USA > Indiana > An illustrated history of the state of Indiana: being a full and authentic civil and political history of the state from its first exploration down to 1875 > Part 17
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On the first of October, at the trial of the machinery at the State fair, a steam boiler exploded, killing twenty persons and seriously wounding more than forty others. The accident was caused by a deficiency of water.
In 1869 a woman's State suffrage convention was held, at Indianapolis, which was quite largely attended, and at which resolutions were adopted favoring more rights to women.
The principal agricultural products of the State, according to the official report for the year 1869, were:
Products.
Bushels.
Acres. 3,146,551
Value. $51,100,000
Indian Corn
73,000,000
Wheat
20,600,000
1,430,555
19,158,000
Rye
575,000
37,096
437,000
Oats
12,413.000
420,779
5,461,720
Barley
411,000
17,947
423,330
Buckwheat
303,000
24,240
251,490
Potatoes
4,750,000
44,811
2,090,000
Tobacco, lbs
7,000,000
9,575
672,000
Hay, tons
1,200,000
805,369
12,624,000
Total
5,936,923
$92,217,540
CHAPTER XXX.
ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR BAKER - EVENTS OF 1870-1.
THERE was no session of the legislature in 1870, and no election of Governor, therefore the political campaign of that year was not a very important one. There was no impor-
252
HISTORY OF INDIANA,
tant issue in the canvass except that of general retrenchment. The subject of the Wabash and Erie canal was lightly touched in the Republican platform, and occasioned considerable dis- cussion, and probably had some effect on the election of mem- bers of the legislature. An attempt was made during the session of the legislature in 1869, to have the State reburden itself with the old canal debt, and the matter was considerably agitated in the canvass of 1870. The election resulted in an average majority for the Democracy of about two thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, in the State.
It was in this year, 1870, that the divorce laws of the State began to attract considerable attention in the nation. They were pronounced injurious to society, and, in 1871, the Gov- ernor, in his message, recommended reform in this direction, which was pretty effectually carried out.
With the commencement of 1871 the condition of the State was in every respect prosperous, financially and commercially. At the beginning of the fiscal year, which closed on the thirty- first of October, 1871, there was a surplus of $373,249 in the treasury. The receipts of the year amounted to $3,605,639, and the disbursements to $2,943,600, leaving a balance of $1,035,288. The total debt of the State in November, 1871, was $3,937,821.
The session of the legislature which began on the fourth of January, 1871, presented a singular contrast with that of the previous one. As we have seen, a large number of Democratic senators and representatives resigned to prevent the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Federal constitution. On this occasion we have an equal number of Republican members resigning to prevent the repeal of that ratification. The res- olution was adopted in the senate by a party vote of twenty-six to twenty, and in the house was referred to the committee on Federal relations; but before the committee had time to report the thirty-four Republican members of the house resigned, thereby preventing its passage, and putting a stop to further legislation.
At this session of the legislature one seat in the senate was contested; that of John W. Burson, a Republican, chosen from
253
ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR BAKER.
the district made up of the counties of Delaware and Madison. He was charged with making use of bribery to secure his
CROSSCUP & WEST-PHIA
Ourback
254
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
election. The case excited a great deal of remark, both in this and other States, and was thoroughly investigated by the com- mittee on elections. A report was signed by a majority of the committee, just before the close of the session, which declared that Mr. Burson "did both offer and give bribes, and rewards to procure his election," and recommended the passage of a resolution refusing to grant him his seat, and that the same be declared vacant. The report was adopted by a strict party vote of twenty-four to twenty-one.
The controversy regarding the purchase of the Wabash and Erie canal was taken up at the session in 1871, and after a long and bitter debate, was finally disposed of by the adoption of an amendment to the constitution, making it impossible for the legislature to burden the State with any part of the old internal improvement debt, which had been disposed of by the " Butler bill."
