some debate was laid on the table:

Resolved, That the present deplorable civil war has been forced upon the country by the disunionists of Page 625 the Southern States now in arms against the Constitutional Government and in arms around the Capitol; that in the present emergency the Democratic party, banishing all feelings of mere passion and resentment, will recollect only its duty to the whole country; that this war is not waged on their part in any spirit of oppression, or for any purpose of conquest or subjugation, or for the purpose of overthrowing or interfering with the rights or established institutions of those States, but to defend and maintain the supremacy of the Constitution, and to preserve the Union in all the dignity, equality, and rights of the several States unimpaired, and that, as soon as these objects are accomplished, the war ought to cease.

The regular resolutions subsequently adopted declare, that it is the duty of every citizen to sustain the National Government; that the democracy will meet armed rebellion with the sword, and "unconstitutional acts of Congress and startling usurpations of power by the executive " with the ballot; that the paramount objects of the democracy are, to restore the Union as it was, and to maintain the Federal Constitution; that the party are opposed to the doctrine of secession, to all interference on the part of the National Government, or its officers, with the local and domestic affairs of the several States; to all interference by the citizens of one State with the domestic affairs of any other State; to the assumption of any assumed powers by any department of the Government; to any and all efforts on the part of the Administration to continue the present deplorable civil war for the purposes of subjugation or emancipation; to the extension of martial law over States not in rebellion; to all interference by the military authorities with civil elections; to all the enemies of the Constitution and the Union, whether they be found in open rebellion at the South or insidiously at work at the North; that obedience to the Constitution is the only true test of loyalty to the Government, and any wilful omission to comply with, or departure from, its provisions by any department or officer of the Government, whether in time of war or in time of peace—under the plea of military necessity, moral duty, or any other modern name for treason or revolution, is fraught with as much danger to the Government and the rights and liberties of the people as is armed resistance to the laws, or open rebellion; that the proposition to reduce a State to the condition of a territory, under the pretence that by the rebellions acts of her citizens she has ceased to form an integral part of the Union, is calculated to excite abhorrence; that the attempt of the radicals to insist on their party platform as a condition of peace, is revolutionary in its character, and tends, not merely to prolong the war, but to produce anarchy and despotism. That whenever any State in arms against the laws of the Government shall lay down its arms and submit to the laws and the constituted authorities, the people thereof will be entitled to resume and enjoy all the rights and privileges given by the laws and the Constitution to citizens of the several States.

That we have entire confidence in the patriotism of the people and in their determination, voluntarily, to vol. in.—40 A maintain in sufficient force the army of the United States; we therefore look upon the conscription act, passed by the last Congress, as unwise and needless; we are opposed to its provisions as harsh, oppressive, and unequal in their operation, and contrary, as we believe, to the Constitution; but ever mindful that our Government cannot exist if individual opinion be substituted for judicial decisions, we feel compelled to obey and counsel obedience to the act, and all acts of Congress, until the competent judicial tribunals shall declare them to be unconstitutional or until they have been legally repealed.

That the thanks of every liberty-loving, law-abiding, and honest man throughout the land are due to the Hon. Horatio Seymour, Governor of the State of New York, who, amid all the storms of fanaticism and rage that have swept over our nation, has stood up as the firm and unflinching supporter of the Union, the Constitution, and the laws, and the rights of the States against Federal usurpations, and has so nobly vindicated and defended the majesty and dignity of the people and State of New York.

That the doctrine of secession, and the doctrines of its faithful ally of disunion, the Abolition party, have produced this deplorable civil war, are each entirely inconsistent with our frame of Government, tend inevitably to anarchy, and are alike destructive to the Union.

The remaining resolutions praised the soldiery and condemned the improvident management of the Administration; expressed sympathy for those who had lost relatives by the casualties of war; and urged a speedy peace on honorable terms.

