ARKANSAS. 



39 



ARKANSAS. State Government. The following 

 were the State officers during the year: Gov- 

 ernor, Simon P. Hughes, Democrat; Secre- 

 tary of State, Elias B. Moore ; Treasurer, Will- 

 iam E. Woodruff; Auditor, William R. Miller; 

 Attorney - General, Daniel W. Jones; State 

 Land Commissioner, Paul M. Cobbs; Superin- 

 tendent of Public Instruction, WoodE. Thomp- 

 son; Chief- Justice of the Supreme Court, 

 Sterling R. Cockrill ; Associate Justices, Will- 

 iam W. Smith and Burrill B. Battle. 



Mining Excitement. The State Geologist, in a 

 letter to the Governor, in August, says : 



There has long been a popular belief that gold 

 and silver existed in paying quantities in the State of 

 Arkansas. During the last tew years, notably since 

 1885, a great many people have become excitecl upon 

 the subject of the" occurrence of the precious metals 

 about Hot Springs, and through the country we*t of 

 there. This excitement culminated in lS87-'88. In 

 some portions ol the State it reached such a pitch that 

 almost every man abandoned his usual occupation to 

 stake otf claims and turn miner. Every unfamiliar 

 rock was regarded as a valuable ore or an " indication " 

 of something, and these delusions have been kept 

 alive by assayers. some of whom were, perhaps, sin- 

 cere, but some of them certainly fraudulent. These 

 same assayers and their dupes have been so success- 

 ful that they induced capitalists and business men, 

 both in and out of the State, and especially the visit- 

 ors to the Hot Springs, to believe in the value of the 

 region for mining purposes to such an extent that 

 during the last two ana a half years companies have 

 been incorporated under the laws of Arkansas with a 

 total capital stock of more than $111 /".xV"" 1 " for the 

 purpose of working the supposed gold and silver 

 mines and ores ol the State. 



After a careful assay of ores from all the so- 

 called mines, the geologist fails to find more 

 than two silver deposits that could by any pos- 

 sibility be successfully worked. Of the alleged 

 gold-mines he says : " It is very doubtful wheth- 

 er a single one of them has ever legitimately re- 

 turned a single ounce of gold. . . . The future 

 of Arkansas, as a mining State, must depend 

 upon her coal, iron, manganese, antimony, and 

 possibly zinc, lead, and graphite. In these, 

 and in oil-stone, marble, chalk, marl, and build- 

 ing-stone she is rich. The geology of the 

 State is not favorable for the production or 

 mining of the precious metals." 



Immigration. The natural resonrces of Ar- 

 kansas have long failed of development, from 

 lack of population, but the necessity of attract- 

 ing immigrants to the State has not until re- 

 cently been recognized. Early this year, a call 

 was issued by the Governor for a State Con- 

 vention to consider means of attracting set- 

 tlers. This convention met at Little Rock, on 

 January 31. and provided for a bureau of immi- 

 gration, to be maintained by subscriptions se- 

 cured by a canvass of each county. It also 

 recommended to the next General Assembly 

 the establishment of a State board of immigra- 

 tion. The necessity of such a board was after- 

 ward discussed and urged by the various po- 

 litical parties, in convention and during the 

 political canvass. 



Convicts. The evils of the convict lease sys- 

 tem received a fresh illustration during the 



year in the treatment of prisoners at Coal Hill 

 Camp, in Johnson County, where a large num- 

 ber of convicts were employed in the coal- 

 mines. An inspection made in March by the 

 State Penitentiary Commissioners revealed the 

 fact that the convicts had been worked beyond 

 the prescribed number of hours, had not been 

 sufficiently fed or clothed or lodged, had been 

 worked when physically unable, and had been 

 in charge of brutal keepers, whose punish- 

 ments had caused death to some and severe 

 torture to many others. The convicts at this 

 camp were ordered back by the Governor to 

 the State Penitentiary, the warden of which 

 was summarily removed for negligence or crim- 

 inal conduct in permitting such abuses. The 

 immediate overseer of the camp escaped pun- 

 ishment by fleeing the State. 



Political. The first political convention of 

 the year met at Little Rock on April 30, being 

 held under the auspices of the Union Labor 

 party. This convention nominated the follow- 

 ing ticket: Governor, C. M. Norwood; Secre- 

 tary of State, G. W. Terry: Auditor, A. W. 

 Bird : Attorney-General, W. J. Duval ; Chief- 

 Justice of the Supreme Court, O. D. Scott ; 

 Superintendent of Public Instruction, B. P. 

 Baker; State Land Commissioner, R. H. More- 

 head. No nomination was made for the office 

 of State Treasurer. Resolutions were adopted 

 as follow : 



We favor such legislation as will secure the reforms 

 demanded by the "Agricultural Wheel, the National 

 Farmers' Alliance, and the Knights of Labor. 



Weplcdge ourselves to do our utmost to enforce: 



1. Taxation of all lands held for speculative pur- 

 Bt their full value. 



2. A strict execution of the election laws and such 

 legislation as will secure a free ballot and a fair 

 count. 



3. The consolidation of the elections, State and na- 

 tional. 



4. A change in the convict system, the abolition 

 of the contract system, and the working of the con- 

 victs within the'walls of the Penitentiary at Little 

 Bock. 



5. A road-tax and a reduction of days for road- 

 w. rking. 



6. A public-school system that will educate all the 

 people, and we favor national aid to education. 



7. A law regulating mining and proper ventilation 

 for same. 



B. Laws subjecting trusts, railroads, and other cor 

 porations to State control. 



" We favor the establishment of a labor and agri- 

 cultural bureau." 



This ticket relied for its support primarily 

 upon the labor organizations, especially those 

 of the farmers, of which the Agricultural 

 Wheel is the most considerable in the State. 

 It was greatly strengthened, however, by the 

 decision of the Republicans to support it. A 

 convention of Republicans, held in May, elect- 

 ed delegates to the National Republican Con- 

 vention, but intrusted the selection of a State 

 ticket to the State Executive Committee, which 

 announced the adoption of the Union Labor 

 ticket early in July. 



The Democratic State Convention met at 

 Little Rock on May 31. For more than two 



