MICHIGAN. 



485 



$1.410,804.87. The number of dealers in is<>5 was 



-.and the t:ix amounted to sl.s>6.966.24. In 



is'.il tliere were 1.524 dealers in malt, brewed, or 



fermented liquors, and they paid a total tax of 



.19:1.50. The number of dealers in malt liquors 



in IN!).") was hut 120. and the total tax receipts re- 



1 from them sie.Tsii.-Js. 



Sault Sto. Mario. The great lock at this place, 

 said to be the largest in the world, was oflieially 

 opened Aug. o. It was begun in issil; it is SOU feet 

 long between the gates. 1,100 feet in length over 

 all. 43 feet high. 100 feet wide, and will accommo- 

 date boats drawing -Jl feet of water. 



Oiitonasron. The village of Ontonagon. which 

 was destroyed by a forest fire Aug. 25. less than 'Jo 

 buildings having been left standing and 373 being 

 burned, has been partly rebuilt, and the people are 

 looking about for new industries to take the place 

 of the great mills of the Diamond Match Company, 

 which may not be rebuilt, as but a few years' more 

 cut of the' pine timber they use remains on the On- 

 tonagon and its branches. 



Political. At the city and township elections, 

 April 6. Democratic mayors were elected in Manis- 

 tee. Flint. Grand Haven. Stanton, St. Ignace, 

 Marshall, Traverse City, Coldwater. Charlotte, and 

 Adrian. A factional fight among Republicans in 

 Saginaw gave the election of city officers to the 

 Democrats. The Republicans elected mayors in 

 Kalaraazoo. Eenton Harbor. Muskegon, Owosso, 

 Grand Rapids, Battle Creek, and Eaton Rapids. In 

 Ishpeming the labor candidate was elected over the 

 citizens'. 



The Australian ballot caucus law passed by the 

 Legislature of 1895 was put into operation, ft ap- 

 plies to cities having population from 15.000 to 

 150.000. 



The Attorney General decided that the so-called 

 " antifusion " law applies to village, city, and 

 township elections, no candidate being allowed to 

 have his name upon two tickets. 



Jan. 16, a nonpartisan bimetallic conference was 

 held at Lansing. The object was not to form a new 

 party, but to unite bimetallists in influencing the 

 action of the old parties. Resolutions were adopted 

 to the effect that, in case neither the Democratic 

 nor the Republican party should adopt a platform 

 and nominate candidates in favor of treating "gold 

 and silver on an absolute equality as to coinage at 

 the ratio now provided by law. we then recommend 

 that all friends of free silver in all parties join in 

 the organization of an independent party." 



A "Free-silver Democratic party" was organized 

 at a conference held at Lansing. March 1'J. The 

 address declared that three fourths of the Michigan 

 Democrats favored free silver and that there was a 

 conspiracy to send a gold-standard delegation to 

 the national convention, which would rob the free- 

 silverites of an opportunity to give an expression of 

 their views where it would have the greatest effect. 



But the Democratic State Convention, held at 

 Detroit, April 29. was controlled by the gold-stand- 

 ard men. It approved the foreign and financial 

 policy of the Administration, denounced the Amer- 

 ican Protective Association, and chose 4 gold-stand- 

 ard delegates at large and sent 24 district delegates 

 to the Chicago convention, of whom 13 were counted 

 gold monometallists and 11 silver bimetallists. 



At a conference in Lansing. June 15. a call was 

 extended '-to all persons, irrespective of past party 

 affiliation, who favor the free and unlimited coin- 

 age of silver and gold at the ratio of 16 to 1 by the 

 United States, without waiting for the consent of 

 any other nation, to meet in mass convention in the 

 city of Lansing. July 16. for the purpose of electing 

 34 'delegates and alternates to the St. Louis silver 

 convention, to be held July 22." 