The Republican Convention assembled at "Worcester, on September 24th, and renominated, by acclamation, Governor Andrew and his colleagues in office. A series of nine resolutions was also adopted. The first pledged the convention to "an unwavering and unconditional support of the National Government in its efforts to suppress the wicked rebellion against its authority." The second declared that, in a contest like the present "between slavery and liberty," Massachusetts had no apprehension that "any of the rights of the citizen would be lost, or any of the old landmarks of personal freedom destroyed." The third expressed the thanks of the convention to the soldiers and sailors of the nation. The fourth declared that the President's Emancipation Proclamation of January 1st, 1868, has the approbation of the people of Massachusetts, and is justified as a measure of military necessity, and as a measure of security for the future peace and tranquillity of the reunited nation, and as a guaranty to the world that the contest is for civilization and Christianity. The fifth deprecated the idea that a permanent peace can be obtained by negotiating with rebels. The three succeeding resolutions were in the following terms:

Resolved, That the secession of a State under our political system has no legality and no legal meaning whatever. It is but another name for rebellion; ana rebels are not entitled to the privileges of the Union, while they are still liable to its obligations and duties. And, inasmuch as slavery was the sole cause of the revolt, and as while slavery exists there can be no permanent peace in the Union, it is the duty of Congress and the Executive to insist that the practical extinguishment of slavery throughout the rebel Confederacy shall follow as fast as possible upon its legal and official death. Let the restored nation be made prosperous and glorious by a Union of Free States under a republican torn of government, which is guaranteed to them by the Constitution, and with which experience has proved that the existence of slavery is wholly incompatible.

Resolved, That Massachusetts is for the prosecution of the war to the entire suppression of the revolt. In this cause we extend the hand of fellowship to loyal men of all political parties, and we recognize as political enemies all men who make this issue subordinate to their partisan dogmas, or who seek to make peace with the rebels on any terms short of their submission to the national authority and the suppression of their pretended Confederacy.

Resolved, That the policy of employing colored soldiers is wise and just, and should be enlarged and liberalized, by putting such soldiers on a perfect equality with whites as to rights and compensation while in the service. The nation has a right to the services of all its subjects in every part of its domain, and no pretended or real claim to service on the part of master or employer, in the South or the North, should be allowed to interfere with that primary allegiance which is due to the country itself.

The concluding resolution recommended Governor Andrew and the other candidates nominated, as worthy of support.

The election took place on November 3d, with the following result: 1863. 1862.

John A. Andrew, Republican 70,483 80,835

Henry W. Paine, Democrat 29,207 62,587

Majority for Andrew 41,276 28,248

The remaining candidates on the Republican ticket received majorities, varying but slightly from this. The following was the result of the election of members of the Legislature: Senate. House.

Republican 35 198

Democratic 5 41

Republican majorities 30 157

The people were also authorized at this election to vote yea or nay on the question of repealing the amendment to the Constitution, which was adopted on the 9th day of May, 1859, and which provides that "no person of foreign birth shall be entitled to vote, or shall be eligible to office, unless he shall have resided within the jurisdiction of the United States for two years subsequent to his naturalization, and shall be otherwise qualified, according to the Constitution and laws of this Commonwealth." The result was, yeas, 10,035; nays, 6,082.

During the nine months subsequent to January 1st, 1863, Massachusetts raised and equipped one regiment and one battalion of cavalry, 1,250 men; one regiment of heavy artillery, 1,073 men; two regiments of infantry (colored), 2,052 men ; seven companies of horse artillery, 1,015 men; three batteries of light artillery, 454 men; and 509 recruits for organizations in the field; total, 6,353 men. The whole number of volunteers furnished by her to the land forces of the United States from April 16th, 1861, to October 17th, 1863, was as follows:

For three months, 5 regiments, 1 battalion, 1 company 8,738

For 86 days, 1 company (Boston Cadets) 117

For 3 months, 1 company 101 For 4 months, 1 company 131

For 6 months, 1 light battery 155

For 0 months, 17 regiments, 1 company 16,637

For 3 years, 41 regiments, 34 companies and recruits for same 54,531

Total during the present war to Oct 17th, 1363... 75,608

This is exclusive of the men obtained by the Enrolment and Conscription Act of March 3d, 1863, the operations of which are shown in the following table:

Citizens enrolled in the first class 107.S86 second class.... 56,793 Number drafted 32,079

Exempted 23,841

Failed to report 8,046

Held to service 6,690

Paid commutation 8,623

Furnished substitutes 2,825

Served personally 743

Number actually realized by the draft.. 3,063

If to the volunteers and drafted men be added those who have from time to time enlisted in the naval service of the United States and the regular army, the number of men furnished by Massachusetts during the war will exceed 100,000.

