OHIO. 



695 



To provide accommodations for the epileptic and 

 epileptic insane. 



To provide for the organization and support of 

 farmers' institutes. 



To make the first Tuesday after the first Monday 

 in November a legal part-holiday for election purposes 

 only. 



To make the first Monday in September a legal 

 holiday as labor day. 



A bill providing for ballot reform passed the 

 House, but was not acted upon in the Senate. 

 The regular session closed on April 28. 



Extraordinary Session. A proclamation by 

 Gov. Campbell, dated Oct. 6, called the Leg- 

 islature to meet in extraordinary session, Oct. 14, 

 to take action upon a communication that would 

 be laid before it. On that day both houses con- 

 vened, and received a message from the Governor, 

 in which he said the session was called " on ac- 

 count of the deplorable condition of public affairs, 

 in the city of Cincinnati, which, it is believed, 

 can be partially remedied by enabling the people 

 of that city to choose 'certain inportant boards at 

 the approaching November election." The mes- 

 sage recited the action taken at the regular session 

 in creating a board of public improvements and 

 the decennial board of equalization and omitting 

 to provide that the people should choose those 

 very important bodies. The change from the 

 former method merely consisted in providing 

 that after the first appointment by the Governor 

 the member should be elected by the people. 

 This advantage was offset by the failure to em- 

 power the Governor to remove his appointees 

 should they prove to be inefficient or dishonest. 

 A change for the worse was a provision that 

 3 members instead of 4 could transact busi- 

 ness, thus enabling them to unite and control 

 affairs. Rumors of corruption had become so 

 numerous, and so widely believed, that the Gov- 

 ernor urged the Legislature to abolish both 

 boards, and remit choice of their successors to 

 the people of Cincinnati. 



In compliance with the suggestion of the mes- 

 sage, the Senate passed, Oct. 16, by a vote of 19 

 to 17, a bill providing for an election in April, 

 1891, of a board of public improvements for Cin- 

 cinnati, and giving the Governor power to re- 

 move, in the mean time, any member of the exist- 

 ing board, " for any reasons that may, to him, 

 seem sufficient." A resolution was also adopted 

 providing for a joint committee of investigation 

 into the entire municipal government of Cincin- 

 nati. The bill failed of passage in the House. 

 Oct. 20, the Governor sent another message to 

 the Legislature saying, that, as it had failed to 

 accomplish the purpose for which it was called, 

 "some further suggestions are in order." He 

 pointed out that there would not be sufficient 

 time to prepare for an election in November, as 

 originally recommended, therefore he recom- 

 mended that a non-partisan board of improve- 

 ments be created, to be appointed by the Mayor. 

 In concluding his message, he said : " Do not 

 swerve a hair's breadth from your purpose to 

 wipe out the board, and eventually submit the 

 whole question to the people. From this time on 

 any and all propositions, other than this, are 

 meant for partisan advantage only. There is no 

 middle ground. To delay longer is a confession of 

 incapacity, to refuse the passage of the bill is a 

 confession of infidelity.'* In accordance with 



this suggestion a bill was introduced " to create 

 and establish an efficient board of city affairs in 

 cities of the first grade of the first class," which 

 abolished the existing Board of Improvements, 

 and gave to the Mayor the appointment of the 

 new board until the election of its members by 

 the people in April, 1891. In this form the bill 

 passed both houses and became law. The ex- 

 traordinary session closed Oct. 24. 



Political. The Republican State Convention 

 was held at Cleveland on July 16, and adopted a 

 platform approving the administration of Presi- 

 dent Harrison and the action of the Republican 

 members of both houses of Congress in regard 

 to the coinage of silver, the revision of the tariff, 

 the Federal election bill, the disability pension 

 bill, and other measures of national importance. 

 Special approval was given to the Republican 

 Congress and Speaker Reed " for amending the 

 rules of the House so that the business of the 

 country can be done by the people's representa- 

 tives." The McKinley tariff bill was warmly 

 commended, and protection demanded for the 

 wool industry " equal to that accorded to the 

 most favored manufacturers of wool, so that in 

 due time American wool-growers will supply all 

 wool of. every kind required for consumption in 

 the United States." An additional resolution 

 favored "such Legislation, by Congress and in 

 this State, as will, in every practical mode, en- 

 courage, protect, and promote the interests of 

 agriculture in all its departments." 



The Democratic State Convention was held at 

 Springfield, Aug. 27. The platform began by 

 demanding the reduction of tariff taxes, and de- 

 claring : " We will continue the battle for tariff 

 reform until the cause of the people is triumphant. 

 All money taken by law from the people should 

 go into the public treasury. Tariff taxes should 

 be for revenue only. All so-called protective 

 tariffs are dishonest, wasteful, and corrupting. 

 They plunder the masses to enrich the few. 

 They have crippled agriculture, retarded manu- 

 facturing, created trusts, destroyed commerce, 

 and corrupted our law-makers. Therefore, we 

 are opposed to the McKinley tariff bill, now 

 pending in Congress." The platform also fa- 

 vored legislation against trusts ; " the free coinage 

 of silver at its present ratio with gold " ; just, 

 liberal, and equitable pension laws; ballot re- 

 form. It denounced the Federal election bill and 

 " the despotic code of rules adopted by the pres- 

 ent national House of Representatives'." In con- 

 clusion it sympathized with the laboring and 

 producing classes " in their struggle against the 

 encroachments and oppressions of capital," and 

 hailed with satisfaction " the awakening among 

 the farmers to the evils of Republican legislation, 

 under which they are suffering." 



The Prohibition and Union Labor parties also 

 held State conventions, placed full tickets in 

 nomination, and adopted platforms similar to 

 those put forward in previous years. 



The election on Nov. 4 had the following result : 

 Secretary of State Daniel J. Ryan, Rep., 363,- 

 548 ; Thaddeus E. Cromley, Dem., 352,579 : Me- 

 lanchthon C. Lockwood, Pro., 23,837; Ezekiel T. 

 Curtiss, U. L., 1,752. Judge of Supreme Court 

 Thaddeus A. Minshall, Rep., 362,896 ; George B. 

 Okey, Dem., 353,628; Olin J. Rose, Pro., 23,724; 

 William Baker, U. L., 1,724. Member Board of 



