CHAPTER III.
THE STATE GOVERNORS.
GOVERNOR DAVID
BUTLER.
David Butler, first governor of the state of
Nebraska, was born in the state of Indiana near Bloomington,
Monroe County, December, 1829. At that time in the west
educational facilities were so very indifferent that farmers' sons
were doomed to enter public life, very generally developed more by
application to severe toil and the treasures of personal
experience, than by technical scholastic culture.
Whether superintendent of a Wisconsin stock farm
before of age, or assuming the charge of a large family and an
embarassed (sic) estate on the death of his father, or coming out
of the financial crisis of 1857 with "an inheritance of loss," he
was prepared for new ventures and future encounters. Arriving in
Nebraska in 1858, still a young man, little did he suppose that in
eight years' time he would be enrolled among the executives of
states. Engaging in mercantile pursuits in Pawnee City and in
raising and dealing in live stock, he was soon established as a
persevering and successful man of business. Efficiency and
prominence soon marked him for a leader, and prior to his
nomination for governor he had served three years in the
legislature.
According to the provision of the state
constitution, the first session was to convene on the Fourth of
July, 1866; and to this body was delivered the first message of
the first governor of the new state. As this period marks an era
in our political existence, it may not be inappropriate to present
it in fall:
Gentlemen of the Senate and House
of Representatives: In accordance with a time-honored
custom, that reaches back to the beginning of our national
existence, I assume the
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DAVID BUTLER.
privilege of addressing the first senate and house of
representatives, chosen by the popular will, since Nebraska was
elected to take her rank as one of the sovereign states of the
Union. The position in which we stand to-day is peculiar to our
national economy, and affords an instructive comment upon the
character of our institutions and their adaptation to the needs
of a progressive people. While in a territorial condition, we
have, necessarily, been dependent upon the general government
for social and civil protection, for the appointment of our
executive and judicial officers, and for annual appropriations
to defray the expenses of a territorial government. Now that
the rapid increase of our population and the proportional
development of our resources have given us sufficient strength
and stability to dispense with the temporary guardianship
afforded by the Organic Act while passing our minority in the
family of the Union, we propose, quietly and peaceably, in
accordance with numerous precedents afforded by other states,
and in response to the invitation extended to us by an act of
Congress of 1864, commonly called the Enabling Act, to take
upon ourselves the responsibility of state government.
The auspices under which we ask, at the door
of Congress, for admission into the Union, are extremely
favorable to our future happiness and prosperity. The tide of
immigration, checked for a season by the disturbing influences
of the great civil war, is again pouring with increased
momentum. over the western banks of the Missouri, and now,
although a year has scarcely elapsed since the close of the
rebellion, our population has probably increased one third; our
prairies have been taken up with unexampled rapidity by
enterprising settlers, and herds of cattle and fields of
luxuriant grain change, as if by magic, the solitary wilderness
to the appearance of civilization.
The question of state government, as it has
been submitted to the people, has not been sprung precipitately
upon them. No exception can with propriety be taken to the
manner in which it has been brought before them. It has been
thoroughly discussed; first by the territorial legislature that
drafted the constitution, then by the press and by the people
at large, and the result of the vote upon the state
constitution evinces that a majority of the people of Nebraska
deliberately prefer the rights and privileges appertaining to a
state to the more imperfect organization of a territory. The
objection to the admission of Nebraska by Congress, on the
ground of a scanty population, cannot be urged with any
appearance of consistency. At
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the time of the passage of the "Enabling Act" by
Congress in 1864, the population of Nebraska was estimated at
38,000. As no accurate census has been taken since that time,
the exact increase cannot be stated, but from the returns of
the assessment of 1865, from the great influx of immigration
during the fall of 1865, and the spring of 1866, and from the
number of votes cast in the recent election, sufficient data
are presented to estimate, with probable accuracy, that it will
not, by the time Congress can take action upon the question of
her admission, fall short of 70,000. This, so far from being
below the standard of new states, is really above the average.
That it will be any grievance to the older states in the Union
to give Nebraska a greater representation in Congress than is
prescribed by law, is an evident fallacy. In apportioning
representatives to other states, although a population of
120,000 is required for each member, yet several of the states
have each a representative in Congress for a fractional part of
the stated number, often less than the population of Nebraska.
