842 



WEST VIRGINIA. 



WILHELM I. 



withdrew from thfe ticket and gave his support 

 to the Republicans; S. P. Hawverfor Treasurer; 

 D. D. T. Farnsworth for Attorney-General; and 

 O. D. Hill for Superintendent of Free Schools. 

 The platform included the following: 



We favor the enactment of such laws as will cause 

 the operator to pay the miner for all merchantable coal. 



In releasing the revenues necessary to carry on the 

 State Government the property of corporations shall 

 have no advantage over property owned by individu- 

 als. 



We favor the enactment of such laws in general as 

 shall so change our laws as to place them abreast of 

 those of the most populous and prosperous States of 

 the Union ; that shall remove the last vestige of anti- 

 quated mossback laws that hamper commerce, retard 

 development, do-prceiate capital, stand as a menace to 

 immigration, and chain West Virginia and her destiny 

 to the past, not the future. 



The passage of the miners' bill at the last session of 

 the Legislature, containing tho conspiracy feature, is 

 a blow to organized labor, and passed designedly for 

 the purpose of overawing those who are connected 

 therewith. 



On July 31, the Prohibitionists met at Park- 

 ersburg and nominated a State ticket headed 

 by Thomas R. Carskadon for Governor. 



The Democratic State Convention was held 

 at Huntington on August 16. Fts nominees 

 were : A. B. Fleming for Governor, Patrick F. 

 Duffy for Auditor, W. T. Thompson for Treas- 

 urer, Alfred Caldwell for Attorney-General, 

 B. S. Morgan for Superintendent of Free 

 Schools, and Henry Brannon and J. T. English 

 for Judges of the Supreme Court of Appeals. 



The platform approved President Cleveland's 

 message, and the Mills Bill, the present State 

 Administration, and that of the United States; 

 denied that the Democratic party was for free 

 trade, and declared for the St. Louis platform. 

 On August 22, the Republicans held their 

 State Convention at Charleston, and nominated 

 Gen. Nathan Goff for Governor by acclama- 

 tion. Other candidates upon the ticket were: 

 For Auditor, George M. Bowers ; for Treasurer, 

 Hiram Lewis ; for Attorney-General, William 

 P. Hubbard ; for Superintendent of Schools, 

 F. B. McLure; for Judges of the Supreme 

 Court of Appeals, John W. Mason and H. C. 

 McWharter. The resolutions approve the Chi- 

 cago platform, demand protection not only for 

 manufactures but for raw materials and for all 

 farm-products, demand a tax of $200 or more 

 on immigrants for the protection of American 

 labor, and oppose the importation of contract 

 or pauper labor. 



The following were also a part of the plat- 

 form : 



Whereas, The passage of the miners' bill by the 

 Democratic Legislature of 1887, containing the con- 

 spiracy feature, was a direct blow at organized labor, 

 and was passed with the design and purpose of over- 

 awing those who are connected therewith ; Therefore, 

 be it resolved, We pledge our party to repeal so much 

 of Chapter 50 of the Acts of 1887 as refers to con- 

 spiracy, and also provide that the inspector shall be a 

 practical miner instead of a civil engineer, as is now 

 required by law. 



On September 12 a convention of about fifty 

 delegates, calling themselves the " Colored In- 



dependents," met at Charleston and placed in 

 nomination presidential electors and a Slate 

 ticket containing the following names: For 

 Governor, W. II. Davis; Auditor, E. A. Turner 

 Treasurer, Alfred Whiting. The resolutions 

 adopted denounce the Republican party, ask the 

 Legislature to prevent discriminating "branches 

 of study in the public schools; oppose monopo- 

 lies, corporations, trusts; oppose taking the 

 revenue off whisky and tobacco, and ask that 

 all necessaries be placed upon the free list and 

 that the tariff be reduced to prevent a surplus. 



An address was issued to the colored voters, 

 urging them to desert the Republican party 

 and to stand together. 



At the November election the contest was 

 close, and the result remained in doubt until 

 returns were received from the last election 

 district. It then appeared that, while the 

 Democrats had elected their candidates for 

 presidential electors and nearly all their State 

 ticket, the Republican candidate for Governor 

 had a plurality of 106 votes on the face of the 

 returns. As certified by the local officials, the 

 vote stood: Goff, 78,904; Fleming, 78,798; 

 Carskadon, about 1,000; and Piersol, about 

 1,400. The official vote for Treasurer was: 

 Thompson, 78,909; Lewis, 78,127; Havvver, 

 1,399 ; and Bodley, 1,035. For Auditor : Duf- 

 fey, 78,855; Bowers, 78,201; Sayre, 1,438; 

 Bains, 1,027. For Attorney-General: Cald- 

 well, 78,687; Hubbard, 78,520; Farnsworth, 

 1,579; Myers, 935. The Democratic candi- 

 dates for Superintendent of Free Schools and 

 for Supreme Judges were also elected. The 

 Legislature chosen at the same time will con- 

 tain in the Senate, 12 Democrats, 13 Republi- 

 cans, and 1 Union Labor man, and in the 

 House, 34 Democrats and 31 Republicans, giv- 

 ing the Democrats on joint ballot a majority 

 of one vote. On the face of the returns, Dem- 

 ocratic Congressmen were elected in the First 

 and Second districts, and Republicans in the 

 Third and Fourth, in each case by narrow plu- 

 ralities. The Democratic candidate in the First 

 District was elected by 16 votes, while in the 

 Third the Republicans claimed only 13 more 

 votes than their opponents. On December 26, 

 Gov. Wilson issued certificates of election to 

 the Democratic candidates in the First and 

 Second districts, but refused to issue any for 

 the other districts, alleging that, as there was 

 a contest over the returns in those districts, he 

 could not legally do so. 



At the same election, three constitutional 

 amendments were submitted to the people, 

 and all of them were rejected. The most im- 

 portant one, prohibiting the manufacture and 

 sale of liquor, failed of adoption by about 35,- 

 000 votes. 



WILHELM I, Emperor of Germany, born in 

 Potsdam, Prussia, March 22, 1797; died in 

 Berlin, March 9, 1888. He was the second 

 son of Friedrich Wilhelm, Crown-Prince of 

 Prussia, and his wife Princess Luise, daughter 

 of the Grand Duke of Mecklenburg- Strelitz. 



