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in its principles is the only security of national existence, prosperity, and honor.

Resolved, That in suppressing the great rebellion, begun and prosecuted by one wing of the Demo cratic party, countenanced and aided by the other, and in destroying slavery and preserving the nation, the Republican party justly earned the gratitude of the lovers of liberty and good government every where; yet as a political party it cannot long endure and receive popular support solely on renown already achieved, however brilliant, but must go forwird and courageously deal with other questions now demanding consideration, and that among such questions there is none more pressing or important than reform in the civil service of the Government, and the complete extirpation of the spoils system, inaugurated by the Democratic party.

Resolved, That we both admire and approve the action of those who have been, and are still, engaged in the prosecution and punishment of official dishonesty; that we are in favor of an economical administration of the Government by honest, faithful, and capable officers.

Resolved, That the Republican party of California deprecates now, as it has done at all times in the past, the presence among us of hordes of servile Chinese, inimical to our advancement as a nation; that, while the Democratic party has repeatedly resolved against the introduction of these people, it has never taken action to prevent it; that we fully indorse the course of our representatives, to whom is due the credit of the only laws of reform this subject, that we are in favor of such a modification of the existing treaty with China as will effectually prevent any further influx of these people

into our State.

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Resolved, That the Democracy of this State is not to be trusted as a national party with the possession of the presidential office or of Congress, because of its purpose to add hundreds of millions to the national debt, for pensions to Confederate soldiers, claims for cotton, legally and justly confiscated, and, in the end, over a thousand millions as compensation for the loss of slaves of the South; the allowance of which would most surely result in another war, since loyal Union men will never peaceably consent to be taxed to pay treason for its losses.

After the delegates had been appointed, the following additional resolutions were adopted: Resolved, That while the Republican party contains many men who, by their recognized ability and devotion to the principles of the party, have proved themselves worthy of public support and confidence, and capable of filling honorably the highest office in the gift of the people, the Republican party of California especially recognizes in the Hon. James G. Blaine an eminently able and tried exponent of the principles of the party, of large experience in public life, of the purest public and private character, and possessing in a marked degree those personal qualities which would do honor to the office of President

of the United States.

Resolved, That while thus expressing our preference for the Hon. James G. Blaine, yet, having confidence in the intelligence and patriotism of our delegates to the National Convention, we leave them unembarrassed by instructions, and free to exercise their own deliberate choice in the convention, as the interests of the country may in their judgment

seem to demand.

The Democratic Convention was held in San Francisco, on the 24th and 25th of May. A State Central Committee and delegates to the St. Louis Convention were chosen. The platform enunciated the following principles:

tion of the United States. 1. Fidelity to all the provisions of the Constitu

self-government in every section. 2. The perpetual union of all the States, with local

3. Civil-service reform and the restoration of the tests of honesty, fidelity, and capacity, in the qualification of public officers.

State, and municipal administration, lessening the 4. Retrenchment and economy in the Federal, burdens on labor by the reduction of offices and taxation.

laws of the corruption and peculation in the ad5. The exposure and speedy punishment by penal ministration of public affairs.

funds by official custodians means embezzlement 6. The private use and appropriation of public and robbery. Official accountability exacted and enforced by a better administration of the civil and criminal laws.

7. State corporations supervisable by and subordinate to State legislation in the interests of the people.

and a free press, accountable for abuses to the civil 8. Free schools, exempt from all sectarian control,

and criminal laws.

and the honest payment of the public debt. 9. The preservation of the public faith and credit,

10. The money of the Constitution, gold and silver, the only legal tender.

11. A tariff for purposes of revenue only. 12. No Chinese immigration. It is so thoroughly prohibition is imperatively demanded, and all the obnoxious to our people and institutions that its powers of the Government should be exerted to that end.

A resolution was adopted, declaring that the vote of the State in the National Convention should be cast by a majority of the delegates. Then the following was adopted by acclamation, under a suspension of rules:

Whereas, The Hon. Samuel J. Tilden, Governor of the State of New York, by his manly defense of the people against the corrupt schemes of political tricksters, has proved himself to be a true reformer and a fit champion of the people in conflict with official corruption, and by his bold advocacy of the hardmoney circulating medium of our country he has made himself an unobjectionable leader of the Democratic party: therefore, be it

Resolved, That his nomination as President of the tion would be acceptable to the Democratic party of United States by the National Democratic ConvenCalifornia as a glorious victory in the cause of honest government.