In addition to this, it will be found, upon reference to the
census returns of the different states, that not only have the
majority of them been admitted before their population was up
to the standard of representation, from time to time increased
by Congress, but in at least one case (that of Florida) a state
has been represented for years, upon the congressional floors,
by two senators and one representative, that has not at this
moment a population exceeding that of Nebraska, and which has
never in its history measured up to the legal standard. That
the people of Nebraska and of all the territories, now or to be
organized, would suffer injustice were it requisite to the
admission of a state that she should have the number of
inhabitants required for a representative is evident, not only
from the foregoing statements, but from the guarantees given
them in the treaty by the provisions of which Louisiana was
ceded by France to the United States in 1803, and which
embraces nearly all the states admitted since the treaty was
made, and the present western territories, with the exception
of those ceded by Mexico. In the third article of that treaty
we find the following language, than which nothing can be more
explicit and clear: "The inhabitants of the ceded territories
shall be incorporated in the union of the United States, and be
admitted as soon as possible, according to the principles of
the federal Constitution, to the enjoyments of all the rights
and immunities of citizens of the United States; and in the
meantime they shall be maintained and protected in the free
enjoyment of all their liberty, prop-
erty and the religion which they profess." Now, what
is meant by the expression as soon as possible, according to
the principles of the constitution," if it is not to be
interpreted, as soon as their wealth and population shall be
sufficient to support a state government? It could not have
been in contemplation that an inexorable sliding scale should
be established, increasing from time to time, to keep pace with
the development of older communities, to which each new
territory must measure up or be kept out from her right of
representation and self-government.
If the people of the Atlantic states could
support their respective state governments with population
ranging, in some instances, considerably less than that of our
territory, then it reasonably follows that the time
contemplated in the treaty, specified by this somewhat emphatic
expression, "as soon as possible," has arrived for the state of
Nebraska. While it is a subject of regret that the majority for
the constitution was so small, yet an impartial examination
into the causes that tended to decrease it will do away with,
most of the significance that might be attached to that
circumstance. Nebraska, while sending her full quota of
volunteers to the national army for the suppression of the
rebellion, contributed very little in the way of direct
taxation for the prosecution of the war. While most of the
states were obliged to offer large bounties to induce
enlistments, we were wholly exempt from such burdens, and the
close of the war found us neither impoverished by heavy taxes
nor weighed down with a heavy debt. The advantage thus enjoyed
by our taxpayers over those of other sections, though really
adventitious, carried great weight as an argument in favor of a
territorial form of government to minds not accustomed to study
much the science of political economy, Another argument used
against the constitution was of a very different nature, and
was found in the instrument itself, in the clause defining the
extent of the elective franchise. But this vexed question seems
now about to be placed beyond the reach of agitation by an
amendment of the constitution of the United States which has
already passed Congress, and now awaits the ratification of
two-thirds of the states, which in due course of time will
permanently settle the political status of the African.
Within the last two years the wealth of the
territory has increased with even greater rapidity than the
population. In 1864 the taxable property of Nebraska was
returned as $11,000,000; in 1865 at $13,000,000. This year the
returns already filed in the auditor's office indicate a total
of
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$18,000,000. The same ratio of increase will give us
in 1867 the sum of $35,000,000; but taking into consideration
the unprecedented increase of emigration, and the large amount
of capital introduced by the rapid progress of our internal"
improvements, it will be safe to estimate the amount of taxable
property in 1867 at upward of $40,000,000.
The railroad interests of Nebraska are
assuming large proportions. The work upon the main line of the
Pacific Railroad is progressing at the rate of one mile per
day, and in a few weeks the track of iron will extend two
hundred miles west to Fort Kearney. If the same energy shall be
displayed till its completion, but a short time will elapse ere
it will wind its way beyond our western boundary. This road
completed, together with the various connecting branches, now
in contemplation, or in process of construction to unite us
with the great eastern roads and the gulf of Mexico, we shall
have abundant facilities for transporting our surplus products
to the eastern, southern and western markets. The importance of
the early completion of these highways of commerce is not
overlooked by our enterprising people, and must be felt even by
a casual observer who should today cross our broad fields,
where the cattle graze upon a thousand prairies, and the earth
seems oppressed by the burden of ripening grain. Measures have
been recently taken in several counties for the development of
our mineral resources, and the present indications are that
coal exists in inexhaustible quantities in Nebraska. It cannot
be long in the natural order of things before. the attention of
capitalists will be directed to our mines and coal will in good
time fill the breach caused by our temporary scarcity of
timber.
