328 



KENTUCKY. 



An appropriation of $60,000 was made for im- 

 provements at the Agricultural and Mechanical 

 College. 



Among other measures were: 



Making it a felony for corporations to contribute 

 to campaign funds. 



To prevent the adulteration of food. 



Allowing the establishment of free libraries in 

 cities of the second class. 



Allowing the pensioning of indigent firemen in 

 cities. 



Prohibiting railroad companies from transport- 

 ing persons having the intention of intimidating 

 State officers in the discharge of their duty. 



Offering a reward of $100,000 for the apprehen- 

 sion and conviction of the assassin of Gov. Goebel, 

 and providing for a commission to have charge 

 of it. 



Gov. lieckham called an extraordinary session 

 of the Legislature to meet Aug. 28. The only 

 subject named for consideration was " the modifi- 

 cation or amendment of the existing laws regu- 

 lating elections in this State." In his message 

 the Governor said: 



" I consider that some changes in our election 

 laws at the present time would be productive of 

 much good and would remove some of the unfor- 

 tunate bitterness and dissatisfaction that now 

 exists among our people. The present laws on the 

 subject are undoubtedly distasteful to a large 

 number of people in the State, and their amend- 

 ment is earnestly desired by all those who want 

 to relieve as much as possible the friction and 

 ill feeling engendered by hostile political factions. 

 I do not believe the present law in its operation 

 to have been unfair or unjust, and I know it to 

 have been passed with the earnest and honest in- 

 tention to remedy the evils which existed under 

 the system which it supplanted. It was a great 

 improvement upon that system, but by reason of 

 a strong prejudice against it many people have 

 been led to believe that the change was a mis- 

 take and the law a bad one. This prejudice against 

 it, whether reasonable or not, is sufficient to justify 

 your consideration and warrant you to take some 

 action in securing a more satisfactory law." 



Various election bills were offered, but none was 

 passed until Oct. 20, when one reported by a con- 

 ference committee was made a law by vote of 

 a large majority, and was signed by the Governor, 

 Oct. 24. It provides for a State board of two 

 election commissioners appointed by the Governor, 

 one from each of the two parties that polled the 

 largest number of votes at the last preceding elec- 

 tion, the appointments to be made in July. The 

 clerk of the Court of Appeals is to be a third 

 member, to preside at the meetings and give the 

 casting vote when the others disagree. This State 

 board in August is to appoint two commissioners 

 to constitute an election board in each county, 

 with the sheriff of the county to preside and vote 

 in cases of disagreement; the two commissioners 

 are to be one from each party. The county board 

 is to appoint, not later than Sept. 20, the precinct . 

 officers, likewise equally from the two parties. 

 " When the election of a Governor or Lieutenant 

 Governor is contested, a board for determining the 

 contest shall be formed in the manner following: 

 1. On the third day after the organization of the 

 General Assembly which meets next after the 

 election the Senate shall select, by lot, three of 

 its members, and the House of Representatives 

 shall select, by lot, eight of its members, and the 

 eleven so selected shall constitute a board, seven 

 of whom shall have power to act. 2. In making 

 the selection, by lot, the name of each member 

 present shall be written on a separate piece of 



paper, every such piece being as nearly similar to 

 the other as may be. Each piece shall be rolled 

 up, so that the names thereon can not be seen, 

 nor any particular piece ascertained or selected 

 by feeling. The whole, so prepared, shall be placed 

 by the clerk in a box on his table, and after it 

 has been well shaken and the papers therein well 

 intermixed the clerk shall draw out one paper, 

 which shall be opened and read aloud by the pre- 

 siding officer, and so on until the required number 

 is obtained. No decision shall be made but by 

 the vote of six members. The decision of the board 

 shall not be final or conclusive. Such decision 

 shall be reported to the two houses of the Gen- 

 eral Assembly in joint session for the further 

 action of the General Assembly, over which the 

 Speaker of the House shall preside, and the Gen- 

 eral Assembly shall then determine such contest. 

 In cases of contests for minor offices, where there 

 is no provision by law for determining the con- 

 tested election, the contest shall be made by the 

 filing of a petition in the circuit court of the 

 county where the contestee resides, except where 

 the officer is one elective by the voters of the 

 whole State, in which event the petition shall be 

 filed in the Franklin circuit court. Either party 

 may appeal from the judgment of the circuit court 

 to the Court of Appeals." This law did not go 

 into effect before the election of 1900, since the 

 appointments must be made in July, August, and 

 September. 



The session adjourned Oct. 22. 



Political. An election to fill the office of Gov- 

 ernor, made vacant by the death of William 

 Goebel, was held at the time of the presidential 

 election in November. Republicans held a conven- 

 tion May 17 to choose delegates to the national 

 convention and electors. The delegates W. S. 

 Taylor, W. O. Bradley, George Denny, and W. A. 

 Gaines were instructed to vote for William 

 McKinley. On State issues the platform said: 



" We demand the unconditional repeal of the 

 existing election law, under the operation of which 

 individual citizens have been denied the right to 

 vote and whole counties have been deliberately 

 disfranchised, by authority of which certificates 

 of election have been issued to men defeated at the 

 polls, and as a disastrous result of which the gov- 

 ernment of the State has become involved in hope- 

 less confusion and chaos. We demand the prompt 

 enactment, in place of this revolutionary statute, 

 of an election law that shall absolutely secure to 

 every voter the free exercise of the right of suf- 

 frage and that shall guarantee the restoration and 

 permanence of government by the people. 



" We denounce the course of the Democratic 

 majority in the last General Assembly from the 

 hour when it adopted rules in defiance of right 

 and the Constitution, down to the final action by 

 which it attempted to deprive Gov. Taylor and 

 Lieut.-Gov. Marshall of the high offices to which 

 they had been elected at the polls." 



At the convention, July 17, John W. Yerkes \\ ;is 

 nominated for Governor. The resolutions said, in 

 part: " Officials elected by the people at the polls 

 have been denied their offices, and the people of 

 Kentucky deprived of the right of choosing their 

 State officials. Republican members of the Legis- 

 lature were unlawfully unseated, the city of Louis 

 ville deprived of the right to any part in the 

 conduct of the government, the counties of John 

 son, Magoffin. and Martin have been denied all 

 voice in the choice of our officers, and the courts 

 declare that the only remedy for such invasions 

 of personal liberty rests with the people at the 

 polls. We demand for each child a free school, 

 but we deny that education or accumulated prop- 



