Page:History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century Volume 2.djvu/150

 in as Lieutenant-Governor. On the 16th, the General Assembly met in joint convention and proceeded to ballot for United States Senator. James W. Grimes received one hundred and twenty-eight votes, John D. Jennings five, and J. M. Love one. James W. Grimes was declared elected for the term of six years, beginning the 4th of March, 1865.

The most important acts of this session of the Legislature were the following: an act to organize and discipline the militia of the State; an act for the relief of the families of soldiers and marines in the service of the United States, which required the collection of two mills on the dollar of all taxable property in each county for the benefit of such families for the years 1864-1865; an act making an appropriation for the erection of a building for the State Agricultural College; an act authorizing the trustees of said college to lease or sell the lands granted by Congress for the support of that institution; an act to repeal the law of the Third General Assembly, which prohibited the immigration of free negroes into this State; an act increasing the number of Supreme Judges from three to four; an act fixing the salary of the Governor at $2,500, and requiring him to keep the Executive Office at Des Moines, where he should transact the business of the Executive Department, and keep a secretary in his absence. That all official acts of the Executive should, at the time, be entered in a journal. He should keep a military record, on which should be entered every act done by him as Commander-in-Chief. An act prohibiting the circulation of foreign bank notes in Iowa and an act abolishing the State Board of Education, and providing for the election of a Superintendent of Public Instruction were also passed.

Several joint resolutions were passed, among which were: one requesting the colonels of Iowa regiments in the service to furnish the Adjutant-General with a brief history of their respective regiments, in order that their