To a community so comparatively wealthy as
our own the burdens of a state government must be light; and
when we take into the account the inevitable impetus to be
given to, emigration and the introduction of capital by the
adoption of a state constitution, we can but come to the
conclusion that financially we shall be upon a much better
basis in. 1867 with a state organization than in 1866 as a
territory.
The duties of the present legislature, though
important will not probably occupy much time nor entail very
much upon the treasury in the way of appropriations. Until the
seal of legality is placed upon its records by our admission
and consequent recognition by Congress, its action should be
limited to the business actually necessary to put in motion the
machinery of state. The election of United States senators, who
shall, in conjunction with our congressional representative,
present our petition at Washington, is of
course the first and most important step. That your
counsels will be guided by wisdom and patriotism, the fact that
you come fresh from the people, to whom the issues of the day
have been presented with distinctness and ability, seems to
afford the strongest pledge.
The amendment to the Constitution of the
United States, recently passed by Congress, and submitted to
the action of the several states, to which I have incidentally
referred, should, in my opinion, be acted upon during the
present session. It is the embodiment of the reconstruction
policy of Congress--a policy long considered and carefully
digested, and which is apparently the wisest, the most
expedient, and the most conformable to the spirit of our
institutions, of any that has been suggested, or that can be
adopted. It gives a promise of an early solution to the main
questions that have threatened the national life, and if fully
carried out in letter and spirit, will, as I think, restore
harmony and concord to the national councils and reaffirm in
our Constitution the fundamental principles enunciated in the
Declaration of Independence, that all men are created free and
equal. It is not necessary for me to enter into the particulars
of the amendment at present, as I shall take an early
opportunity to communicate it to your honorable body.
Financially I am able to report the territory
in a healthy condition. The light debt incurred by us during
the Indian troubles, in defending our frontiers, forms the
extent of our liabilities. Congress will, doubtless, in
accordance with established precedents, reimburse us for our
expenditures in calling out the militia against the Indians, as
soon as our just claim shall have been properly represented. To
these facts, and especially to the financial tact and energy of
our present territorial administration, are we indebted for the
gratifying fact that our bonds will bring in the market
ninety-seven cents on the dollar. In this respect we have
advantages not often possessed by a new state, and which will
tend to alleviate any additional burdens that the change in our
form of government may impose. There has never been in our
history a finer prospect for an abundant harvest than at
present. He who sends the "early and latter rain" has blessed
us most abundantly, and to Him should our hearts go forth in
gratitude for His many mercies.
We believe that the time is not far distant
when the products of our soil shall make our name familiar in
the commercial marts of the farthest clime--when our prairies
shall be dotted with comfortable dwellings and tracts of
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growing timber, from the Missouri to the mountains,
and when our churches and schoolhouses, greeting each other
from every eminence, shall be the index of the intelligence and
moral worth of our citizens. That the future of Nebraska will
give a glorious fruition as the reward of our sanguine hopes,
is my firm trust and is the prayer of every good citizen and
patriot.
This session, of eight days' duration,
resulted in the election of United States senators, as follows:
Thomas W. Tipton having been nominated as a republican, and J.