The Democratic convention for nominating State 

 officers was held at Bay City. Aug. 25. At tin- 

 time and in the same city, tin- State convention of 

 Populists and the State silver convention WIT,- 

 held, and a conference from the :> reached an agree- 

 ment to unite upon a ticket on which the Populists 

 and silver men together should have equal repre- 

 sentation with the Democrats. A platform approv- 

 ing the Chicago convention's action was adopted* 

 Following is the fusion ticket : For Governor, Charles 

 R. Sligh ; Lieutenant Governor, Justice R. Whiting; 

 Secretary of State, Almon G. Bruce ; Treasurer, 

 Otto E. Karste; Auditor, Arthur E. Cole: Attorney 

 General, Alfred J. Murphy ; Commissioner of the 

 Land Office. Martin G. Loennecker : Superintendent 

 of Instruction, David E. Haskins ; Member of the 

 State Board of Education, Frank S. Dewey. The 

 organization was named the Democratic People's 

 Silver Party. 



The National Democrats also had a ticket in the 

 field. The provisional committee of Gold-standard 

 Democrats met in conference at Lansing and 

 called a mass convention to meet in the same place, 

 Aug. 26, to elect delegates to the Indianapolis con- 

 vention and nominate presidential electors and 

 State officers. At that convention resolutions were 

 adopted condemning the Chicago convention as 

 revolutionary and Populistic, approving the na- 

 tional administration and declaring a belief that 

 free coinage of silver at the ratio of 16 to 1 would 

 ruin industries, rob savings-bank depositors and 

 pensioners of their due, and cut workingmen's 

 wages in half. The following ticket was nomi- 

 nated : For Governor, RufusF. Sprague : Lieutenant 

 Governor. A. B. Eldredge : Secretary of State, S. L. 

 Boyce : State Treasurer, Wilder D. Stevens : Audi- 

 tor General. Irving W. Conkey : State Land Com- 

 missioner, A. M. Tinker; Attorney-General. Cyrus 

 E. LI throp : Superintendent of Public Instruction. 

 William Heap: Member State Board of Education, 

 John S. Taggart. Later Theodore A. Felch was 

 made the candidate for Lieutenant Governor and 

 Howard Edwards for Member of the State Board 

 of Education. 



The Prohibition State Convention for the election 

 of delegates to the national convention, at Lansing, 

 April 16. was controlled by the "Broad-gauge" 

 wing of the party. The platform stood for pro- 

 hibition, free silver, election of the United States 

 Senators by the people, woman suffrage, liberal 

 pensions, Government issue of all money, and Gov- 

 ernment control of railroads and telegraph lines. 



In July the two wings of the party held separate 

 conventions, and each nominated a ticket. That of 

 the " Narrow-gauge " was : For Governor, R. C. 

 Safford ; Lieutenant Governor, Henry Andrus; 

 Secretary of State. George Roelofs : Treasurer. W. 

 C. Edsell; Auditor. W. A. Heartt : Attorney-Gen- 

 eral. Noah W. Cheever: Land Commissioner. Wm. 

 Parmenter: Superintendent of Instruction. R. S. 

 Avann : Member of the State Board of Education, 

 Elmer Houser. Robert King was later the candi- 

 date for Treasurer. 



The candidates of the National or "Broad- 

 gauge " Prohibition party were : For Governor, 

 John Giberson: Lieutenant Governor. Harvey B. 

 Hatch: Secretary of State. Salem A. Dean; State 

 Treasurer. Isaac N. Shepherd : Auditor General, 

 Abram G. Jackson: Attorney-General. John S. 

 Evans: Land Commissioner. Rodolph R. Atkins: 

 Member State Board of Education. Joseph B. 

 Steere: Superintendent of Public Instruction. Mr-.. 

 Lucy S. Morchouse. There was doubt as to the 

 legality of the nomination of Mrs. Morehouse, and 

 the Attorney-General held that she could not hold 

 office : as women are not eligible to offices created 

 by the Constitution, they can hold no offices for 



