

KENTUCKY. 



395 



the farm-owning families own subject to in- 

 cumbrance, and 95-94 per cent, own free of in- 

 cumbrance. Among 100 farm families, 35 hire 

 their farms, 3 own with incurnbrance, and 62 

 without incumbrance. On the owned farms 

 there are liens amounting to $5,336,854, which 

 is 40'12 per cent, of their value, and this debt 

 bears interest at the average rate of 6'68 per 

 cent., making the average annual interest charge 

 $71 to each family. Each owned and incum- 

 bered farm, on the average, is worth $2,665, and 

 is subject to a debt of $1,069. The average size 

 of farms is 119 acres, and the number 179,264, 

 with 11,818,882 improved acres. 



The corresponding facts for homes are, that 

 67'98 per cent, of the home families hire and 

 32-02 per cent, own their homes; that, of the 

 home-owning families, 93*21 per cent, own free 

 of incumbrance and 6'79 per cent, with incum- 

 brance. In 100 home families, on the average, 

 68 hire their homes, 2 own with incumbrance, 

 and 30 without incumbrance. The debt on 

 owned homes aggregates $3,034,684, or 31*74 per 

 cent, of their value and bears interest at the 

 average rate of 6'74 per cent., so that the annual 

 amount of interest to each home averages $57. 

 An average debt of $842 incumbers each home 

 which has the average value of $2,651. 



There are 6 cities in the State in the class of 

 those having a population of 8,000 to 100,000, 

 and in these cities 68-59 per cent, of the home 

 families hire and 31'41 per cent, own their 

 homes, and of the home-owning families 91-41 

 per cent, own free of incumbrance. 



Lawlessness. The counties of Washington, 

 Boyle, and Mercer, or parts of them, have been 

 infested by Regulators or White Caps, and a 

 number of outrages were reported in January. 

 Several men were brutally whipped, and one 

 man who resisted was shot and killed. 



Labor Movements. A large proportion of 

 the miners of Kentucky .joined the general strike 

 of miners in April. There was some violence in 

 the coal regions, and a coal train was fired 

 upon near Central City. 



The railroad strike in July reached the Louis- 

 ville and Nashville road, but no violence was re- 

 ported. 



Gen. Kelly and Col. Baker, of the Industrial 

 Army were tried on a charge of vagrancy in 

 Louisville and acquitted. They held a meeting 

 at National Park, and received contributions to 

 a considerable amount from the 5,000 people 

 present. 



Legislative Session. The General Assem- 

 bly met Jan. 2, and adjourned March 12. The 

 measure that excited most discussion and con- 

 tention was the " husband and wife property- 

 rights bill," which finally passed both Houses and 

 was approved. The principal changes made by 

 the measure are as follow : 



Marriage shall give to the husband during the life 

 of the wife no estate or interest in the wife's property, 

 real or personal, owned at the time or acquired after 

 the marriage. During the existence of the marriage 

 relation the wife shall hold and own all her estate to 

 her separate and exclusive use and free from the debts, 

 liabilities, or control of her husband. No part of a 

 married woman's estate shall be subjected to the pay- 

 ment or satisfaction of any liability, upon a contract 

 made after marriage, to answer for the debt, default, 



or misdoing of another, including her husband, un- 

 less such estate shall have been set apart for that 

 purpose by deed of mortgage or other conveyance 

 but her estate shall be liable for her debts and re- 

 sponsibilities contracted or incurred before marriage 

 and for such contracted after marriage, except as in 

 this act provided. 



A married woman may take, acquire, and hold 

 property, real and personal, by gift, devise, or descent, 

 or by purchase, and she may, in her own name, as if 

 she were unmarried, sell and dispose of her personal 

 property. She may make contracts and sue and be 

 sued as a single woman, except that she may not 

 make any executory contract to sell or convey or 

 mortgage her real estate unless her husband join in 

 such contract ; but she shall have the power and 

 right to rent out her real estate, and collect, receive, 

 and recover in her own name the rents thereof, and 

 make contracts for the improvement thereof. A gift, 

 transfer, or assignment of personal property between 

 husband and wife, to be good as to third persons, 

 must be recorded as chattel mortgages are required 

 to be recorded. 



The husband shall not be liable for any debt or 

 responsibility of the wife contracted or incurred be- 

 fore or after marriage, except to the amount or value 

 of the property he may receive from or by her by vir- 

 tue of marriage, but shall be liable for necessaries fur- 

 nished to her after marriage. 



After the death of either the husband or wife the 

 survivor shall have an estate for his or her life in 

 one third of all real estate owned by the deceased, or 

 held by any one to his or her use during coverture, 

 and an absolute estate in one half of all the surplus 

 personalty left by such decedent. 



A married woman, if she be of sound mind and 

 twenty-one years of age, may dispose of her estate 

 by last will and testament subject to the provisions 

 of this act. 



Other acts of the session were the following : 



Providing for the incorporation of towns, changing 

 minimum number of inhabitants from 250 to 150. 



Amending the law on weights and measures, 

 changing coal from 80 to 76 pounds to the bushel. 



Making the labeling of imported convict-made 

 goods mandatory. 



Making local option an issue at the next regular 

 election, and providing that towns or districts shall 

 or shall not have local option as indicated by the 

 vote of such town or district, regardless of the vote 

 of the county as a unit. 



Providing for filling vacancies in State offices 

 and judgeships except those of county judge, police 

 judge, and justice of the peace by appointment of 

 the Governor. 



Amending the revenue and taxation law. 



Amending the separate-coach bill. 



A resolution was passed instructing the United 

 States Senators of Kentucky in relation to con- 

 firmation of the nominations for the office of 

 Justice of the Supreme Court which were made 

 by the President. The preamble recites the fact 

 that the Supreme Court of the United States has 

 long been controlled by Republicans; that it is 

 essential that the principles of Jefferson and 

 Jackson should prevail in all Government depart- 

 ments ; that it is in the power of the President 

 to put on the bench a Democrat without re- 

 proach, and that it is inadvisable to select for 

 office men of uncertain political records. The 

 resolution is as follows : 



That we hereby request and instruct our Senators 

 in Congress to vote against the confirmation of any 

 man to a seat on the Supreme Court bench who can 

 not establish his devotion to the organization as well 

 as to the cardinal principles of the Democratic 

 party. 