The right of suffrage to women was ably discussed by the legislature, and disposed of adversely to the interests of the women interested. Among the important laws passed was one fixing the compensation of State and county officers, and cut- ting off all fees and allowances; one distributing six hundred thousand dollars to the several counties of the State, to be loaned out for the benefit of schools, and one reducing the State taxes. The latter was, however, pronounced unconsti- tutional by the circuit court of Marion county, and an action was brought to restrain the Auditor, Secretary of State and Treasurer from making the distribution. The matter was taken to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court of the State rendered a very important decision in April, 1871, viz .: that the law authorizing counties to subscribe for stock in railroad companies, and tax the people to pay for it, was valid. It had been claimed that the legislature had no authority under the constitution to tax the people for the purpose of aiding in the construction of rail- roads, but the Supreme Court decided adversely to this claim.
During the year 1871 there was no general election in Indi- ana, consequently political matters were very dull; but with the commencement of 1872, politics began to revive. On the
255
DMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR BAKER.
twenty-second of February the Republican State convention was held at Indianapolis. The State ticket nominated was as follows: For Governor, General Thomas M. Browne; Lieu- tenant-Governor, L. M. Sexton; Congressman-at-large, G. S. Orth; Secretary of State, W. W. Curry; Auditor of State, Colonel James A. Wildman; Treasurer of State, Major John D. Glover, etc.
The Democratic convention was held at Indianapolis, on the twelfth of June, when the following were nominated for State officers: For Governor, Thomas A. Hendricks; Lieutenant- Governor, W. C. Depauw; Congressman-at-large, John S. Williams, M. C. Kerr; Secretary of State, Owen W. Eddy; Auditor of State, John B. Stoll, etc. There was also a State temperance ticket in the field. The election took place on the eighth of October, 1872. Thomas A. Hendricks was elected Governor, and M. B. Hopkins, Superintendent of Public Instruction, from the Democratic ticket. With these two important exceptions, the Republicans were successful. The State legislature for 1873 contained twenty-seven Republicans and twenty-three Democrats in the senate, and fifty-four Re- publicans and forty-six Democrats in the house, giving the Republicans a majority on joint ballot of twelve.
A special session of the legislature was convened at the capital, on the fourteenth of November, 1872, at which con- siderable business was transacted. O. P. Morton was re-elected to the Senate of the United States, and the State was re-dis- tricted for both legislative and congressional representation. The measure re-districting the State gave great dissatisfaction to the Democratic members. Among other bills passed, was one raising the Governor's salary to eight thousand dollars a year.
CHAPTER XXXI.
ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR HENDRICKS - EVENTS OF 1873-4.
THE regular session of the legislature began on the first Wednesday of January, 1873, and soon after Governor Hendricks was inaugurated. In his address to the assembly he said: "The laws regulating our elections require your special attention. They do not restrain the corrupt, nor pro- tect the votes of the people. Our elections must not become . a reproach. Their result must express the will of the people. Our system must be made so efficient as to guarantee purity in the conduct and management of the elections, and also to inspire and establish public confidence. When the people know that a political result has been fairly brought about, all discontent disappears. They cheerfully acquiesce and yield entire obedience to the authority thereby established. I can- not now attempt to suggest all the provisions that may be essential to the efficient system, but without the following probably no system will prove efficient: 1st. A fair and real representation, upon the board of election officers, of all polit- ical parties having candidates to be voted for. 2nd. Voting places so numerous and the precincts so small, in respect to the voting population, that all who offer to vote may be known by the people of the neighborhood, as well as by the officers. 3rd. A reasonable period of residence in the election precinct as a qualification to vote, so that persons may not pretend a residence not real, in fraud of the law. 4th. The exclusion of money as an influence and power from elections. If, in the contest for power, money shall become stronger than the people, we will have the worst government possible. It will be a reproach to us all when wealth can buy what the loftiest talent and the purest virtue cannot attain."
(256)
257
ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNOR HENDRICKS.