The most interesting event in connection with the volunteer movement was the raising and equipping of the 54th and 55th colored regiments, the former of which was the first organization of its kind formed in the free States. By an order of Secretary Stanton, issued January 20th, Governor Andrew was authorized to raise such a number of colored companies of artillery and infantry regiments as he might find convenient, and to make the necessary requisitions upon the War Department Recruiting went on briskly throughout the State, and agents were sent to various parts of the country with power to fill up the regiments to their maximum. On May 28th, the 54th left Boston for Port Royal, exciting no little enthusiasm in its march through the city, and on July 18th it participated with great credit in the assault upon Fort Wagner, where its gallant commander. Colonel Shaw, was killed, and the regiment lost 13 officers and 278 men killed, wounded and missing. The 55th marched on July 21st, and has since been employed in the Department of the South.

Under the President's call of October 15th for 300,000 volunteers, the quota of Massachusetts was 15,126 men. The governor immediately issued an order for that number, stating the amount of bounties which would be paid, and offering recruits the choice between artillery, infantry, and cavalry regiments. For various reasons recruiting went on slowly, the chief ones being the inadequate bounties offered by the State, and the impossibility of creasing them under existing laws. By an act of the Legislature of 1863, the municipal governments of the Commonwealth were prohibited Page 627 paying bounties to volunteers, and the bounty authorized to be paid by the governor was limited to $50 per man. Another act prohibited cities and towns from voting or appropriating any money to relieve of discharge men who should be drafted, or from paying bounties or gratuities to any volunteer or drafted man, except such as should bo authorized by existing laws.

To provide a remedy for this state of things, Governor Andrew convened a special session of the Legislature, on November 11th, and in an elaborate message recommended an addition to the monthly pay of volunteers, rather than a large bounty paid at the time of mustering into service. Much diversity of opinion was manifested on the subject, and a bill was finally passed which may be considered as a compromise between both methods. It provided for the payment of a bounty of $825 on mustering into service, or, if the recruit should elect, a bounty of $60, and the additional pay of $20 per month, and in case a soldier should be discharged honorably after six months' service, the same was to bo continued for six months longer, or, if he should die in service, the money was to be paid to his legal representatives. The bill also provided for the retaining of the money in the State treasury subject to the call of the volunteer, to bear five per cent, interest; gave the State aid to families who might need it, notwithstanding the increased bounty provided for the paying of the bounties, the borrowing of the money at a rate of interest not to exceed five per cent., and the punishment of persons fraudulently obtaining the bounty. The passage of the bill gave a considerable stimulus to volunteering, and under the inducement of the large bounties offered by the State and the General Government, there was every appearance at the close of the year that the quota of Massachusetts would soon be filled.

The annual report of the Board of Education shows that the sum raised during the year for wages, board, fuel, care of fires and school rooms, amounted to $1,434,015.20, which, added to the sum of $49,044.05 distributed to the towns out of the school fund, makes a total of nearly a million and a half of dollars expended in support of public schools, exclusive of repairs and the erection of school-houses, and the cost of school-books. The number of public schools in the State is 4,626. In addition to these there are fifty-six incorporated academies and four normal schools supported by the State, beside numerous private schools. The number of persons in the State between the ages of five and fifteen years, is 238,381; number of scholars of all ages in all the public schools, in summer, 225,921; in winter, 227,252; average attendance in all the schools in winter, 182,041; in summer, 180,062; average wages of male teachers per month, including the value of hoard, $44.87; of female teachers, $18.90. This is a decline of about fifty cents per month in the wages of both classes of teachers. Many towns neglected to keep their common schools the full time required by law, and to maintain High Schools as provided for by the statutes. In eighty-three towns the common schools were not kept for the term of six months, and forty-six towns which should maintain High Schools have neglected to do so.

