DUNNE-BANKS-HAWLEY-STURTEVANT.

SEC 4. The right of suffrage shall be enjoyed by all persons otherwise entitled to the same who may be in provided, the votes so cast shall be made to apply to the county and township of which said voters were bona fide residents at the time of their enlistment; and provided that the payment of a poll tax or a registration of such a vote shall not be required as a condition to the right of voting. Provision shall be made by law, re-regulating the manner of voting, holding elections, and making returns of such elections, wherein other

the military or naval service of the United States;

MCCLINTON-PROCTOR-WARWICK-HAWLEY-STURTEVANT-BANKS.

lins, Crawford, Crosman, DeLong, Earl, Frizell, Fol-porations, the question being upon the amendsom, Haines, Hawley, Hovey, Hudson, Kennedy, Kinkead, Lockwood, Mason, McClinton, Murdock, Parker, Tagliabue, Wetherill, and Mr. President-25. Nays-Messrs. Dunne, Proctor, Sturtevant, and War

So the article was passed.
During the voting-

Mr. DUNNE. I shall vote "no" for the same reasons which I gave in regard to the amendment.

Mr. McCLINTON. I did not avail myself of the opportunity to explain my vote upon the passage of this amendment, but I will do so now. I shall vote "aye" for the reason which I have stated frequently in this Convention that I do believe that, from the commencement of our session, we have arrogated to ourselves too much power. We have incorporated many provisions already, in this Constitution, which I think belong properly to the Legislature. I will state further, too, that I should have voted against striking out this oath had not the provision been amended so as to meet what I deem

the necessities of the case. But the provision as it now stands meets my approbation. Had not the amendment proposed by the gentleman from Lyon (Mr. Crosman) been adopted I should have voted "no," but as it now stands I vote "aye."

Mr. PROCTOR. I vote against the article because I do not like it, nor any part of it.

Tuesday,]

DELONG PROCTOR-WARWICK-PRESIDENT-CROSMAN.

[July 19.

Mr. WARWICK. I call for the reading of the amendment now before the Convention. The SECRETARY again read Mr. Kinkead's amendment.

some measure involving the question of county gree, and find it a benefit which would far or corporate aid, and if the people of this city more than compensate them for the amount and Virginia, or the people of Storey, Ormsby which they would have to be taxed in order and Washoe counties, desire it, I trust they will to bring about that result. But if the " COW have ample power. under this Constitution, to counties" vote against it, I will vote against contribute whatever amount of means they are it also, if it is their wish, so as to show them able to spare for such a purpose. As to the that I have not got the words "mines and minproposition of the gentleman from Lander, (Mr. ing claims" stricken out of the taxation clause Warwick,) as it has been stated by him, it is one in order to trick them, or with any view of afwhich in the main does not meet my entire ap- terwards putting in a railroad appropriation. probation, because in practical efficiency I do Mr. PROCTOR. Is an amendment in order? not believe it comes up to what is actually re- The PRESIDENT. An amendment to an quired; but in preference to anything else amendment is already pending. which is before the Convention I shall vote for it, and I think possibly it may do much good. Mr. DELONG. Now I think that argument is about as baseless as that of the old Dutchman in New York, who, when the proposition was laid before him to aid in constructing the Erie Canal, voted against it because the canal did not run by his own house. We cannot run a railroad to every portion of the State, but if we connect the mines with the mountains, so as to convey lumber to the mining regions and ore to the mountains, it will enhance the value of property so much that taxation will bear far less heavily on the people of the distant counties, and thus we shall be enabled in time to extend the railroad gradually to those distant portions of the State to which the gentleman refers.

Mr. WARWICK. If I understand the question rightly, Mr. President, this amendment is offered by the gentleman from Lyon, (Mr. Crosman,) who accepted in lieu of his own, the amendment to the amendment.

