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mouth to source. The selections were approved by the Secretary of the Treasury. A question having arisen as to the extent of the grant, the Board of Public Works was instructed by Richard M. Young, Commissioner of the General Land Office, February 23, 1848, that the grant embraced the alternate (odd numbered) sections within five miles of the river, throughout the whole extent of that stream within the limits of Iowa.* The public had reason to believe that this decision of the Land Department of the United States settled the limits of the grant. But it proved to be but the beginning of one of the most complicated, vexatious and expensive controversies that has ever arisen over a grant of public lands, as will be seen as its history progresses.
The Constitution of 1846 provided that a census of the State should be taken within one year after its adoption, and each two years thereafter for eight years. The census of 1847 gave the population 116,454, making an increase during the year past of 14,066. There were at this time thirty-two organized counties in the State. The report of the Auditor, made November 30, 1847, shows the total amount of State tax collected that year to be but $5,782.36. A loan was made by the issue and sale of bonds to the amount of $55,000. The assessed value of the property of the State for 1847 was $11,277,139.
The Whig State Convention assembled at Iowa City on the 11th of May, 1848, and placed in nomination the following candidates: Secretary of State, J. M. Coleman; Auditor, M. Morley; Treasurer, Robert Holmes. The resolutions adopted condemned the administration of James K. Polk for making war upon Mexico; declared in favor of the application of the principle of the “Wilmot Proviso.”†
* Letter of Commissioner, in Report of State Land Office, 1865, page 30.
† In 1846 the House of Representatives was discussing the acquisition of territory from Mexico when David Wilmot, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, offered the following amendment to the bill: “Provided that slavery shall be forever prohibited in all territory acquired from Mexico.” This “Wilmot Proviso” although defeated at the time eventually divided and defeated the Democrats.