The Governor also made some excellent suggestions on rep- resentation reform in the same address. He said; "In this connection I wish to call attention to the subject of represen- tation reform, which, during the last ten years, has been advo- cated by some of the best minds, both in Europe and in this
CRUSSCUP & WEST. PHILA
H. A. PEED, ESQ. See page 21.
country, and is now undergoing the test of experience. I desire to make this the more emphatic, because in this State it seems yet to be regarded as right and proper for the majority to deny to the minority even that representation which an 17
258
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
apportionment based upon population and contiguity of counties would give. Representative reform rests upon the proposition that minorities of constituencies should have a representation as nearly in proportion to members as may be practicable. All the citizens contribute to the burdens of government, and should yield obedience to the laws, and it is just, equal and fair that all should be represented."
Among the important acts of the session were the following: One abolishing the courts of Common Pleas, and dividing the State into thirty-eight judicial districts for judicial purposes; one remodeling the divorce laws; one amending the school laws, and one regulating the sale of liquors.
The following are the only causes upon which divorces can be granted under the new law: 1st. Adultery. 2nd Impo- tency, existing at time of marriage. 3rd. Abandonment for two years. 4th. Cruel and inhuman treatment of one party by the other. 5th. Habitual drunkenness of either party, or the failure of the husband to make reasonable provision for the family. 6th. The failure of the husband to make reason- able provision for the family for a period of two years. 7th. The conviction, in any county, of either party, of an infamous crime.
The new liquor law provides that it shall be unlawful for any person, under penalty from ten dollars to fifty dollars fine, or from ten to thirty days imprisonment, to sell, barter or give away intoxicating liquors, to be drank on the premises, with- out a permit from the county commissioners, and even when the permit is so procured, the law is definite as to how the traffic shall be regulated, and is very stringent. A case of violation of this law was soon carried to the Supreme Court, to test its validity, and it was sustained in all points.
There was a very enthusiastic temperance convention held at Indianapolis, in April, 1873, at which a long list of stirring resolutions were adopted; and, in one way and another, during the fall of that year and the early part of 1874, the temperance question was agitated with greater enthusiasm than it had been for years before. The "crusade " prevailed throughout Indiana, as well as in other States, but, unfortunately, at the
259
EDUCATIONAL - GENERAL FEATURES.
election, in 1874, the temperance projects were defeated, and it is probable that the present liquor law will be repealed, and a regular license system adopted. This idea was embodied in the Democratic platform, and having been successful, the Democracy will probably inaugurate the license system again.
The total receipts during the fiscal year of 1873 were $4,300,653.02. The disbursements for the year amounted to $4,115,457.55, and there was a balance on hand at the close of the year of $185,175.47.
The second annual meeting of the Congress of Agriculture was held at Indianapolis, on the twenty-eighth of May, 1873; about two hundred delegates were present, representing twenty-five States. The proceedings of this body were very interesting to the public and beneficial to the cause of hus- bandry. The committee on transportation submitted a very lengthy report, which called forth considerable remark.
We should also mention that at the present time there is a legislative measure on foot to erect a magnificent new State capitol, and it is quite probable that the legislature of 1875 will take active steps in the matter. Plans are already on exhibi- tion by leading architects, and there is every reason to believe that the work of erecting a new State capitol will be com- menced immediately.
At the election in October, 1874, the Democrats carried the State by a fair majority, and now have a small majority on a joint ballot in the legislature of 1875. The term of the pres- ent Governor, Thomas A. Hendricks, will not expire until January, 1877.
CHAPTER XXXII.
EDUCATIONAL - GENERAL FEATURES.
T HE schools and school laws of Indiana existing previous to 1853 are sufficiently noticed in the local history of each county in another part of this volume. It will be expedient
260
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
in this place to treat only of the law to provide for a uniform system of common schools, adopted in 1852; its several amendments and the beneficient results that have been attained through its successful operation. These are, justly, the pride and boast of the people.