The PRESIDENT. The gentleman is entirely mistaken. The Chair will state the position of the question. The original amendment was presented while I was not present, but I am informed by the Secretary that the gentleman from Lyon, (Mr. Crosman,) accepted an amendment proposed by the gentleman from Lander, (Mr. Warwick,) and that must necessarily be regarded as the original amendment. To this the gentlemen from Ormsby, (Mr. Kinkead,) offers an amendment, and the question now is on the amendment proposed to the original amendment, that which was offered by the gentleman from Lander, (Mr. Warwick,) taking the place of the original amendment offered by the gentleman from Lyon, (Mr. Crosman.)

Mr. CROSMAN. I would ask for the reading of my amendment as it now stands.

The SECRETARY read as follows: "Provided, That the State of Nevada may loan its credit to the Central Pacific Railroad Company to an amount not exceeding three millions of dollars when it shall have completed its road to a distance of eighty miles east from the navigable waters of the Sacramento River; but no appropriation of any character shall be made, unless sanctioned by a vote of the people."

Now one word to my "cow county" friends and I would call the particular attention of the gentleman from Douglas, (Mr. Hawley,) but I observe that he has gone out of doors and cannot hear me I wish to say, nevertheless, that we have been accused of being particularly and peculiarly the representatives of the miners. We have been charged with having first secured the passage of this mining clause, and then having attempted to appropriate three millions of dollars to the Pacific Railroad. They say we first go to work and provide in the Constitution that the mines shall not be taxed, and then we turn around and favor this donation to the Pacific Railroad, thereby voting to impose all the burden of taxation upon the farming interest. They complain of this, and tell us it is all a trick; that we first vote out the Pacific Railroad in order to be able to vote out the taxation of the mines, and then, having got our own axe ground, we turn around and put in the three million clause again. Now I will show these gentlemen my own good faith in that matter, by voting upon these propositions according to the wishes of the cow county delegates. I do believe that the appropriation of a million and a half of dollars will cause a railroad to be built from Virginia City to this place, and thence down to the Truckee country; and Mr. WARWICK. When I offered my amendthat when that is done, it will enhance the value of the property of the State to a degree scarcely ment yesterday afternoon, I did so with an imagined at the present time. And Esmeralda earnest desire that some compromise might be and Humboldt Counties, though they might not arrived at on this railroad question, by which feel it as immediately as Storey and Ormsby the hands of the people would not be tied in Counties, would yet feel it in a very great de- the future, but that the people of the new State,

The PRESIDENT. This, as just read, is the original amendment, and to it the gentleman from Ormsby, (Mr. Kinkead,) moves to amend by substituting the following:

Provided, That the State may issue bonds bearing a rate of interest not exceeding seven per cent. per annum, to an amount not exceeding one and one half millions of dollars, or guarantee the payment of interest or principal, or both interest and principal, of bonds to the said amount, on such terms as the Legislature may prescribe, to the company or incorporation that shall first connect by a first-class railroad the City mountains." of Virginia with the main range of the Sierra Nevada

Tuesday,]

DELONG-WARWICK-KINKEAD.

[July 19.

Mr. DELONG. That is what it is, very nearly;
I am speaking of what it is now.
Mr. WARWICK. But they collected last
year on less than forty millions of dollars.

Mr. DELONG. But the tax has been held legal on the whole amount. If it was not collected, it was not the fault of the law. It was assessed, and on appeal, the Supreme Court has affirmed the legality of the assessment.