A decision was rendered by the Supreme Court of the State on the 11th of February, in the case of the People vs. the Hibernia Savings and Loan Society, to the effect that mortgages and credits are not subject to taxation. The constitution of the State provides that "taxation shall be equal and uniform throughout the State. All property in this State shall be taxed in proportion to its value, to be ascertained as directed by law; but assessors and collectors of town, county, and State taxes shall be elected by the qualified electors of the district, county, or town in which the property taxed for State, county, or town purposes is situated." The political code of the State re

quires that all property shall be taxed, and declares that personal property includes "money, goods, chattels, evidences of debt, and things in action." Judge McKinstry, in delivering the opinion of the court, maintained that " evidences of debt and things in action" could not be regarded as property within the meaning of the constitution. He said :

All

That causes of action are dependent on too many contingencies to be capable of appraisement which shall accord with any rule of equality or uniformity of value, is too plain for argument. Yet the constitution requires that all property shall be assessed on the ad valorem principle by local assessors. property which is visible and tangible is capable of such assessment; choses in action are not. The word "property" has been used in our language in several senses; but in the case in hand we cannot be limited to the meaning given it by the code, but may also-and such is our duty-look for its meaning in the constitution. The constitution provides that no property, as property, shall be taxed, except such as is capable of a valuation by the assessors, which shall be ratably equal and uniform with that affixed to all other property.

It is property in possession or enjoyment, and not merely in right, which must ultimately pay every tax. The Legislature may declare that a cause of action shall be taxed, but a cause of action cannot pay the tax; and this because it has, and can have, no value independent of the tangible wealth out of which it may be satisfied.

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He who has the property in possession must be taxed on its value, and the value once taxed cannot be retaxed without a violation of the constitutional

provision that each value shall be taxed proportionately to the sum of all the values.

consequent degree of taxation necessary for its supply have reference to the actual aggregate wealth of the political community to which government looks for support. These habitually vary as the State is popularly said to be comparatively rich or comparatively poor.

The Legislature, in making up the budget, must necessarily, therefore, look to the aggregate amount of actual wealth in the hands of the people, and borne upon the tax-rolls. This constitutes the capacity to pay, which it is always indispensable for the statesman to consider.. And in considering it, how, it may be asked, can it be supposed that the aggregate wealth of the people-their actual capacity to pay taxes-is at all made up of credits-the mere indebtedness owing by individual members of the body politic to others of its members?

An answer would perhaps most readily be found in supposing, were such a thing possible, that the entire tax-rolis exhibited nothing but such indebtedTaxation attempted under such circumstances would of course be wholly fanciful, as having no actual basis for its exercise.

ness.

It must result, therefore, that mere credits are a false quantity in ascertaining the sum of wealth which is subject to taxation as property, and that, in so far as that sum is attempted to be increased by the addition of those credits, property taxation, based thereon, is not only merely fanciful, but necessarily the unconstitutional imposition of an additional tax upon a portion of the property already once taxed. Mr. Justice Crockett, speaking of former decisions, said:

I am satisfied, upon more mature deliberation, and in the light of the later and more exhaustive arguments of the questions, that the former rulings on this point cannot be supported. The constitution being The sovereign power of the people employing to the people that its provisions should be properly the fundamental law, it is of the utmost consequence the prerogative of taxation regards not the claims of individuals on individuals, but deals with the construed. This is peculiarly true of those proaggregate wealth of all; that which is supposed visions relating to the power of taxation-a power to be unlimited is here limited by an inexorable more subject to abuse than any other, and which law which parliaments cannot set aside, for it is directly affects the interest of every citizen. Whatonly to the actual wealth that governments can reever weight may be due to the rule of stare decisis, sort, and, that exhausted, they have no other propion, to prevent a return to a proper construction of as applied to other subjects, it ought not, in my opinerty resource. This is as certain as that a paper those provisions of the constitution which affect promise to pay money is not money. rights have grown up under the former construction, the vital question of taxation. No great property which can be injuriously affected by the change in the rule, and I discover no sufficient reason for sisting in a construction, the only effect of which, in a large majority of cases, is to inflict upon the borrowers of money an unjust and oppressive system of double taxation. That this is the necessary result of a tax on debts secured by mortgage for money loaned is, in my opinion, too plain to admit of de

