OHIO. 



tern. The vote of the State was counted Jan- 

 uary 9, and Governor Hoadly inaugurated as suc- 

 cessor to Governor Forster, January 14. Hon. 

 H. B. Payne was chosen United States Senator 

 to succeed Senator Pendleton, March 4, 1885. 

 The act of 1882, districting the State for con- 

 gressional purposes according to the decennial 

 census, was repealed, and a new apportionment 

 was made. The principal other acts are re- 

 ferred to under the different sub-titles of this 

 article. The session closed April 14. 



The Liquor Question. The liquor question con- 

 tinued to be important this year, as in the year 

 preceding. The Scott law taxing the liquor- 

 traffic, which was passed in 1883, and pro- 

 nounced constitutional by the Supreme Court, 

 was, early in the present year, again taken to the 

 Supreme Court, which had been changed in its 

 political complexion by the substitution of two 

 Democratic judges for two Republicans. The 

 court, in the new case before it, decided that 

 the provision in the Scott law making the tax 

 a lien on the property where the liquor was 

 sold by a tenant, was unconstitutional, but de- 

 clined to pass any judgment on the other parts 

 of the law that imposed the tax. This de- 

 cision, delivered in June, was not considered 

 satisfactory by either the supporters or the 

 opponents of the law, and preparations were 

 made for the presentation of another case that 

 would force a decision on the question of the 

 tax itself being unconstitutional. Previous to 

 this, in April, the Legislature had so amended 

 the law as to make the tax payable semi-annu- 

 ally instead of annually, and a large proportion 

 of the liquor-dealers had paid half the tax, 

 some of them under protest, in expectation of 

 a decision of the court in their favor. A new 

 case was sent up, and on the 28th of October 

 the Supreme Court extended its decision of 

 June 17, by deciding that "inasmuch as it is 

 plainly unreasonable and improbable that the 

 General Assembly would have passed the Scott 

 law, with the provision giving a lien for the 

 tax on premises occupied by tenants eliminated 

 therefrom, the whole act, so far as it provides 

 for an assessment or tax, is unconstitutional 

 and void.'" The court still declined passing on 

 the constitutionality of other portions of the 

 law. The decision created great excitement 

 in the counties and municipalities throughout 

 the State, which had not only appropriated 

 the liquor-taxes already paid in, but had levied 

 their other taxes for the coming year after giv- 

 ing credit to certain receipts from the tax on 

 the liquor- traffic. They were compelled to face 

 not only an unavoidable deficit in the next year's 

 revenue, but a demand for the return of the 

 liquor-taxes already paid. 



The Ohio River Flood. In February, the break- 

 age of the ice in Ohio river and its tributaries, 

 and the heavy rains that accompanied it, caused 

 an unprecedented rise in the river. All the 

 towns along the banks suffered heavily. At 

 Cincinnati a large part of the city was under 

 water, many houses were wrecked, lives were 



lost, and thousands were rendered temporarily 

 if not wholly destitute. To add to the hor- 

 rors, the gas-works were submerged, and the 

 city was plunged into darkness. Relief poured 

 into the stricken cities and towns of the river 

 from all directions, and steamers were em- 

 ployed to distribute food and clothing. The 

 climax was reached at Cincinnati at noon of 

 February 14, when the water stood at 71 feet 

 f inch, the highest ever recorded. 



The Cincinnati Riot. In March, William Berner 

 was tried in Cincinnati for assisting Joseph 

 Palmer in the murder of his employer, William 

 H. Kirk. The murder was one of great atro- 

 city, and was confessed to by both Berner and 

 Palmer. Notwithstanding this confession and 

 the indictment for murder in the first degree, 

 the jury found Berner guilty of manslaughter 

 only. This, with the fact that about twenty 

 other untried murderers were in jail in the city, 

 inflamed the public mind. On the evening of 

 March 28 a meeting was held in Music Hall to 

 protest against the verdict, and to demand a re- 

 form in murder trials. It was made up mostly 

 of solid men of the city, with apparently but a 

 small infusion of the mob element. The meet- 

 ing had not progressed very far, however, when 

 the advocates of violent measures made them- 

 selves prominent. To avert mischief, if pos- 

 sible, the officers of the meeting declared it 

 adjourned. Outside a crowd had gathered to 

 learn the result of the meeting. A young man 

 rushed excitedly out of the hall, shouting : "To 

 the jail ! Come on ! Follow me, and hang 

 Berner ! " The crowd immediately turned to- 

 ward the jail, yelling as they went. Some one 

 rang the riot alarm, and that set thousands 

 running in the direction of the Court-House. 

 The crowd around the jail soon numbered 

 many thousands, but the active operations were 

 carried on by a few hundreds. The windows 

 of the jail were soon broken. A carriage 

 factory near by was forced open, and the 

 crowd took out a huge beam and some sledge- 

 hammers. The jail door was burst open, and 

 the mob forced a way to the cell of William 

 Berner. It was empty. The prisoner at the 

 first alarm had been secretly removed and sent 

 to the Penitentiary at Columbus. The sheriff 

 brought a company of militia into the jail 

 through a tunnel from the Court-House, and 

 the rioters were ordered to withdraw. They 

 refused, and firing at once began. Several 

 persons were wounded, and the rioters were 

 driven out. The mob built a bonfire against 

 the walls of the jail, but with no effect. A 

 gang broke into a gun-store and one of the 

 militia armories, rifling them of arms and am- 

 munition. All next day Cincinnati was dis- 

 turbed with indications of a renewed outbreak. 

 Incendiary proclamations were posted about 

 the streets. The Governor was telegraphed to 

 send troops, and two regiments of the Ohio 

 National Guard were ordered out. At ten 

 o'clock Saturday night, just twenty-four hours 

 after the first alarm, the mob was again in 



