Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 1.djvu/420



its policy and candidates. At the August election the vote on the State candidates stood as follows:

The vote on a constitutional convention was, for a convention, 32,790, against a convention, 14,162; majority for a convention, 18,628.

The Republicans elected Samuel R. Curtis to Congress in the First District, and Timothy Davis in the Second District. They also elected a majority of each branch of the Sixth General Assembly and now had control of every department of the State government. The vote of Iowa for President was cast as follows: for John C. Fremont, Republican, 45,196; James Buchanan, Democrat, 37,663; Millard Fillmore, Whig, 9,669; plurality for Fremont, 7,784.

An election was held on the 4th of December, 1856, for delegates to the Constitutional Convention, at which one delegate was chosen from each Senatorial District and two from the First and Fourth Districts. They assembled at Iowa City on the 19th of January, 1857 and organized by the election of Francis Springer, President and T. J. Saunders, Secretary. The convention consisted of thirty-six delegates, of which twenty-one were Republicans and fifteen Democrats. The session lasted until the 5th of March. The following are the most important changes made in the Constitution:

1. No lease of agricultural lands was valid for more than twenty years.

2. Biennial sessions of the Legislature were begun on the second Monday in January after the election of members.

3. Time of the General Election was changed to the second Tuesday in October.

4. The votes of a majority of the members elected in each branch of the General Assembly were required to pass a bill.