Although this law was passed in 1852, it did not become practically operative until the first Monday of April, 1853, when the township trustees for school purposes were elected in the several townships of the State. This law committed to the township trustees the charge of all the educational affairs of the township. It gave them the control and disbursement of all the school funds; it left with them to determine the number and location of all the school-houses necessary for the accommodation of the children of the township; it left to them the making of all contracts for building, repairing and furnishing school-houses; the purchasing of fuel; the employ- ment of teachers, and, lastly, they were to determine the time of commencing and the period of the continuance of the schools.
Immediately upon the passage of the law, it met with con- siderable opposition in all parts of the State. It was claimed that it would not be possible to select men in all the town- ships of the State capable of discharging properly the various duties required of township trustees; and, that in many in- stances, the summary and discretionary powers with which they were to be clothed, would be injudiciously exercised. This opposition, however, resulted only in the complete suc- cess of the law, for through it the people of the State were awakened to the great importance of electing the ablest and best men to the office - a commendable practice to which they still earnestly adhere. With hardly a single exception during the past twenty years, they have placed in these positions of usefulness and power of their township their most intelligent and efficient men. Hardly a single year elapsed when the friends of the new system saw that there was no cause longer to fear for its success through the want of capacity or of interest on the part of the trustees.
The trustees, on entering on the duties of their office, were
261
EDUCATIONAL -GENERAL FEATURES.
in nearly all cases, greatly embarrassed by the general want of correct information among the people concerning this new system of public instruction. The law, in all points, was radically new, providing for a system wholly different from any to which the people had ever been accustomed. Few of the trustees, and still fewer of the people, had ever read, much less studied the law, hence they were unable to operate prop- erly under it. To remove these difficulties a pamphlet of upwards of sixty pages, embracing the law, with its amend- ments and copious notes, explanations, instructions and forms of proceedings, was issued from the office of the Superintend- ent of Public Instruction. A large edition was printed and distributed to the several townships of the State, so that any person, by simply calling on any of the county officials, would receive a copy without charge. By this means all soon became acquainted with the whole system.
The first duty of the Board of Trustees was to establish and conveniently locate a sufficient number of schools for the education of all the children of their township. In referring to this matter in his annual report of 1853, Hon. W. C. Lar- rabee, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, made these remarks: "But the school-houses, where are they? and what are they? In some townships there is not a single school- house of any kind to be found. In other townships there are a few old, leaky, dilapidated log cabins, wholly unfit for use even in summer, and in winter worse than nothing. * * Before the people can be tolerably accommodated with schools there must be erected in this State at least three thousand five hundred school houses."
Previous to the enactment of the township system, school houses were erected by single districts, but under this law districts were abolished, district lines obliterated, and houses previously built by districts became the property of the town- ship, and all new houses were to be built at the expense of the township, by an appropriation of township funds, by the trustees.
By a general law, enacted in conformity to the constitution of 1852, each and every township in the State was made a
262
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
municipal corporation, with such powers and liabilities as, by common usage, belong to such corporations. Every voter in the township was made a member of the corporation. The business of the corporation was managed directly by the whole body of the voters, in regular or special township meetings, or by persons chosen by the people, as directors of the corpora- tion, called township trustees. Among the inherent and necessary powers of such corporations, stood first and most important, that of raising, by taxation on the property and polls of the township, an amount of funds sufficient to defray all the legitimate expenses of the corporation.
The most important interest of the township was that of educating the children - common schools. Under the new township system, as guaranteed by the constitution of 1852, the authority to levy taxes, to build school houses and to carry on all parts of the system of public instruction, might have been constitutionally exercised either by the majority of the members of the corporation, that is, by the voters of the township, or by officers elected by the voters, but no power was given to the township trustees to levy this tax without the consent of the voters of the township. This phase of the law, authorizing the vote of the township on a special tax was questioned, and gave rise, at first, to some impediment to the success of the system. Tax-payers who were opposed to the special township tax, refused to pay the assessment, thereby not only retarding the progress of schools, but causing an unusual delinquency in the collection of taxes for general purposes. Contracts for building school houses were thrown up, houses half finished were abandoned, and all operations were sus- pended in several townships.
