KENTUCKY. 



411 



personal animosities. During the present year the 

 local leader of one of these factions came in possession 

 of the office of police judge of the town of Morehead. 

 Under color of the authority of that office and sus- 

 tained by an armed band of adherents, he exercised 

 despotic sway over the town and its vicinage. He 

 banished citizens who were obnoxious to him ; and, 

 in one instance, after arresting two citizens who seem 

 to have been guilty of no offense, he and his party, 

 attended by a deputy sheriff of the county, murdered 

 them in cold blood. This act of atrocity fully aroused 

 the community. A posse, acting under the authority 

 of a warrant from the county judge, attacked the po- 

 lice judge and his adherents on the 22d of June last, 

 killed several of their number, and put the rest to 

 flii'ht, and temporarily restored something like tran- 

 quillity to the community. The proceedings of the 

 Circuit Court, which was held in August, were not 

 calculated to inspire the citizens with confidence in 

 securing justice. The report of the Adjutant General 

 on this subject shows, from information derived "from 

 representative men without reference to party affilia- 

 tions," that the judge of the Circuit Court seems so 

 far under the influence of the reputed leader of one of 

 the factions as to permit such an organization of the 

 grand juries as will effectually prevent the indictment 

 of members of that faction for the most flagrant crimes. 



Political. A regular biennial election for 

 State officers was held this year. The canvass 

 was opened by the Prohibitionists, who met 

 in convention at Louisville on March 3 and 

 nominated the following ticket : For Gov- 

 ernor, Fontaine T. Fox ; for Lieutenant-Gov- 

 ernor, W. L. Gordon ; for Auditor, A. T. 

 Henderson ; for Treasurer, R. K. Dyer ; for 

 Register of the Land Office, James T. Barbee ; 

 for Attorney-General, J. W. Harris ; for Super- 

 intendent of Public Instruction, D. W. Ste- 

 venson. The following resolutions were 

 adopted : 



We indorse the National Prohibition party plat- 

 form. The liquor traffic of this country is a public 

 nuisance, debauching the citizens, corrupting the 

 voter, robbing the laborer, endangering the peace and 

 happiness of society ; and we therefore demand the 

 prohibition of the importation, manufacture, sale or 

 traffic, by any and all persons, of all alcoholic, vi- 

 nous, malt, fermented, distilled, or other intoxicating 

 liquors, except for mechanical or medicinal purposes ; 

 and for the consummation of this purpose we further 

 demand a constitutional amendment, State and na- 

 tional, and such congressional and legislative enact- 

 ment as will be necessary to enforce these provisions. 



With regard to the present public affairs in Ken- 

 tucky, we advocate the call of a sovereignty conven- 

 tion of the people, under and by authority of section 

 4 of the bill of rights in our present Constitution, to 

 form another Constitution, more in harmony with the 

 changed condition of affairs in the State and of the 

 political advancement of the times. 



We advocate the enactment of the following gen- 

 eral laws : 1. A law to disfranchise any person who 

 buys or sells a vote. 2. A law to prevent the compe- 

 tition of convict with free labor, or the hiring out the 

 convicts in such a way as to produce such competi- 

 tion, and to brand all articles of every kind made by 

 convict labor as "convict made" when and before 

 the same is put on the market. We indorse Mr. 

 Powderly's opinion that the liquor traffic is the work- 

 ingman's worst enemy. 3. A law to investigate 

 every ten years the condition of eveiy office con- 

 nected with the administration of the State govern- 

 ment by commissioners selected by the General As- 

 sembly. 



The Democratic Convention was held on 

 May 4, and resulted in the choice of the fol- 



lowing candidates: For Governor, Simon B. 

 Buckner ; for Lieutenant-Governor, James W. 

 Bryan; for Auditor, Fayette Hewitt; for 

 Treasurer, James W. Tate; for Attorney-Gen- 

 eral, P. W. Hardin ; for Superintendent of 

 Public Instruction, Joseph D. Pickett ; for 

 Register of the Land Office, Thomas H. Cor- 

 bett. The platform contains very little upon 

 State issues. It declares that convict labor 

 should not be brought into unfair competition 

 with regular lines of business, and that legis- 

 lation is needed to secure proper ventilation 

 and other safeguards for mines and factories. 



One week later the Republicans placed in 

 nomination the following ticket : For Gov- 

 ernor, William O. Bradley; for Lieutenant- 

 Governor, Mat. O'Doherty ; for Auditor, R. 

 D. Davis; for Treasurer, J. R. Puryear ; for 

 Attorney-General, John W. Feland ; for Super- 

 intendent of Public Instruction, "W. H. Chil- 

 ders 1 ; for Register of the Land Office, T. J. 

 Tinsley. The platform included the following 

 paragraphs : 



That a change is necessary in our State affairs 

 which would curtail offices, reduce expenses, and en- 

 able the people of Kentucky to overhaul and examine 

 the books which for nearly twenty years have been 

 virtually sealed against them. 



That we condemn the Democratic party of Ken- 

 tucky for a useless waste of the people's money ; for 

 bringing convict labor into competition with that of 

 honest workingmen ; for retarding emigration, and 

 for crippling education. 



That we approve of and wilJ support a tariff so ad- 

 justed as to protect and develop American industries, 

 and also such State legislation as experience has 

 proved to be necessary for the development of the ma- 

 terial resources of this commonwealth. 



That we favor material aid to internal improvement 

 of our lakes, rivers, and harbors, and disapprove of 

 the course of the President of the United States in re- 

 fusing to sign a bill which promoted such improve- 

 ments, causing the work already done to fall into 

 decay. 



Believing with the lamented Lincoln that it is the 

 duty of the nation " to care for him who shall have 

 borne the battle, and for his widow and orphans," we 

 hold that the people of the United States owe an ev- 

 er-living debt of gratitude to the soldiers and sailors 

 who saved the republic, and we hereby disapprove of 

 and condemn the veto of President Cleveland of the 

 bill which provided for their relief. 



The nominees of the Union Labor party 

 were : For Governor, A. H. Cardin ; for Lieu- 

 tenant-Governor, 0. N. Bradburn ; for Audi- 

 tor, John M. McMurky ; for Treasurer, George 

 Smith ; for Attorney-General, J. P. Newman ; 

 for Superintendent of Public Instruction, R. M. 

 McBeth ; for Register of the Land Office, Gaius 

 Henry. 



The election was held on the first Monday of 

 August, and resulted in the success of the 

 Democratic ticket, but by a greatly reduced 

 plurality. Official returns for Governor gave 

 Buckner 143,270 votes; Bradley, 126,473; 

 Fox, 8,394; and Cardin, 4.434. Bradley ran 

 3,000 votes ahead of his ticket. The Demo- 

 cratic plurality at the last gubernatorial elec- 

 tion, in 1883, was 44,434, and in 1884 Presi- 

 dent Cleveland carried the State by a plurality 