The facts of the present case do not present any question as to the power of the Legislature to require the payment of a specific sum by way of license for the transaction of a practical business, or the performance of particular acts. The views above expressed remove the objection heretofore resorted to, that the creditor cannot complain if the debtor shall pay a double tax. The creditor can always complain, because the credit should not be taxed at all, inasmuch as it has no independent value, and therefore cannot be taxed in proportion to such value (as part of the aggregate of value) in the manner required by the constitution.

Judge Miles concurred fully in Judge McKinstry's views. Chief-Justice Wallace and Judge Crockett submitted separate but concurrent opinions. Chief-Justice Wallace said:

This provision of the constitution established the cardinal rule that property taxation in this State should always be imposed upon an ad valorem, as contradistinguished from a specific basis, and may be paraphrased thus: "All the actual wealth within this State shall be equally burdened with the support of the government." That "property" as here employed in the constitution, and "actual wealth" as used in the paraphrase, are synonymous, and that each of them alike excludes mere credits, is believed to be demonstrable. In the nature of things, both the scale of public expenditure indulged and the

bate.

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nia politics. For a number of years he was President of the Northern Central Railroad of Pennsylvania, in which position he was succeeded by Colonel Thomas A. Scott, when the Pennsylvania Railroad Company obtained a controlling interest in the Northern Central. Mr. Cameron was a prominent member of the Republican State Convention which met at Harrisburg in March, 1876, and by it was chosen as the head of the Pennsylvania delegation to the National Convention which assembled in Cincinnati in June. May 22, 1876, Mr. Cameron was nominated by President Grant as Secretary of War, and was promptly confirmed by the Senate. The new Secretary is regarded as a man having administrative abilities of a high order.

CAPERTON, ALLEN T., was born near Union, Monroe County, Va. (now West Va.), November 21, 1810; died in Washington, July 26, 1876. He graduated at Yale College in 1832, and studied law at Staunton, Va. He was for several years a member of the Virginia Legislature, his last term in the Senate being in 1859-60. He was a member of the Constitutional Convention of 1861, and opposed secession until the beginning of hostilities. He was elected to the Confederate States Senate, and served till the fall of the Confederacy. He was chosen to represent West Virginia in the Senate of the United States for the full

term beginning March 4, 1875. He was a member of the Committees on Claims, Railroads, and the Revision of the Laws of the United States.

CAPPONI, Marquis GINO, the last representative of an illustrious Florentine family, born September 14, 1792; died February 3, 1876. In 1847 he was created Senator of

Of 224,633 children in 1874 and 252,301 in Tuscany, and after the proclamation of the 1875, the nativities were:

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Constitution of 1848 he became Minister of State and President of the Council. In the following years he resolved to give up public life, but afterward accepted a position as a member of the commission governing Tuscany in the absence of the grand-duke. His contributions to Italian literature are numerous. He wrote a number of articles for the "Italian Anthology" on Florence, which were suppressed in 1832. In addition to these various publications he dictated, after he became blind, an important work under the title of "Fragments on the Subject of Education." He was also one of the principal editors of the "Historical Archives," published in Florence. His biography was written by Montazio (1872).

CARNE, LOUIS MARCEIN, Count DE, an eminent French publicist, born February 17, 1804; died February 13, 1876. He entered the diplomatic service at an early age. In 1839 he was elected to the Chamber of Deputies, where he was a follower of Lamartine. He opposed many of the points of M. Guizot's foreign policy, but in the year 1847 accepted the presidency of the Commercial Department of Foreign Affairs. From this he retired after

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the Revolution of February 24, 1848. He was elected a member of the Academy in 1863. Appearing as a candidate for a seat in the Legislature in 1869, he was defeated. He received the decoration of the Legion of Honor in 1837. He was the author of numerous works, among which are "Vues sur l'Histoire Contemporaine" (1833), "Du Gouvernement Représentatif en France et en Angleterre (1841), and "L'Europe et le Second Empire (1865). He also furnished numerous contributions to the Revue Européenne, the Encyclopédie du XIXme Siècle, the Dictionnaire de la Conversation, the Revue des Deux Mondes, and numerous journals. His son Louis accompanied the French Scientific Expedition to IndoChina in 1866 to 1868, and gained considerable reputation by his contributions to the Revue des Deux Mondes, on that country.