Sterling Morton as a democrat, twenty-nine votes having been cast
for the former, and twenty-six for the latter, Thomas W. Tipton
was declared duly elected. And twenty-nine votes having been cast
for John H. Thayer, and twenty-six for Andrew J. Poppleton, John
M. Thayer was also declared duly elected a senator.
On the fourth day of April, 1867, the governor
issued his proclamation for a session of the legislature to
convene on the sixteenth of May ensuing, and specified thirty-one
subjects for its special consideration, in order to accelerate the
transition from the territory to the state; while to this called
session he delivered a very exhaustive message explanatory of the
necessity of a special session. Among other things introductory he
said:
No state has ever entered the Union
under more favorable auspices than our own. Practically free
from debt, our credit is sound, and our resources entirely
available for present and future needs. Our facilities for
communication with the east and south have been greatly
increased during the past year, and the Rocky Mountains and
shores of the Pacific are rapidly drawing near to us, as the
construction train of the Union Pacific makes its daily
progress westward. The tide of immigration, that at the close
of the rebellion commenced to pour over our borders, has
experienced no abatement, but has continued, with accelerated
speed, to people our fertile prairies with hardy pioneers, and
to contribute the necessary labor and capital for the
development of our latent wealth.
The conclusion was as follows:
Gentlemen, I cannot conclude without
expressing a hope that in all your deliberations the spirit of
harmony and mutual forbearance. so necessary to the
preservation of the
dignity of a legislative body, may be carefully
preserved--that every measure brought up for your consideration
may meet with unprejudiced and unimpassioned examination--that
our new state, through your wisdom and prudence, may inscribe
upon the opening pages of its history a record unsullied by the
petty, yet bitter, warfare of local interests, and that every
member of your body may bear in perpetual remembrance that he
owes not merely a duty to the particular section that he
represents, but that Nebraska, as an integral state, now calls
upon him for the unselfish service of his head and heart.
Rendering in all sincerity our humble acknowledgments to the
Giver of all good, for our preservation and. protection as a
people, since the date of our organization as a territory,
uniting with our sister states in gratitude to Him for His
guidance of the American Republic, through the tempest of
treason and armed rebellion, to the haven of peace and renewed
prosperity, let us solemnly join in an invocation to the same
Almighty Power, for the continuance of his fostering care--that
our soil may ever yield its bounteous harvest to the
intelligent toil of the husbandman, and that the peaceful
conquests of commerce and mechanical skill may be as enduring
as the truth of the great principle of universal freedom, which
forever assures them of victories.
On the 27th and 28th days of October, 1868, a
special session of the legislature was holden at Omaha for the
appointment of presidential electors, of which the governor
said:
In consequence of the recent
admission of Nebraska to the Union, the time prescribed for the
regular session of the legislature has not arrived. Since the
admission of the state you have once convened by the call of
the executive. At that time your attention was directed to the
many important questions, growing out of the change in our
domestic government, which were pressing upon us for immediate
action. You have therefore been called together at this time to
make such provision for the appointment of electors of
president and vice-president of the United States of America as
you in your wisdom shall deem best.
This business being accomplished, Mr. Majors,
since lieutenant governor., offered the following resolution:
Resolved, By the senate and house of
representatives concurring, that we respectfully, but
earnestly, urge upon the next president of the United States,
General U. S. Grant,
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the appointment of the Honorable John M. Thayer in his
cabinet; who will, by his long residence on the frontier, and
his acquaintance with the resources and developments of the
West, and with the necessities of the people, be enabled to
advance the interests and prosperity of this great and growing
country.
Mr. Freeman moved to strike out "General
Grant" and insert "Horatio Seymour," Which was lost, and the
resolution adopted.
An act having passed the legislature, July,
1867, "for the location of the seat of government of the state of
Nebraska, and for the erection of public buildings thereat," the
governor, the secretary of state, and auditor, being the
commissioners to perform said duty, did, on the 29th day of July,
1867, establish the capital at the village of Lancaster, on
grounds including state lands and the old surrendered town site of
Lancaster. And thus the sale of town lots inured to the financial
benefit of the state, having amounted to $76,715 during the first
year thereafter. The commissioners whose names were thus
identified with Lincoln as state capital, were Governor David
Butler, Thomas P. Kennard, Secretary of State, and John Gillespie,
State Auditor.
The new seat of government was made prominent,
in the governor's message of January 8th, 1869:
This commodious and well appointed
hall, these substantial walls, this entire beautiful edifice,
this enterprising and thrifty town, sprung within the last
eighteen months, from the open prairie and to-day contributing,
directly and indirectly, to the prosperity of an area of more
than ten thousand square miles, this has been accomplished
without cost to the state or individuals. It has contributed to
the enrichment of both. It has added to the wealth of the state
not less than five millions of dollars. Nor have the public
benefits been yet fully measured. I would, in this connection,
recommend that provision be made for the sale of the remaining
lots. So much of the proceeds as may be necessary for that
purpose should be appropriated to the construction of the dome,
included in the original design of this building, and the
fencing and ornamenting of the grounds, and the remainder to
the erection of a building for state university and
agricultural college.