Mr. KINKEAD. I think the gentleman is a little wrong in the amount; he is about five millions out of the way, I believe.

if they should feel themselves able, might at that the appropriation shall not be made "unsome future time be at liberty to lend their til after the taxable property of the State shall credit towards the construction of this great have reached the amount of fifty millions of national work. Every step towards affecting dollars." this object which has been taken by me, has been taken in a spirit of compromise. It has been my earnest desire, in view of the fact that this work receives the sanction of the entire United States, and that it appears to have been the earnest desire of every member on the floor of this Convention, to signify the fact that he is not an enemy to the project, to so far perfect or amend this proviso, if you please, as to bring it within such limits, or into such a shape, that it may receive the sanction of a majority of this Convention. It was in that spirit that I drew up the amendment which I did this morning, proposing to offer it as a substitute for the one I offered yesterday. But I saw that it gave offense to some members of the Convention, to nominate particularly the Central Pacific Railroad, for some reason best known to themselves; and seeing that it did appear to give offense to a certain portion of the members of the Convention, I therefore, acting still in the spirit of compromise, as I stated before, was induced to offer another amendment, striking out that obnoxious portion, and leaving it simply to specify only a railroad enterprise or enterprises. I prepared this amendment, which I will read again with the leave of the Convention:

“Provided, That the State may loan its credit to an amount not to exceed three millions of dollars for the encouragement of railroad enterprises; the manner of providing for the payment of the above sum to be left to the Legislature. But no appropriation shall be made unless sanctioned by a vote of the people at a special election to be held for that purpose, nor until after the taxable property of the State shall have reached the amount of fifty millions of dollars."

That was the proposition which I advanced this morning. I put in that last clause, because some gentlemen had spoken of our present poverty, and argued our inability to render that assistance which every one expressed his willingness to render. Our taxable property is now, I believe, a little over twenty-five millions of dollars, and before this proposition can possibly apply, the taxable property of the State must be doubled. Therefore, in that way, I remove the very strong barrier, which some gentlemen have placed in the way of lending our aid to this important enterprise.

Mr. DELONG. If the gentleman will allow me, the taxable property of the State is fortythree millions now.

Mr. WARWICK. Is that the case? I will ask our Treasurer, the gentleman from Ormsby, (Mr. Kinkead,) if that was the basis of taxation last year?

Mr. KINKEAD. I presume the gentleman from Storey refers to the gross proceeds of the mines. That is yet to come.

Mr. WARWICK. That is the precise position-not a prospective, but a present benefit. I mean by this amendment, not what will be, but what has been. The amendment provides

Mr. DELONG. I am not speaking of what was assessed, but of what was liable to assessment.

Mr. KINKEAD. To take what was assessed, is the only way to get at it.

Mr. WARWICK. Very well; I would like to know, then, if I insert here--because I want to see gentlemen show their hands

The PRESIDENT [interrupting.] The only question before the Convention occurs on the amendment offered by the gentleman from Lyon, modified on the suggestion of the gentleman from Lander, and to which another amendment is proposed, as a substitute, by the gentleman from Ormsby (Mr. Kinkead.) The gentleman from Lander is at liberty, of course, to read the amendment, which he now proposes, for the information of the Convention, but not to discuss it.

Mr. WARWICK. I would inquire if it is not competent for any member to state his reasons for not sustaining the pending amendment? Can I not give my reasons why we should not attempt to provide for a road connecting with Virginia City?

The PRESIDENT. It is not competent for the gentleman to discuss the proposition which he holds in his hand, because it would not be in order to submit it to the Convention.

Mr. WARWICK. Then I will address myself to the proposition to grant aid to a railroad from here to Virginia City. Now, sir, I contend that it would be impossible to construct that road, or at least it would be a moral impossibility, and a financial impossibility, as it must appear to every one here upon reflection. The reason is that it is impossible to get the materials here except at such a cost as to render it impossible to raise the necessary funds for the construction of the road, especially when we consider the high rates of interest in this State.

Mr. KINKEAD. Has the gentleman made any calculation or estimates upon the cost of the materials, and the cost of getting them here by the wagon roads?

Mr. WARWICK. I suppose the iron will cost three cents a pound, to bring it here from Sacramento. But then, again, the iron is not the only material to be furnished. All of your

Tuesday,]

PROCTOR-WARWICK-HAWLEY-Kennedy-PARKER-CROSMAN, ETC.

rolling stock will have to be transported in the | same expensive way. The consequence, is that if you attempt to build a first-class railroad here, with "T" iron, you will find it one of the most extravagantly expensive roads ever built in the United States of America.

