420 



KANSAS. 



lives of employees in the mines of Kansas and to se- 

 cure miners their wages. 



The Democratic Convention for the nomina- 

 tion of State officers met at Topeka, August 

 31st. The following candidates were chosen: 

 for Governor, ex-Senator E. G. Ross ; for Lieu- 

 tenant-Governor, Thomas George; for Secre- 

 tary of State, John M. Giffin ; for Auditor, J. G. 

 Neumueller; for Treasurer, Theodore Wichsel- 

 baum; for Attorney- General, A. L. Hereford; 

 for Superintendent of Public Instruction, Miss 

 Sarah A. Brown. A resolution was adopted 

 which approved the Presidential nominations 

 at Cincinnati, also the following on State 

 matters : 



, Resolved, That the proposition made and submitted 

 by the last Republican Legislature to the people to 

 amend the Constitution of the State, affecting the re- 

 peal of the constitutional exemption of $200, is not in 

 the best interests of the State, and is an outrage upon 

 the poor people of the Commonwealth, and we pledge 

 every honorable effort to defeat said proposition. 



In the Republican State Convention, which 

 met at Topeka, September 1st, Governor John 

 P. St. John was renominated ; D. W. Finney 

 was nominated for Lieutenant-Governor, after 

 several ballots; James Smith was nominated 

 for Secretary of State; P. J. Bonebrake for 

 Auditor; John Francis for Treasurer; William 

 A. Johnston for Attorney - General ; H. C. 

 Speer for Superintendent of Public Instruc- 

 tion. "With the exception of the Attorney- 

 General and the Superintendent of Instruction, 

 the nominees were all of them the incumbents 

 of the offices for which they were nominated. 

 The following platform was adopted : 



The Republicans of Kansas, in Delegate Convention 

 assembled, heartily endorse the declaration of princi- 

 ples embodied in the National Republican platform, 

 and pledge their united and zealous support to the 

 nominees of the Chicago Convention, General James 

 A. Garfiekl and General Chester A. Arthur. 

 e We point with satisfaction to the rapid and substan- 

 tial growth of Kansas under the unbroken Republican 

 Administration, extending through two decades. We 

 congratulate the people of the State that general edu- 

 cation has gone hand in hand with material develop- 

 ment. We take especial pride in the fact that the 

 revenues of the State have been honestly collected and 

 wisely and securely invested. We affirm that the 

 United States is a nation, and that it is alike the right 

 and duty of the General Government to secure to all 

 of its citizens full and complete liberty and exact 

 equality in the exercise of their civil and political 

 rights. A free ballot, uninfluenced by force or intimi- 

 dation, and fair count of such ballots are necessary for 

 the preservation of free institutions. The republic 

 can not endure if shot-guns or tissue ballots, intimida- 

 tion or fulse counting, control the choice of officers 

 and the policy of legislation or administration. The 

 change most needed in this country is one which will 

 abolish the system by which a vast section of the 

 country has been made and is kept solid for the Dem- 

 ocratic party. 



We congratulate the people upon the fact that the 

 resumption of specie payments has brought in its train 

 general prosperity and universal confidence, and that 

 pur currency, coin, and paper has a fixed value, and 

 is convertible, secure, and equivalent. 



We declare that, inasmuch as the Republican party 

 of this State is justly held responsible for the officers 

 whom it or its representatives elect, and inasmuch as 

 experience has shown the grave evils resulting from 



purely personal canvasses, it is the duty of the Repub- 

 lican members of the Legislature, in the election of the 

 various officers within their choice, to act in conceit 

 and in accordance with the determination of a fairly 

 expressed majority of the Republican members in cau- 

 cus or convention assembled. 



The important question of the adoption of 

 the prohibitory temperance amendment to the 

 Constitution was to be decided at the "Novem- 

 ber State election. A heated controversy be- 

 tween the friends and opponents of the pro- 

 posed amendment went on throughout the sum- 

 mer. The main strength of the Republican 

 gubernatorial candidate, in the Convention and 

 before the people, consisted in his ardent pro- 

 hibition sympathies and his decided approval 

 of the plan embodied in the amendment. The 

 proposed amendment was to incorporate the 

 following additional section into the Constitu- 

 tion : 



The manufacture and sale of intoxicating liquors 

 shall be for ever prohibited in this State, except for 

 medical, scientific, and mechanical purposes. 



After the election there was still a question 

 as to whether the amendment had been adopt- 

 ed, and it remained for the Supreme Court to 

 decide whether a plurality vote was sufficient 

 to carry the amendment. (This question has 

 been decided in the negative in the matter of 

 the Indiana amendments by the Supreme Court 

 of that State. See INDIANA.) 



The returns of the vote for Governor gave 

 St. John 115,204 votes; Ross, 63,557; Vroo- 

 man, 19,477; scattering votes, 692; making 

 the Republican plurality 51,647, and majority 

 50,955. The other Republican candidates for 

 State officers were elected by pluralities some 

 10,000 or more greater. John A. Anderson 

 was elected member of Congress from the 

 First District by 48,599 votes, and a majority 

 of 18,534; J. C. Haskell, from the Second 

 District, by 30,758 votes, and 7,001 majority; 

 Thomas Ryan, from the Third, by 41, 094 votes, 

 and 14,721 majority. 



The vote for the Legislature returned 36 Re- 

 publican, 1 Independent Republican, 1 Fusion- 

 ist, and 2 Democratic Senators; and 118 Re- 

 publican, 3 Independent Republican, 5 Fusion, 

 and 11 Democratic Representatives. 



There were 92,302 votes cast for the propo- 

 sition to amend the Constitution by adding the 

 clause prohibiting the manufacture and sale of 

 liquors, and 84,304 votes against the proposi- 

 tion. 



For the proposition to amend the Constitu- 

 tion by striking out the clause " exempting 

 $200 personal property from taxation," there 

 were 38,442 votes cast, and 140,020 against the 

 proposed amendment. 



The vote upon holding a Constitutional Con- 

 vention was 22,870 for and 146,279 against. 



The vote for the Presidential electors aver- 

 aged 121,529 for the Garfield electors, 59,729 

 for the Hancock electors, 19,715 for the Wea- 

 ver electors, and 35 votes for other tickets ; 

 making Garfield's plurality 61,800, the largest 

 gained in any State. 