The grounds upon which the old state house
stands were given by the citizens of Omaha to be used by the
territory
for the erection thereon of the state capitol. In
addition to this, the city gave toward the completion of the
building $30,000 in bonds, which have been redeemed.
On the fourth of March next, the state will
have removed from them all its movable property and have ceased
to occupy them for the purpose originally designed. I recommend
that they be granted to the city of Omaha for a high school on
the condition that when they shall no longer used for that
purpose they shall revert to the state.
Recurring to the above subject, in his
message of January 6th, 1871, we have:
By the provisions of "An act to
provide for the sale of unsold lots and blocks on the town site
of Lincoln, and for the location and erection of a state
university, and agricultural college, and state lunatic
asylum," approved February, 15th, 1869, the commissioners were
authorized to sell all the unsold lots and blocks on the town
site of Lincoln; to construct the dome of the capitol building;
to erect a state lunatic asylum at a cost of $50,000, and a
state university and agricultural college at a cost of
$100,000. "On the 8th of November (1870) the [asylum]
building was formally accepted, and on the 1st of December
completely furnished and ready for the reception of patients.
Orders were issued and the patients from the Iowa Hospital and
the different jails throughout the state, in all numbering over
thirty, removed to the asylum, where they are now receiving the
best care.
The message of 1871 made mention of the State
University:
This institution, established on a
broad basis, and liberally endowed by your predecessors, is not
as yet open for the reception of students. The board of regents
have been appointed and organized, and have taken some steps
preliminary to the selection of the faculty.
Our university building is a source of pride
to the citizens of our state, and is a model not only in
architectural beauty, but in its internal arrangements, and its
adaptation to the purposes for which it is designed. Let me
express the hope that the legislature may always be ready to
foster its interests by wise legislation.
Having presented the necessity of a state
prison in his official communication of 1869, that of 1871
reported progress:
The legislature, recognizing this
necessity, made provision for the erection of a penitentiary,
on lands previously
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set apart for that purpose, about three miles south of
Lincoln, and also for the sale of lands donated to the state:
by the general government, to aid in the construction of such
an institution. The contract for building the penitentiary was
awarded to Messrs. Stout and Jamison, at a contract price of
$307,950. They are executing their work in a manner alike
creditable to themselves and the state. The labor of the
convicts is hired to them at the rate of forty-two cents per
day, for each convict who is able to work. I am pleased to
notice that under the present arrangement the condition of the
prisoner is in every respect much improved.
No such an amount of responsibility had been
cast upon any previous governor, as to the material interests of
the people of Nebraska. Butler's term of occupancy might properly
be called the creative period of the state. Immigration was to be
induced and fostered by all practicable means, education provided
for their descendants, penal laws enacted for their protection
from the vicious, and a state militia for safety from savages;
constitutions framed, amended and adapted to constantly varying
necessities; a capital city established as the home of the state,
and so located as to become a great railway center. The wisdom of
the location, and the general acceptability of administration, had
to extinguish early prejudice and vindicate the propriety of
original design.
The financial statement as given in the message
of 1871, reported a balance in the treasury of $77,886. Said
he:
I am pleased to note that the
material wealth of the state has been rapidly increasing. The
assessed valuation of 1868 was about $32,000,000. That of 1870
was over $53,000,000, thus showing the gratifying increase of
$21,000,000 in two years.
The document concluded:
Invoking for your deliberation the
guidance and blessing of Him who controlleth all things, I
express the hope that your session may be productive of the
highest public good, and honor to yourselves.
At the time of his first election, in 1866,
Governor Butler, republican, had a majority of 145 votes over J.
Sterling Morton,
democrat. In 1868 his majority over J. R. Porter, democrat, was
2,227. In 1870 the majority over John H. Croxton was 2,478. But in
this, his third campaign, charges were made against him of great
irregularities in administering the school fund of the state. His
political friends claimed that no harm could come to the state
from a re-election, as the legislature would be republican, and
they would examine the case and do justice in the premises.
