778 



WEST VIRGINIA. 



went into the hands of a receiver, a shortage hav- 

 ing been found of about $25,000, and the cashier 

 was arrested in October. 



Railroads. The statistics of railroad construc- 

 tion credit the State with 225 miles of new track 

 on 10 lines in 1890 and 1900. Contract has been 

 made for the construction of a road along Coal 

 river the Kanawha, Pocahontas and Coal River 

 Uailroad and part ot the work has been done. It 

 will give an outlet for great quantities of coal 

 and timber. 



Industries and Products. The Labor Com- 

 missioner's report shows the following figures on 

 the manufactures of the State: Five hundred es- 

 tablishments report 28.334 employees on the pay- 

 rolls .Ian. 1. IS'.IT: 34.889 employees on the pay 

 lolls Jan. 1, 1899; 40,221 employees on the pay 

 rolls .Ian. 1, 1900; an increase of 48 per cent. 

 Average number of yveeks in operation year end- 

 ing Jan. 1, 1900, 40. 



Three hundred and five establishments report 

 an advance in wages rates, affecting 22,553 em- 

 ployees. Three establishments reduced wages, af- 

 fecting '24 employees. 



It is also shoyvn that 298 establishments mer- 

 cantile, mining, and manufacturing started be- 

 tween March, 1S97, and January, 1900, report 10,- 

 188 employees, $345,816 paid monthly in yvages, 

 and $22.842.547 capital invested. 



The State stands third in regard to coal pro- 

 duction, being surpassed only by Pennsylvania 

 and Illinois. The output in 1900 was 22,000,000 

 tons. In 1890 the State stood fourth, with 7,394,- 

 (i.">4 tons. The number of men employed at the 

 mines this year was 28,017. Of the quality of the 

 coal, the London Statist said: " Both for ' bunker ' 

 purposes and for export it is probable that the 

 coal of West Virginia is destined to take the lead. 

 This State has a far larger coal area than the 

 I nited Kingdom has, and the seams are so placed 

 that practically all the mining is done by the 

 simple, easy, and economical method of working 

 by adits. It is this State that produces the famous 

 ' Pocahontas' coal, yvhich has been declared by 

 some analysts to be fully equal to the very best 

 coal produced in South Wales that is to say, to 

 the best in the world. About 5,000,000 tons per 

 annum of this valuable coal are now being turned 

 out, and the most of it finds its yvay to Norfolk 

 and Newport News for shipment." 



The State is second in coke production and 

 first in oil. 



From the report of the Board of Agriculture 

 it appears that the season of 1899 yv. not favor- 

 able, and the yield of some crops was beloyv the 

 average, yet the corn crop yvas estimated at 18,- 

 04:{.:.si butheb; wheat. :i.sso,751 bushels; oats, 

 .'{.I58.442 bushels; rye, 132.290 bushels; and buck- 

 wheat, 238,255 bushels. Total value, $16,095,847. 

 Potatoes. -_'.<;72,784 bushels, valued at $1,398,848; 

 hay, (5.1)83.031 tons, valued at $6,083,031. 



Lawlessness. A negro was lynched near Taze- 

 well. April 19, for assault on a young girl. A 

 rea! excitement was caused at Faycttcville. Dec. 

 28. among the negroes by the arrival of 25 negroes. 

 arrested at Star for having attempted to lynch 

 Squire Workman at that place on ( 'lirist mas night. 

 Squire Workman had arrested a negro on Christ- 

 mas Day for disorderly conduct. Later some ne- 

 groes tried to rescue the prisoner, and one of them 

 was killed. Then followed the attempt Uiat night 

 to lynch the justice, for yvhich the prisoners yvere 

 wrested. 



Political. This was the year for electing State 

 Officers for the ensuing four years beginning March 

 4. 1901. There yvere four tickets Republican. 

 Democratic, People's party, and Prohibitionist. 



The first Republican convention yvas held at 

 Fairmont, May 8, and delegates yvere chosen to 

 the national convention. The second convention, 

 for nominating State officers, met in Charleston, 

 July 11. The platform approved the presidential 

 nominations, commended the course of the State's 

 representatives in Congress, denounced disfran- 

 clusement of colored voters, opposed the removal 

 of any of the State buildings, and said, concerning 

 apportionment: "In the apportionment for elec- 

 tion of members of the Legislature yve lavor giving 

 to every county at least one delegate, and the 

 abandonment, so far as possible, of the legislative 

 districts, which, yvhile being a plan intended to 

 equalize representation, has been perverted by the 

 Democrats into a partisan scheme to disfranchise 

 counties and voters." 



And in regard to Democratic State administra- 

 tion: "We condemn the Democratic party for 

 twenty years of incompetence and bungling, 

 coupled yvith fraud and embezzlement, in the man- 

 agement of the affairs of the State. We call upon 

 the leaders of that party to explain yvhy it was 

 that commissioners of school lands and delinquent 

 sheriffs yvere alloyved to pocket the people's money 

 and yvere never called to account; yvhy it yvas that 

 tons and tons of yvorthless documents yvere an- 

 nually ground through the press at enormous cost 

 to the State, only to lie and rot in the vaults and 

 cellars of the Statehouse: yvhy it was that hun- 

 dreds of foreign corporations yvere alloyved to do 

 business in this State by paying only one fifth 

 of the amount of license taxes required by layv ; 

 why it was that the irreducible school fund, yvhich 

 during the last four years lias increased at the 

 rate of $50,000 per annum, only increased $20,000 

 per annum yvhen they yvere in control ; yvhy it 

 yvas that they could not construct a State building 

 yvithout laying a special levy, and making supple- 

 mental assessments, and then borrowing money, 

 yvhile the present administration, out of 'the ordi- 

 nary revenues, has provided for more public build- 

 ings than have ever been constructed in the same 

 length of time in the history of the State, and lias 

 not borroyved a cent nor increased taxes; yvhy it 

 yvas that the Democratic Legislature of 1893 paid 

 $18,000 out of the State treasury for alleged serv- 

 ices in collecting an obligation due this State from 

 the United States Government, which services 

 yvere absolutely unnecessary, as the United States 

 Government cheerfully paid the full amount of the 

 obligation to the State treasury : yvhy it yvas that 

 the last Democratic Governor of this State bor- 

 rowed $100,000 out of the irreducible school fund 

 for State purposes, paying 6 per cent, interest for 

 it, while at the same time one of his State officers 

 had thousands of dollars of the State's money in 

 his pocket and yvas paying neither principal nor 

 interest: why it yvas that the cost of the public 

 printing, binding, and stationery from 1890 to 

 1896 inclusive, under Democratic control. amounted 

 to a yearly average of nearly $46.000. yvhile under 

 the present administration it has averaged less 

 than half that amount; and yvhy it was that, with 

 the same resources at their command yvhich the 

 Republicans noyv control, they yvere never able to 

 place more than $1,400.000 at the disposal of the 

 Legislature in any two years, while, with no in- 

 creased taxation and yvithout borrowing one cent, 

 the j >resent administration in the same period of 

 time lias furnished over $3.000.000." 



The eight-hour layv was approved, and the rapid 

 development of the industries of the State under 

 Republican administration pointed out. Further, 

 the platform declared: "We are unalterably op- 

 posed to the payment of any part of the Virginia 

 debt. That portion of Virginia yvhich now consti- 