CENTRAL AMERICA (AMÉRICA Central), the isthmian territory comprised between Mexico and Colombia, and the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and serving to unite the northern and southern continents of America.

It comprises the five independent states of Guatemala, Honduras, San Salvador, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica, formerly united under a single Government, known as the Republic of Central America.

On February 22, 1876, the plenipotentiaries for the reestablishment of the Central American Confederation retired "to their respective homes," leaving the prospects of reconstruction as meagre as at the time of their assembling. The spirit of union, nevertheless, still exists in the breasts of the people, though it is manifested with greatest earnestness in Guatemala, by far the most progressive of the five states.

On September 15, 1876, the anniversary of Central American independence was celebrated in all of them with unabated patriotism, and in the midst of enthusiastic rejoicings. In the national palace of Guatemala, Señor T. Martin Barrundia, of the War Department, delivered an oration, the concluding remarks of which reflect the prevailing policy at the present time in that country respecting Central American reunification: "It is on this day that we ought all to strive to join in the prayer that these five sections of the same territory may soon form one family, united under one and the same flag, and so present to the world the grand spectacle of another republic founded by them, like that of Washington or William Tell."

Through the mediation of the British Government, the consent of the Government of San Salvador to a satisfactory settlement of the outstanding bonds for the Salvadorian portion of the original Central American debt was obtained. New difficulties, created by the minister of the republic in London, appear, however, to offer an obstacle to the immediate surrender of the bonds. A memorial has been sent to the San Salvador Government, through

the Foreign Office, appealing against further delay.

CHAIX D'EST ANGE, GUSTAVE LOUIS VICTOR ADOLPHE CHARLES, a French lawyer and politician, born April 11, 1800; died December 14, 1876. He took an active part in the exciting events of 1830 and 1848, and was engaged in numerous celebrated trials. At the end of 1857 he was appointed procureur général at the Imperial Court in Paris. He was appointed shortly after Councilor of State, and in 1862 was created a Senator of the Empire. In 1863 he was appointed Vice-President of the Council of State, and in 1864 was assigned to preside over the section of Public Works and Fine Arts. He took an active part in the Corps Législatif as commissioner of the Government, and in 1868 presented to the Senate a report on the celebrated petition of the Catholics demanding free superior instruction. He was created a Commander of the Legion of Honor in 1858, and a Grand Officer in 1861.

CHELIUS, MAXIMILIAN JOSEPH, an eminent German surgeon, born in 1794; died August 17, 1876. He studied at Mannheim and Heidelberg, receiving at the age of eighteen the diploma of Doctor of Medicine. He practised medicine in several cities, was physician to the hospital at Ingolstadt, Bavaria, and accompanied the Baden troops in the invasion of France after the overthrow of Napoleon I. He subsequently increased his knowledge of surgery and medicine by attending a course of lectures at the hospitals and universities of Vienna, Göttingen, Berlin, and Paris. In 1817 he was appointed Extraordinary and in 1819 Ordinary Professor of Medicine at Heidelberg. In 1826 he was created a ducal councilor of Baden. His best-known work is his "Handbuch der Chirurgie" (2 vols., seventh edition, 1851), which has been translated into several languages, and is considered a standard work on surgery. He was also the author of "Ueber die Heilung der Blasenscheidenfisteln durch Cauterisation" (1844), and "Zur Lehre von den Staphylomen des Auges" (1858).

CHEMISTRY. Chemistry of the Brain.Mr. Charles T. Kingsett, assistant of Dr. Thudichum, in his researches into the chemical constitution of the brain, in a lecture before the Liverpool Chemists' Association, stated as follows the constituents of brain-substance:

TABLE SHOWING CONSTITUENTS OF THE BRAIN. GROUP OF SULPHURIZED PRINCIPLES.

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The albuminous matters from the brain, he observed, do not differ specifically from similar matter derived from other parts of the body, and are mainly insoluble in water. The kephalins possess a great affinity for oxygen, and also exhibit a wonderful power of combination. The first member of this group was discovered by Thudichum.