Mr. PROCTOR. I rise to a question of order. I believe the gentleman from Lander has occupied some fifteen or twenty minutes in all, in discussing this same question heretofore, and he has occupied about ten minutes now. We are approaching the time of adjournment, very nearly, or I would not have raised the point of order.

[July 19.

Mr. KENNEDY and others demanded the yeas and nays upon the amendment. The question was taken by -yeas and nays, and the vote was-yeas, 8; nays, 21-as follows:

Yeas-Messrs. Brady, Crawford, Earl, Folsom, Hawley, Kinkead, Parker, and Mr. President-8.

Nays-Messrs. Banks, Brosnan, Chapin, Collins, Crosman, DeLong, Dunne, Fitch, Frizell, Haines, Hoyey, Hudson, Kennedy, Lockwood, Mason, McClinton, Proctor, Sturtevant, Tagliabue, Warwick, and Wetherill-21.

The PRESIDENT. The question of order is not well taken. Although the gentleman may have exceeded the allotted period of fifteen minutes the first time he spoke on this question, yet the rule only restricts him to not more than I fifteen minutes at any one time.

Mr. WARWICK. As there is only a brief time, I will give way for any further business. Mr. HAWLEY. I move that when this Convention adjourn, it adjourn until to-morrow morning at nine o'clock.

The question was taken, and the motion was agreed to.

Mr. WARWICK. I believe the Convention

is already in possession of my views on this subject, and I am quite willing to come to a vote without any further remarks upon it.

Mr. KENNEDY. In order that we may reach a final vote on this question, I move that the time of adjournment be extended until half-past

five o'clock.

The PRESIDENT. Gentlemen must judge

for themselves the effect of the amendment.

So the amendment proposed by Mr. Kinkead was not agreed to.

During the voting-

Mr. DELONG. I wish to be excused, until I see how the cow counties go.

Mr. HAINES. I wish to explain my vote. shall vote "no," from the fact that, as I have stated here before, I am opposed to bankrupting this new State for the benefit of any railroad, except it may be for such a one as shall first reach our boundaries in running order. Mr. HAWLEY. I ask to be excused from voting.

Mr. STURTEVANT. I will wait a while before I vote.

Mr. DELONG. I hope not; I want instructions from these gentlemen, as to how I shall

vote.

Mr. COLLINS. Inasmuch as the benefit from this road would be confined to a few counties, I will vote "no."

then had their names recorded as given above. Messrs. Hawley, Sturtevant, and DeLong, The result of the vote having been announced, as above stated

The PRESIDENT said the question recurred upon the amendment offered by the gentleman from Lyon, (Mr. Crosman,) as it had been modified.

Mr. HAINES. I have an amendment to offer.

I propose to amend the proviso by adding the following:

"And further provided, that no portion of any such appropriation shall be expended for the construction State." or equipment of a railroad outside of the limits of this

Mr. DELONG. I have only to say in regard to that amendment, that the Hon. Leland Stanford, President of the Pacific Railroad Company, has stated on this floor that when that Pacific Railroad shall reach the confines of this State, they will not want anything that the appropriations of the General Government will then be sufficient to enable them, with the addition of the proceeds from the earnings of the road, to extend the road as rapidly as it can be built through this State, without any aid from the State, and they would not want any such aid.

Mr. CROSMAN. Well, sir, I say that one effect of the amendment proposed by the gentleman from Ormsby, would be to provide that the Legislature may make this appropriation Mr. LOCKWOOD. And he stated still furwithout submitting the matter to the people. A ther, that he spurned the offer which had been simple act of the Legislature, under that amend-made, if coupled with the proviso that the aid ment, would absolutely donate a million and a half of dollars, without submitting it to the people at all.

was to be given to the first road which should reach the State line. I was very particular to note that carefully, and I wrote it down exactly