542 



KENTUCKY. 



"We firmly adhere to the principles declared by the 

 Republican party in the platform adopted at Cincin- 

 nati in 1876. The education of the people of all classes 

 is a matter of the first necessity to the welfare of the 

 State, and it is a wise and most economical use of 

 public resources to advance to the highest efficiency 

 our common-school system, and we pledge our hearty 

 support to any system of public schools that will ad- 

 vance that end. A convention should be called at the 

 earliest practicable time to revise our State Constitu- 

 tion, and we urge upon all the people of the State the 

 duty of voting on aU proper occasions in favor of call- 

 ing such convention. 



We condemn in the strongest terms the gross mis- 

 management of public affairs in this State by the 

 Democratic party, which has had entire control of the 

 State for the past fourteen years. It has failed to fos- 

 ter a common-school system worthy of the name^ and 

 has robbed the children of the State. It has sacrificed 

 the important interests of State internal improvements, 

 and, wnile it makes a boast that the State has no debt, 

 we have the mortifying spectacle of a State with no 

 public works or enterprise^ and meager, antiquated, 

 and inadequate police institutions. By useless and 

 reckless extravagance, the current expenses of the 

 State are nearly three times as great as before the war, 

 while there is no reason or excuse for their being any 

 greater. 



By continuous appeals to the lower passions of the 

 people, and by the constant laudation and encourage- 

 ment of that spirit of contempt for constituted author- 

 ity lately rampant in the rebellion, the people of the 

 State have been educated into a disregard of law and 

 order, until the good name of Kentucky has been 

 blasted in the estimation of our sister States. The 

 frequent necessity for using the militia to suppress 

 disorder, and the lawless spirit which stops short of 

 no crime, from the lynching of obscure white and col- 

 ored persons to the assassination of judges on the 

 bench, is the natural outgrowth of the pernicious 

 teachings of the Democratic party. 



The Republican party demands such a change in 

 the conduct of our State affairs as will encourage pur 

 own people to remain in the State, instead of going 

 from us, and induce immigration into our borders that 

 our soil may be tilled and our resources developed. 

 _ While we favor economy, we demand that it be prac- 

 tical in cutting off useless extravagances, and we lavor 

 a more generous and liberal expenditure of the public 

 money for the purpose of fostering our internal wel- 

 fare, and aiding and encouraging our citizens in tho 

 general betterment of the condition of the State. 



It is a cardinal principle of the Republican party that 

 the currency of the country shall be sound and uniform 

 in value, regulated by the authority of the nation, and 

 convertible into coin at the will of the holders. The 

 national debt should be paid in the most scrupulous 

 good faith. We are proud that the Republican party 

 has already been able to pay off a large portion there- 

 of, and fund the remainder at a low rate of interest. 

 We are proud that the Republican party, in the face 

 of bitter Democratic opposition, has been able to re- 

 sume specie payment ; that it has established a cur- 

 rency that circulates with equal readiness in all parts 

 of the country ; and that it has made such a record 

 upon financial questions that the whole world has an 

 abiding faith_that, so long as it remains in power, our 

 national credit will remain unimpaired. 



The Federal and State governments are part of one 

 system, alike necessary for the common prosperity, 

 peace, and security, and ought to be regarded alike with 

 cordial, habitual, and immovable attachment. Respect 

 for the authority of each, and acquiescence in the just 

 constitutional measures of each, are duties required by 

 the plainest considerations of national, State, and in- 

 dividual welfare ; but the Constitution of the United 

 States and the laws made in pursuance thereof are the 

 supreme laws, anything in the Constitution or laws of 



any State to the contrary notwithstanding. The legis- 

 lative and judicial departments of the government are 

 independent of each other, and each should be left to 

 exercise its own duties under the Constitution. 



The right of the President to veto a measure is as 

 clear as the right of Congress to pass it. We there- 

 fore witness with indignation the present lawless at- 

 tempt on the part of the Democratic Congress to coerce 

 the President into subserviency to its views by the 

 threat of withholding appropriations. In the trying 

 position in which the President is thus placed, he is 

 entitled to the encouragement and support of all good 

 citizens. The declared purpose on the part of the 

 Democratic members in Congress, to refuse appropria- 

 tions until he yields to their demand, is revolutionary 

 in its spirit : and as in 1861 secession was resorted to 

 by those who could not control the Government in 

 their own way, so now this declared determination to 

 rule or starve the Government is another exhibition 

 of rebellion, and every consideration of duty to the 

 country demands that the President shall resist, by 

 every constitutional means in his power, this spirit of 

 lawlessness. 



The Republican party is committed to the doctrine 

 that every voter is entitled to one vote, and but one. 

 Holding this doctrine, it stands in no terror of those 

 wise and timely laws enacted by Congress to secure 

 honest elections. 



We have seen with pride and pleasure the distin- 

 guished honors paid to ex-President Grant by all 

 classes in Europe. His services in war, and his patri- 

 otism and ability in the discharge of the high civil 

 duties to which the confidence of his countrymen re- 

 spectively called him, his wisdom, prudence, modera- 

 tion, and integrity of character, entitle him to this 

 striking and remarkable exhibition of courtesy and 

 respect abroad, and to the lasting gratitude of his own 

 people. His name and fame are inseparably linked 

 with the most important events in our country's his- 

 tory. It is our pleasure thus to declare our admiration 

 and esteem for him, our gratitude to end our confi- 

 dence in him. 



There was also a National ticket nominated, 

 as follows : For Governor, C. W. Cook ; for 

 Lieutenant-Governor, D. B. Lewis ; for At- 

 torney-General, I. H. Trabue; for Auditor, 

 Henry Potter ; for Treasurer, W. T. Hardin ; 

 for Superintendent of Schools, K. C. McBeath; 

 for Eegister of Land-Office, Gano Henry. 



The result of the election was as follows: 

 For Governor Blackburn, Democrat, 125,799 ; 

 Evans, Kepublican, 81,882 ; Cook, National, 

 18,954. For Lieutenant-Governor Cantrill, 

 Democrat, 124,368; Deming, Kepublican, 81,- 

 201 ; Lewis, National, 18,487. For Attorney- 

 General Hardin, Democrat, 224,495; Clark, 

 Republican, 78,819; Trabue, National, 18,380. 

 For Auditor Hewitt, Democrat, 124,424; 

 Williamson, Republican, 80,749; Potter, Na- 

 tional, 18,364. For Treasurer Tate, Demo- 

 crat, 124,173 ; Stoll, Republican, 81,067; liar- 

 din, National, 18,334. For Superintendent of 

 Schools Pickett, Democrat, 124,430; Mcln- 

 tire, Republican, 80,858 ; McBeath, National, 

 18,342. For Register Sheldon, Democrat, 

 123,688; Wilson, Republican; 46,298, O'Do- 

 gherty, Republican, 26,739 ; Henry, National, 

 18.192. In the Legislature the Democrats had 

 a large majority. 



The proposition for a Constitutional Con- 

 vention was defeated. 