Accordingly, by the sixth day of March, 1871, eleven articles of
impeachment were presented by the house of representatives, to the
senate as a Court of Impeachment, one of which charged Governor
David Butler with having appropriated to his own use $16,881.26 of
school fund, derived from the general government, and that "in
this he had committed and was guilty of a misdemeanor in office."
to all the articles he interposed specific denials, and affirmed
the borrowing of the school fund and the placing on file a
mortgage to secure the same about the first of January, 1871,
which would be three years after the arrival of the money in the
state treasury.
Three months after the convening of the court
(June 1, 1871) he was found guilty of "a misdemeanor in office,"
and the sentence was that he be removed therefrom. The managers of
impeachment were Honorables J. C. Myers, J. E. Doon and Dr. Forest
Porter. Honorables Clinton Briggs, John J. Reddick and T. M.
Marquette were counsel for the defendant.
On the day preceding the rendering of the
decision the governor presented to the speaker of the senate a
proposition for settlement as follows, but as the Court of
Impeachment had no control of a settlement it proceeded to decide
upon a "misdemeanor in office":
To the Honorable, the President
of the Senate:
I take the liberty, on the re-assembling of
your honorable body, to communicate with you upon the subject
of the five per cent fund. Early in the spring of 1868, soon
after the collection of that fund, I made a loan of the state
of the sum of $16,881.26, and afterwards amply secured the same
by bond of mortgage. This was done in perfect good faith and
with the understanding that the transaction was perfectly
legal. Many, however, of my fellow citizens differ
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with me--as regards the legality of the loan and the
sufficiency of the securities, and while I am unchanged in my
opinion on the subject and conscious that I have at no time
done other than my duty in the premises, I am ready and
willing, in order that the subject of dissention (sic) may be
disposed of, to deposit in the state treasury the full amount
of such loan with interest from the 25th day of May, 1869, the
date of the arrival of the fund in Lincoln in charge of the
deputy state treasurer, and I ask the passage of an act
providing for the cancellation of the securities. I sincerely
trust that this proposition on my part may be received in the
same spirit in which it is made, and that harmony may again
prevail in the administration of our state government.
DAVID
BUTLER.
Executive Department, Lincoln, May 30th, 1871.
February 20th, 1873, a select committee made
report:
We find the claim against
ex-governor David Butler amounting originally to $16,881.26,
due the five per cent fund, which, together with interest now
due, amounts to $23,664.84, in a very unsatisfactory condition,
there being no securities properly on file in the state
treasurer's office as security for the payment of this debt.
Ex-governor Butler has submitted a proposition to your
committee, to transfer to the state the residence and adjoining
grounds, now occupied by him as a homestead, in payment of the
above debt upon the following terms: For the house,
outbuildings, 80 acres of ground, and furniture contained in
the main building, the state to allow the sum of $30,000, to be
paid as follows: Principal debt, $16,881.26; interest,
$6,283.58; warrant on general fund, $6,835.16; total,
$30,000.00. Your committee has the foregoing proposition under
careful consideration, has visited the premises and carefully
examined the house and grounds, and has reached the decision to
strongly urge the passage of a bill for an act to provide for
purchasing a governor's mansion.
Instead of adopting the committee's
recommendation, the legislature passed an act, March 3rd, 1873,
"To provide for the liquidation and settlement of certain claims
with David Butler."
And in accordance with said act, April 4th,
1873, a board of commissioners reported, "That we have examined
and appraised 3,400 acres, the lands of David Butler, in quantity
sufficient to liquidate the indebtedness of David Butler to the
school fund of
the state of Nebraska," to which Governor Robert W. Furnas gave
his official approval of the same date.
Eight years after the $16,881 had gone into the
possession of Governor Butler, the legislature passed a resolution
rescinding the verdict of removal from office; and since the
settlement, on the supposition that the 3,400 acres of surrendered
land had become valuable and the state could afford to refund the
amount over and above the liquidated debt, a bill for that purpose
was presented to the legislature, but has not been enacted into
law.
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