In some townships a rumor was circulated by the enemies of the law, that the entire school law, from beginning to end, had been declared by the Supreme Court unconstitutional and void. Believing this, the township trustees actually dismissed all their schools, and even considered themselves summarily deposed from office. In reference to this state of things, Hon. W. C. Larrabee, Superintendent of Public Instruction, spoke as follows in his report to the Governor, in 1853: "As soon
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EDUCATIONAL - GENERAL FEATURES.
as information of these facts was received at this office, efforts were made, by private correspondence and by circulars, to correct public opinion and to arrest the downward tendency of the whole system. It is hoped that the real facts are now
CROSSCUP &WEST.PHILA.
B. C. HOBBS, ESQ. See page 21.
known and appreciated, and before any more serious evil shall arise, we hope for a decision to settle the whole question."
While the voting of special taxes was doubted on a consti- tutional point, it became apparent that it was weak in a prac- ticable point. The existence of this provision in the law
264
HISTORY OF INDIANA.
greatly retarded the organization and impaired the efficiency of the schools. In many townships the trustees, on exploring their territory, found few or no school houses fit to be occu- pied. They proposed a township tax for the erection of houses, but the proposition was voted down. They renewed the proposition at subsequent meetings, but it was again and again voted down. Under these circumstances, the first year of the existence of the township system was not a very suc- cessful one.
Another· impediment to popular education, in 1853-4, was the great deficiency in number and qualifications of teachers. In some townships teachers of no grade could be obtained in sufficient numbers to supply the schools. But few of the persons offering themselves for examination could pass accord- ing to law.
The scarcity of well qualified teachers was well understood by those who framed the School Law of 1852. By that law the Superintendent was required to appoint deputies in each county to examine all applicants for license to teach, and to license them, if found qualified, for one or two years. The law, however, erected no specific standard of qualification. It left to the examiner the right of determining, at his discretion, the amount and variety of knowledge the applicant should exhibit in order to entitle him to a license. The examiner in each case took into consideration any peculiar circumstances that might exist in the county or township in which the teacher was to be employed. In some counties and in some townships, where schools were few and teachers scarce, and the children few, young and backward, it was found expedient to employ persons to teach who were by no means qualified to take charge of schools in advanced towns.
But in this respect the School Law was changed in 1853. The authority to appoint examiners, by the amendment, was transferred from the Superintendent to the County Commis- sioners, and a standard of qualification was erected. The committee on education who prepared the amendatory law, while erecting a standard of qualification for teachers, at which all persons proposing to teach should aim, at the same time
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EDUCATIONAL - GENERAL FEATURES.
made provision to meet the emergencies existing at that time, and authorized a temporary license, at the discretion of the examiners, to persons who might not be able to pass a rigid examination in all the branches constituting the standard.
The common school fund available in 1854, consisted of the Congressional Township fund, the surplus Revenue fund, the Saline fund, the Bank tax fund, and miscellaneous funds, amounting in all to two million four hundred and sixty thousand six hundred dollars. This amount was subse- quently increased to a very great extent from many sources. The common school fund was intrusted to the several counties of the State, which were held responsible for the preservation thereof, and for the payment of the annual interest thereon. The fund was managed by the Auditors and Treasurers of the several counties, for which these officers were allowed one- · tenth the income. It was loaned out to citizens of the county, in sums not exceeding three hundred dollars, on real estate security.
Under this phase of the school law the common school fund was consolidated and the proceeds equally distributed each year to all the townships, cities and towns of the State, in proportion to the number of children therein. This part of the law met with great opposition in 1854.
In reference to the township libraries, which were organized in 1855, the Superintendent of Public Instruction, in 1854, says: " Much time and labor, and thought, have been devoted to the selection of books to form the libraries. *
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