KENTUCKY. 



Sic. . Tht It shall be the duty of the Commis- 

 (ioocn of the Sinking Food, when they have fully 

 complied with nd executed the first section of this 

 set, to notify the Auditor of Public Accounts of that 

 bet, snd direct him to transfer to the Revenue De- 

 partment all the remaining resources of the Sinking 

 Fund, except so much thereof as may be necessary 

 to pay the interest on the school-debt for that year, 

 if there be any such interest due or becoming duo ; 

 and it shall be the duty of the Auditor, upon receiv- 

 ing said notice, to make the required transfer, and he 

 shall, during each succeeding year thereafter, con- 

 tinue to pay all of the present resources of the Sink- 

 ing Fund which may be collected, from time to 

 time, into the Revenue Department, except the five 

 cents on each $100 of the taxable property of the 

 State now collected by law for Sinking-Fund pur- 

 poses. This last amount shall continue to be paid 

 into the Treasury to the credit of the Sinking rund 

 as now required by law, and shall be kept as a 

 sacred fund to pay the accruing interest on the 

 school-debt. 



An act was passed providing that " if any 

 person or persons shall, by means of violence 

 to person, family, or property, prevent, hinder, 

 control, or intimidate, or shall by such means 

 attempt to prevent, hinder, control, or in- 

 timidate any person from exercising or in ex- 

 ercising the right of suffrage to whom each 

 right is secured by law, or shall on account of 

 any vote that a voter may give at any election 

 in this Commonwealth, use any violence to 

 such voter's person, family, or property, he or 

 they shall he guilty of a misdemeanor, and on 

 conviction thereof be fined not less than $100, 

 or imprisoned not less than one month, nor 

 more than one year, or both so fined and im- 

 prisoned, at tho discretion of the jury." 



Perhaps the most important art of the ses- 

 sion was one for the suppression of lawlessness. 

 The Governor hod urged upon the Legislature 

 the necessity of taking some action in this 

 matter, and pnhlic meetings had been held in 

 Franklin Coanty and elsewhere, demanding 

 that something be done. At one of these 

 meetings the following resolutions were adopt- 

 ed, showing tho condition of things in and 

 about Franklin County, and the spirit dis- 

 played by the better portion of the citizens : 



Wlurtat, A spirit of outlawry has been rife In 

 this and several adjoining counties for many months, 

 manifesting itself in numerous and bloody deeds of 

 violence, which have created a eenxe of general in- 

 security among peaceable and law-abiding citizens, 

 brought the administration of law into contempt, 

 entailed heavy louses upon almost every material in- 

 terest of the county, and cast great reproach upon 

 the community and State: therefore, we, a large 

 portion of the law-respecting and determined to he 

 law-stipportin? citizen*, of Franklin County, in public 

 meeting aMSernlili-d. do hereby express our utter d-- 

 teatatinn of all sneh brutal acts, and their cowardly 

 perpetration. ; and 



1. Jbttlftd. That these and all similsr outrages 

 pen law, Individuals, and society, must snd shall at 

 once cease In this eountv, at least, and to thst end 

 < hereby pledge ourselves, individually and eol- 

 Irotivcly, both In our means, and, If necessary, In 

 our fxT'ons, for their supprcKnion. 



1. We call upon nil officers of the Isw, eity, 

 county, snd Stte, for the exercise of Increased vigi- 

 lance fnr the discovery and arrest of sueh offenders, 

 snd (TIT iter determlnstion in the execution of the 

 laws against outlawry and crime of every character, 



promising them the active cooperation of all good 

 citizens in their efforts to maintain law and order in 

 every part of the county. 



8. That the Legislature now in session is respect- 

 fully, but esrnently, requested t j run:; :\\ unset 

 into law the bill lor the suppression of arganlied 

 crime in the Commonwealth, lately reported \ 

 House of Representatives by the Judiciary <Yu inii- 

 tee of thst body, and again referred to the (Vumiit- 

 tee on Revised Statutes, with im additional K> 

 investing the Governor with increased disco tionary 

 powers lor enforcing the provisions of eaid set, as 

 also all I'tlier penal and criminal laws oftheStste, 

 whenever in his judgment the exercise of ueh 

 powers becomes necessary. . 



The act passed provides for the punishment 

 by severe penalties of any person who shall 

 "send, circulate, exhibit, or put up any threat- 

 ening notice or letter, signed with such per- 

 son's own or another's name, or anonymous- 

 ly; " also any two or more persons who shall 

 "confederate, or hand themselves together, 

 for the purpose of intimidating, alarming, or 

 disturbing any person or persons, or to do any 

 unlawful act; or any two or more persons 

 who shall " unlawfully confederate, or band 

 together, and go forth armed and disguised.'' 

 Special punishment is provided where any in- 

 jury shall result to person or property by 

 reason of any of these unlawful acts. The 

 Governor is empowered to offer rewards from 

 $100 to $500 for tho apprehension and convic- 

 tion of offenders. 



Governor Leslie, in his message to the Legis- 

 lature in December, declared that lawlessness 

 still prevailed in certain quarters, and recom- 

 mended that "the law shall provide that if in 

 any county or district where this character of 

 disorders shall prevail it shall be found that 

 the people, either from complicity or sympathy 

 with the wrong-doers, or from culpable indif- 

 ference and disregard of their duty as citizens, 

 shall moke no earnest effort to detect and bring 

 the perpetrators of crime in their midst to just 

 punishment, then shall the Executive lie em- 

 powered, without waiting for an application 

 from the local authorities, to appoint a com- 

 missioner of inquiry, who, after being duly 

 commissioned, and having taken an oath for the 

 faithful performance of his duties, shall pro- 

 ceed to the county, district or neighborhood, 

 where the disorder prevails, and hold an ex- 

 amining court, for the purposes of inquiring 

 into the alleged offenses and securing the arrest 

 of the guilty parties. And, that he may be 

 fully protected while engaged in the discharge 

 of his duties, as well as to secure the execution 

 of his orders, he should be furnished with a 

 sufficient guard of sclc< t men. vested with con- 

 stabulary power, to be appointed ami plm < <\ 

 under his control by the Governor, with 

 authority to increase the number should he 

 deem it necessary. He should he invested, to 

 the extent of his commission, with the same 

 power and jurisdiction possessed by any other 

 court of inquiry in thu IState, and also with 

 the inquihitoriul powers of n grand-jury. He 

 should be empowered to direct and cause to 