Lecithin has been obtained mainly in combination with platinic chloride as hydrochloride, but this salt proves so unstable as to defy in great measure all attempts which have been made to elucidate its nature. But it has proved at least to possess characters different in some respects from those attributed to the lecithin described by Strecker and Gobley, although it appears to yield similar products of decomposition.

Cerebrin, stearoconote, phrenosin, and kerasin,

are all well-characterized substances: the first two are isomeric, stearoconote being formed from cerebrin, when the latter is heated in alcohol, more rapidly than it can be dissolved, when it fuses and becomes insoluble. But the product is readily soluble in benzine, while cerebrin is absolutely insoluble in cold benzine; from the benzine solution the stearoconote is precipitated by alcohol.

Cerebrin seems to be the di-amidated form of a fatty acid, while phrenosin appears to constitute the mono-amidated form.

Kerasin has a microscopical character extremely easy to recognize, and of such form as to readily enable one to discover the presence of foreign mat

ters.

Inosite is a sort of sugar; it is probably present in human brain-matter, while in the brain of the ox it exists in very decided amount.

In certain cases of softening of the brain, Dr. Thudichum has observed the presence of glycerophosphoric and fatty acids in the free state. As these matters are never normally present, and as they constitute the decomposition products of some of the phosphorized principles, it is probable that softening of the brain may be expressed chemically as the decomposition of one or more of the phosphorized principles into proximate nuclei.

All the principles of which brain-matter is composed are, en masse (with the exception of the albuminous framework), soluble in warm alcohol, although the individual principles are not all soluble under these conditions. The question occurs here: Can a man consume so much alcohol in the form of stimulants, and retain enough in his blood in the unoxidized condition, to dissolve traces of matter from his brain? Actual experiments made by Mr. Kingsett appear to favor the hypothesis of a solvent action exerted by alcohol on the brain of the living

individual.

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ally the effects upon human life of the vapors and gases emanating from chemical works, a series of questions was sent to the members of the Northwestern (England) Association of Medical Officers of Health. Upon the basis of the facts brought out in the replies, Dr. Francis Vacher has written a report, the substance of which is here given. Five questions were submitted to the officers of health, the first being whether the gases and vapors from chemical works are productive of any excessive mortality. To this question twenty-six medical officers made reply. Of these, six distinctly state that they do consider noxious vapors a cause of the mortality in their respective districts, and one of these six gave an opinion that the irritant as well as the poisonous gases increase the death-rate. Three other medical officers refrain from answering positively, either in the affirmative or in the negative. Of these, the officer for the city of Glasgow is of the opinion that noxious vapors do affect the local death-rate, but asserts that the subject "cannot be studied in its purity," as "the larger factors of house over-crowding and building, dirt, and poverty, obscure the action of all other agencies." The other two do not answer the question. But the remaining seventeen medical officers answer the question, positively or indirectly, in the negative. Thus, the officer for Bristol finds "the population exposed to these gases as healthy as that of any part of the city." The medical officer erable chemical works, states that the average of Blaydon-on-Tyne, where there are considhealth condition of the place is singularly good, and has been for the last thirty years. The medical officer for Liverpool is "acquainted with no facts which would support a belief that the excessive mortality of the district is due to the vapors of chemical works."

In thirteen of the twenty-six returns no reply is made to the second question, in which ease, if any, produced or aggravated by noxious information is sought as to the forms of disvapors. The medical officers of the remaining thirteen towns and districts are of opinion that diseases are produced or aggravated by gases and vapors from chemical works, and many of them instance specific diseases, which they believe to be traceable to this cause. In one return it is stated that "every disease of the respiratory organs seems to be aggravated, and vomiting sometimes produced," by the noxious Vapors. Other returns note injurious effects produced on patients suffering from bronchitis, asthma, pneumonia, and, in some iustances, these and allied complaints are said to be primarily caused by the vapors from chemical works. Lastly, the medical officers for three districts charge gases and vapors from chemical works with the production of phthisis. There is also some evidence that these gases and vapors, in some districts, cause loss of appetite, sick headache, diarrhoea, nausea, and indigestion.

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