KENTUCKY. 



429 



tional laws, especially if those laws contra- 

 vene the theory and fundamental principles of 

 the organic law." 



An act was passed providing that "upon 

 the petition of any two or more respectable 

 citizens, verified by affidavit, that any person 

 has, by the habitual or excessive use of opium, 

 arsenic, hashish, or any drug, become incom- 

 petent to manage himself or his estates with 

 ordinary prudence and discretion, or upon in- 

 formation and application of the attorney for 

 the Commonwealth, it shall be the duty of the 

 Circuit or Chancery Court of the county in 

 which such person resides to cause an inquest 

 to be held by a jury, in open court, to inquire 

 into the fact. Upon such person being found 

 incompetent to manage himself or, estate with 

 ordinary prudence and discretion, the court 

 may order him or his estate, or both, into the 

 custody and control of a committee of one or 

 more persons, with power to confine such 

 person in any private asylum, or in one of the 

 lunatic asylums of this Commonwealth : Pro- 

 vided, That no such person shall be main- 

 tained in a public asylum at the expense of 

 the Commonwealth." 



By an act amending the act of 1871, "which 

 provides for a revision and digest of the laws 

 of the State, the Governor and Judges of the 

 Court of Appeals were required to nominate, 

 and with the consent of the Senate to appoint, 

 five commissioners to make the revision. The 

 commissioners subsequently appointed were 

 James M. Nesbitt and E. J. Bullock for re- 

 vision of the Statutes, Richard A. Buckner, 

 and Joshua F. Bullitt for the Codes of Practice, 

 and Judge Geo. W. Craddock umpire of both 

 boards. 



The Military Committee of the House of 

 Representatives was engaged during a large 

 portion of the session in investigating alleged 

 outrages and disorders in Franklin County, 

 and finally made a report, stating that " a num- 

 ber of* gross injuries to the persons and prop- 

 erty of citizens of Franklin County have been 

 perpetrated by armed and disguised bodies 

 of men unlawfully banded together. These 

 bands generally move in numbers of from ten 

 to twenty, and their operations are usually 

 confined to the night-time. All the indica- 

 tions are that they are of a low and illiterate 

 class of white men. They are generally 

 mounted, and appear to disperse as soon as 

 the immediate purpose of their combination 

 has been accomplished. Their disguises seem 

 to have been sufficient, in most of the cases 

 brought to the knowledge of the committee, 

 to prevent their full identification; but in 

 many instances the identity of the intruder 

 has been suspected from a supposed recogni- 

 tion of the voice. It has, however, been stated 

 to the committee, on the very highest author- 

 ity, that many men who have engaged in these 

 unlawful acts are well known." The investi- 

 gations covered a period of about eighteen 

 months. In a majority of cases the outrages 



had been inflicted on negroes, some of whom 

 had been killed, and others whipped, and 

 otherwise maltreated. The effect had been to 

 drive colored laborers from Franklin County. 

 In the opinion of the committee, " these or- 

 ganizations had their inception in the dis- 

 ordered state of the country consequent upon 

 the late war, and were originally intended to 

 suppress anticipated disturbances among the 

 emancipated slaves, and to summarily punish 

 the unlawful acts of bad white men. This 

 condition of affairs afforded an opportunity to 

 evil-disposed white men to engage in unlawful 

 acts, under the guise of these organizations, 

 for the gratification of private vengeance, the 

 indulgence of their prejudices against, and 

 jealousy of, free negro labor, and for an op- 

 portunity to plunder." The true and only 

 remedy they declare to be the enforcement of 

 the laws. 



"If our judges," they say, "will dp their 

 whole duty in forming their grand-juries and 

 in properly instructing them and compelling a 

 performance of their duties, and the grand- 

 juries will use the diligence that the commit- 

 tee has used in the investigation of these al- 

 leged outrages, many of the mysteries of the 

 so-called Ku-klux will be dispelled, and suffi- 

 cient evidence may be discovered upon which 

 to base more indictments." 



The report concludes : " The present pro- 

 visions of the law appear to be sufficient to 

 cover all the offences of which these unlawful 

 bands were guilty, except that of sending 

 anonymous and threatening letters, or posting 

 threatening notices, and intimidating quiet and 

 law-abiding people by riding about armed and 

 disguised. The committee, therefore, recom- 

 mend that the matter be referred to the Com- 

 mittee on the Judiciary, with instructions to 

 prepare and report a bill covering these or 

 other defects, if any, relating to the same sub- 

 ject in our criminal laws." 



There was no election for State officers dur- 

 ing the year, but conventions were held by both 

 political parties, for the purpose of appointing 

 delegates to the national nominating bodies, 

 and selecting candidates for presidential elec- 

 tors. The Republican Convention was held at 

 Louisville, on the 13th of March. There was 

 some discussion arising from the opposition of 

 a few delegates to the renomination of Pres- 

 ident Grant by the National Convention. 

 These were, however, in a small minority, and, 

 after the delegates had been chosen and elec- 

 tors nominated, the following platform was 

 unanimously adopted, the delegates opposing 

 the renomination of Grant having withdrawn 

 from the convention : 



"We, the Republicans of Kentucky, in convention 

 assembled, declare 



1. That we reaffirm our adherence to the Kepuhli- 

 can party, pledging ourselves to maintain them as 

 the best safeguard of our liberties. We also reaffirm 

 our adherence to the right of all American citizens 

 according to the Constitution to exercise, with- 

 out diminution or restriction, the elective franchise 