The reports of the penal, reformatory, and benevolent institutions of the State, showed that they were generally in a satisfactory condition. The number of paupers in the State almshouses was materially decreased from the previous year, and in consequence of the lack of able-bodied male inmates it became necessary to hire help for nearly all the farm operations connected with those institutions. This was owing to the scarcity and high prices of labor, and to the plentiful inducements held out by the recruiting officers. The number of prisoners in the State prison was seventy-four less than in the previous year, and the number of commitments, both in 1862 and 1863, was smaller than for many years. The Legislature of 1863 created a board of State charities, having general supervision of the subject.

[…]

The earnings of the roads, temporarily depressed in 1861 through the influence of the rebellion, show, so far as statistics have been received, a large increase in 1863, and at no time since the introduction of the railway system into Massachusetts has it stood on a firmer basis. The number of miles of road in the State is sufficient for the present needs of the population, and most of the companies are expending liberal sums in repairing and strengthening their road beds, and in other improvements.

Among the reports presented to the Legislature of 1863, was one containing the census returns of 1860, and a synopsis of every other census that has been taken in the-State. From this it appears that the increase in the population of the State, from 1850 to 1860, was 23.V0 Ser cent. The largest county increase was in Norfolk, being no less than 38.36 per cent. The largest town or city increase was in Somerville, being 126.67 per cent. Six towns, Somerville, Lawrence, Brookline, Marlborough, Melrose, and Natick, exhibit an increase of 100 per cent. Massachusetts ranks as the thirtieth State in the Union in respect to its area, but ranks as the first in the number of inhabitants to the square mile, first in the absolute increase of population per square mile from 1790 to 1860, and also first in the same from 1850 to 1860. While there is a large percentage of excess of males over females in all the Western States, the females outnumber the males in Massachusetts by more than 87,000; a fact of great importance in determining the causes which have made recruiting more active in the Eastern than in the Western States. 

MICHIGAN. The Legislature of Michigan assembled at Lansing on the 1st Wednesday of January, 1863, and was organized by the choice of the republican candidates for presiding officers in both branches. Austin Blair, reelected by the republicans governor in the preceding November, was inaugurated on the 8th, and in his message represented the financial condition of the State as satisfactory. The number of troops furnished by Michigan to that date ho stated at 45,000; but 2,900 were still wanting to complete the quota of the State under the President's call of 1862. He sustained the emancipation policy of Mr. Lincoln and favored the employment of colored men in the U. S. army. On the 9th the Legislature by joint ballot reelected Zachariah Chandler a U. S. senator for six years, from March 4th, 1863. The following resolutions were adopted:

Whereas, The present rebellion threatens the peace and perpetuity of the Union of the States, and requires the united efforts of all patriotic and loyal citizens to sustain the Administration to restore a permanent and honorable peace to the whole country; therefore Resolved, That we will sustain the National Administration with all the means in our power, in all its efforts to quell the present rebellion, and restore peace to the Union.

Resolved, That we unreservedly approve the Proclamation of the President of the United States, issued on the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, abolishing slavery in the insurgent States and districts of the Union, believing it to be a measure demanded by the necessities of war, as well as by the soundest dictates of humanity.

Resolved, That we are unalterably opposed to any terms of compromise or accommodation with the rebels, while under arms, and acting in hostility to the Government of the Union, and on this we express but one sentiment—unconditional submission, and obedience to the laws and Constitution of the Union.

Resolved, That the governor be requested to forward a copy of the foregoing preamble and joint resolutions to each of our senators and representatives in Congress, and to the governors of the several loyal States.

The only election held during the year was one for the choice of Supreme Court and Circuit Judges and Regents of the University. The democratic nominating convention met at Detroit on February 11th, and among the resolutions adopted by it were the following:

Resolved, That the allegiance of the citizen is due alone to the Constitution and laws made in pursuance thereof—not to any man or officer, or administration; and whatever support is due to any officer of this Government, is due alone by virtue of the Constitution and the laws.

