30 



ARKANSAS. 



were native whites, and 103,473, or 75 per cent 

 of that class, were colored. There were 136,- 

 150 white and 46,827 colored males twenty-one 

 years of age and over. The yield of cotton, 

 according to the census, was 608,256 bales ; of 

 corn, 24, 156,417 bushels; of oats, 2,219,822 ; of 

 wheat, 1,269,730. There were on farms, 146,- 

 333 horses, 87,082 mules and asses, 25,444 

 working oxen, 249,407 milch-cows, 433,392 

 other cattle, 246,757 sheep, and 1,565,098 

 swine. The number of manufacturing estab- 

 lishments was 1,202, having a capital of 

 $2,953,130, employing 4,556 hands; value of 

 materials used, $4,382,080; value of products, 

 $6,756,159. 



POLITICAL CONVENTIONS. The Christian 

 Temperance Union of Arkansas met in Little 

 Rock in January, and pronounced in favor of 

 a prohibitory liquor law. A union was effected 

 of this body with the Prohibition Alliance of 

 Arkansas, under the name of the Christian 

 Temperance and Prohibition Union of Arkan- 

 sas. 



The Democratic State Convention met in 

 Little Rock on the 15th of June, and remained 

 in session three days. The following is the 

 platform adopted: 



Whereas. In every republican form of government, 

 having political parties, the party in power by the 

 suffrage of the people is the one which is responsible 

 for the public welfare ; and, 



Whereas. The Democratic party is in power in Ar- 

 kansas, ana the people therefore look to it to guard 

 their interests and to take up all questions in which 

 they are interested, and to settle them in such man- 

 ner as best to subserve the public weal ; and, 



Whereas, The question of a proper disposition of 

 our fraudulent debt, involving upward of thirteen 

 millions of money, is one of greater magnitude and 

 of deeper concern to the people of ArkansaSj and to 

 their children alter them, than any other question that 

 ever presented itself to their consideration : therefore, 



Resolved, That it is the duty of the Democratic 

 party to take up this great question, and to settle it in 

 accordance with at once the best interests of the State 

 and the wishes of her citizens. 



Resolved, That it is the duty of the next Legislature 

 to submit an amendment to the Constitution of the 

 State of Arkansas which will forever prohibit the 

 Legislature from the payment, compromising, fund- 

 ing, or otherwise recognizing the fraudulent railroad 

 aid, levee, or Holford bonds of the State of Arkansas, 

 or claims, or pretended claims, upon which they are 



Resolved, That we demand that the State Legisla- 

 ture shall, at the earliest practicable period, provide 

 for funding and paying interest upon the just debt of 

 the State, and providing a sinking-fund to ultimately 

 extinguish it. 



Resolved. That we demand strict accountability of 

 all State officers, and that all demands due the State 

 from every officer, person, or body corporate, be speed- 

 ily enforced. 



Resolved, That we are in favor of the education of 

 the masses by means of public schools, free to all. 

 _ Resolved, That we do reaffirm and approve the prin- 

 ciples announced and promulgated by the Democratic 

 party of the United States at Cincinnati in 1880. 



Resolved, That we favor immigration, and recom- 

 mend to the Legislature to adopt all practical means 

 to bring labor and capital to the State. 



Resolved, That we return thanks to the General Gov- 

 ernment for its prompt action, during the late great 

 flood, in providing aid for the destitute and the home- 



less, which, though a bpunden duty to its suffering 

 people, was made particularly gratifying in conse- 

 quence of its speedy and impartial distribution. 



The ticket nominated contained the follow- 

 ing names: For Governor, James H. Berry, of 

 Bentoii County ; for Secretary of State, Jacob 

 Frolich, of White County ; for Auditor, A. W. 

 Files, of Ashley County ; for Treasurer, W. E. 

 Woodruff, Jr., of Pulaski County ; for Asso- 

 ciate Justice of the Supreme Court, W. W. 

 Smith, of Phillips County ; for Attorney-Gen- 

 eral, C. B. Moore, of Pulaski County ; for 

 Chancellor, D. W. Carroll, of Jefferson Coun- 

 ty; for Chancery Clerk, J. W. Callaway, of 

 Ouachita County ; for State Land Commis- 

 sioner, W. P. Campbell, of Woodruff County ; 

 for Superintendent of Public Instruction, J. L. 

 Denton, of Phillips County; for Congressman- 

 at-large, C. R. Breckinridge, of Jefferson 

 County. 



The candidate for Governor was born about 

 1840. He entered the Confederate army, and 

 lost a leg at the battle of Corinth. He after- 

 ward taught school and studied law. In 1868 

 he was elected to the Legislature. In 1869 he 

 moved to Benton County and practiced his 

 profession with success. In 1872 he was again 

 elected to the Legislature, and was chosen 

 Speaker of the House at the extra session called 

 by Governor Baxter in 1873. In 1876 he was 

 a delegate to the State Convention, and was 

 made chairman. In 1878 he was elected judge 

 in the first judicial district. He was nomi- 

 nated for Governor by acclamation, a circum- 

 stance that had never before occurred at a 

 Democratic Convention in Arkansas. 



The Greenback State Convention met in 

 the same city on the same day, and presented a 

 ticket headed by Rufus K. Garland, of Nevada 

 County, for Governor. The convention, be- 

 sides adopting the usual resolutions, pro- 

 nounced in favor of the Fishback amendment 

 to the State Constitution, and of holding the 

 election of State officers on the same day as 

 the congressional election. 



The Republican State Convention met in 

 Little Rock on the 6th of July, and on the fol- 

 lowing day completed its ticket. One hundred 

 and fifty delegates were present, all parts of 

 the State being represented. Colonel W. D. 

 Slack was nominated for Governor. The other 

 nominees were as follows: For Secretary of 

 State, A. A. Tufts, of Ouachita County; for 

 County Auditor, J. M. McClintock, of Prairie 

 County; for Treasurer, Charles A. Water- 

 house, of Phillips County; for Associate Jus- 

 tice of Supreme Court, William May, of Yell 

 County; for Attorney-General, Thomas Gib- 

 son, of Yell County; for Chancellor, W. A. 

 Monroe, of Jackson County; for Chancery 

 Clerk, J. T. Penn, of Boone County ; for State 

 Land Commissioner, John H. Johnson, of 

 Woodruff County ; for Superintendent of Pub- 

 lic Instruction, R. H. Param, of Pulaski Coun- 

 ty. No nomination was made for Congress- 

 man-at-large, that matter being left to the 



