CHAPTER II
THE total receipts of the State Treasury during the two years ending November 2, 1867, were $1,365,158.57 and the expenditures for the same period $1,315,654.74. The debt of the State at this time was $385,000 of which $300,000 was for expenses incurred for military purposes during the Civil War.
The Republican State Convention met at Des Moines on the 19th of June, 1867, with nine hundred and eighty-four delegates in attendance. There was an animated contest for the nominations, a nomination being considered equivalent to an election. The principal candidates for Governor were Colonel Samuel Merrill of Clayton County, J. B. Grinnell of Poweshiek, Colonel J. A. Williamson of Polk and J. W. Cattell of the same county. On the first ballot the vote was as follows: Merrill, four hundred and twenty-six; Grinnell, two hundred and sixty-two; Williamson, one hundred and seventy-seven; Cattell, fifty-eight. On the next ballot Merrill was nominated by a large majority. The candidates for Lieutenant-Governor were John Scott, E. B. Woodward, S. A. Moore and Nathan Udell. On the second ballot Colonel Scott was nominated. Joseph N. Beck was nominated for Supreme Judge, Henry OConnor for Attorney-General and D. F. Wells for Superintendent of Public Instruction.
The following were the important resolutions adopted:
“Resolved, That we again proclaim it as a cardinal principle of our political faith that all men are equal before the law, and we are in favor of such amendments to the Constitution of Iowa as we secure the rights of the ballot, the protection of the law and equal justice to all men irrespective of color, race or religion.
“We approve of the military reconstruction acts of the 39th and 40th Congresses.