Resolved, That the Union has no existence separate from the Federal Constitution, but, being created solely by thatinstrument.it can only exist by virtue thereof, and, when the provisions of that Constitution are suspended, either in time of war or in peace, whether by the North or the South, it is alike disunion.

Resolved, That the Constitution cannot be maintained, nor the Union preserved, in opposition to public feeling, by the mere exercise of coercive powers confided to the General Government, and that, in case of differences and conflicts between the States and the Federal Government, too powerful for adjustment by the civil departments of the Government, the appeal is not to the States or to the General Government, but to the people peacefully assembled, by their representatives in convention.

Resolved, That, to attain the objects of the foregoing resolution, we hereby memorialize the Congress of the United States, the Administration at Washington, and the Executives and Legislatures of the several States, to take such immediate action as may be necessary to enable the people to meet in convention aforesaid; and we, therefore, earnestly recommend to our fellow citizens everywhere to observe and keep all their lawful and constitutional obligations, to abstain from all violence, and meet together, and reason each with the other upon the best mode to attain the great blessing of peace, union, and liberty.

Other resolutions denounced the attempt to abridge freedom of speech, the suspension of the habeas corpus, arbitrary arrests and imprisonments, the establishment of a censorship of the press, "the proposed taxation of the laboring white man to purchase the freedom and secure the elevation of the negro," and other "flagrant and monstrous usurpations of the administration." The "ruinous heresy of secession" was also condemned as "unwarranted by the Constitution and destructive alike of the security and perpetuity of the Government, and the peace and liberty of the people."

The republican convention met at the same place on February 12th. Their resolutions sustained every prominent administrative act of the President, and declared that, in subduing the rebellion, he should employ every means established by the rules of warfare among civilized nations. The following embody the substance of their opinions:

Resolved, That so long as the rebels, with arms in their bunds, set at defiance the Constitution and laws of the United States, and openly proclaim their purpose to be the destruction of the Government no terms of compromise or accommodation can be offered or accepted. Unconditional surrender of all armed traitors is the first great law of national life.

Page 646

Resolved, That while we express our cordial approval of the measures of the Administration thus far, we hereby declare our unalterable purpose to stand by and for the Government and Constitution of the United States, as against all secret enemies and armed traitors, and with the legally constituted authorities against all sympathizers, croakers, and grumblers, whether we snail consider each future act of the Administration the wisest possible or not; with or without our choice of measures, we are for the Government—for law and order, and for such administration as the people, by their ballots, have and shall order.

The election took place on April 6th, with the following result:

ASSOCIATED JUSTICE OF THE SUPREME COURT.

James V. Campbell, Republican 69,283

David Johnson, Democrat 61,331

Republican majority 7,952

Blair's majority for governor in the preceding November was 6,614. The following candidates of the republicans were also elected regents of the University by an average majority of a little more than 7,000: Edward C. Walker, J. Eastman Johnson, Geo. Willard, James A. Sweesey, Alva Sweetzer, Jas. J. Joslin, Henry 0. Knight and Thomas 0. Gilbert.

The number of troops enlisted in Michigan from January 1st to Oct 1st, 1863, amounted to 6,322, distributed as follows: infantry, 1,059, cavalry, 8,573, artillery, 610, all other branches, 1,180; and of these 4,812 entered new regiments, and 1,480 regiments already in the field. This number added to that of troops previously enlisted shows a total of about 51,500 men furnished by the State, from the commencement pf the war to October 1st, 1863. The quota of the State under the draft ordered by the President in May, 1863, was 16,000 men, upon which she was entitled to a credit of about 9,500 for troops furnished by her in excess of previous calls. The draft went into operation in October, but failed to produce the quota assigned to the State, and the deficiency was subsequently largely increased by the addition of the quota assigned under the October call for 300,000 volunteers. By an act of the Legislature of March, 1863, the governor was authorized to pay a bounty of $50 to each volunteer; but this sum proving totally inadequate to induce enlistments, various towns and counties made large appropriations of money for bounties. With a view of legalizing these acts and of increasing the amount of the State bounties, the governor in December issued a proclamation for an extra session of the Legislature on January 19th, 1864. Among the new military organizations authorized to be formed was a regiment of colored men, which at the close of the year was nearly full.

On March 6th the peace of Detroit was disturbed by a riot, growing out of the arrest of a negro charged with violating a young white girl. The former, while being conveyed to the city jail under a military escort, was set upon by an excited mob, who wished to lynch him on the spot. The soldiers fired upon and dispersed the rioters, who soon after commenced an attack upon the colored population of the city, many of whom were wounded and otherwise maltreated, and driven out of their houses, which were burned and gutted. All the available military in Detroit and its vicinity were called out, and by evening tranquillity was restored. On the 8th the riot broke out afresh, but was soon subdued by the military, and owing to the vigorous preparations of the authorities, no subsequent attempts were made to disturb the peace.

The total interest-bearing debt of the State amounted, at the close of 1863, to $2,993,299.80. The total available resources of the treasury during 1863, were $3,481,676, of which $3,009,210 were derived from the sale of State bonds. The total expenditures of the year wore $3,127,555.52, of which $2,080,310 were for the repayment of State bonds, leaving a balance in the treasury, at the close of the year, of $354,120. The following table exhibits the condition of the banks on November 30th, 1863:

Capital Stock $558,192 71

Circulation 193,966 00 Deposits 1,619,707 01

Due to other banks 77,763 33

Other liabilities 82,273 01

Total liabilities $2,535,801

Notes and bills discounted $1,235,614 62

Specie 93.383 56

Due from other banks 554,753 41

Notes and securities of the U. S. and State 440,757 00

Mortgages, real estate, 206.2S7 54

Total resources. $2,535,801  

The report of the Superintendent of Public Education for the year ending January 1st, 1863, shows that during 1862,207,332 children, out of 261,323 in the State, attended the publio schools; that the number of teachers was 8,838, who received salaries amounting in the aggregate to $491,293.65, and that the value of school houses and sites was $1,673,258. The school revenues for the year amounted to $783,394.04, and the expenditures to $689,072.12, and the amount reported on hand on September 1st, 1862, was $94,321.92. The University of Michigan had, in October, 1S63, 706 students, of whom 213 were connected with the literary and scientific department, 188 with the department of law, and 305 with that of medicine, showing an increase in all the departments of 232 over the corresponding period of the previous year. The receipts for the fiscal year ending June 30th, 1868, were $53,369.96, and the expenditures $45,618.94; leaving a balance on hand of $7,751.02.

The development of the mineral resources of the Lake Superior region seems to have been increased rather than diminished since the commencement of the war. In 1862, 115,721 tons of iron were shipped from Marquette, and the estimate for 1863 exceeds 200,000 tons. The following table indicates the amount of rough copper produced since the first attempts at regular mining:

647 1846 to 1854 7,642 1861 7,400 1855 to 1857 11,312 1862 9,062 1858 3,500 1363 8,548 1859 4,200 1860 6,000 Total 57,664

Estimating this at an average price of $500 per ton, the gross amount will equal $28,832,000. Important discoveries of silver and lead mines are also reported to have been made in the Lake Superior region during the year. In 1862, 1,270,000 bushels of salt were produced from the salt wells of the Saginaw valley, and operations were pushed in the succeeding year over a wide area of the adjacent country. Frequent traces of petroleum having been met with at Jackson, Dexter, Paw Paw, and other places, measures have been taken to test the productiveness of the State in this material. The wheat crop of 1863 was relatively less than in the preceding year; the ravages of insects, and the heavy rains of midsummer having done considerable damage in some parts of the State; but in view of the increased breadth of land sown the yield was probably as large, if not larger, than in the previous years The corn crop, however, was greatly reduced by the sudden and severe frosts of August 29th and 30th, which devastated the whole Northwest.


Source: The American Annual Cyclopaedia and Register of Important Events of the Year, 1861-1865, vols. 1-5. New York: Appleton & Co., 1868.