A I { KANSAS. 



23 



requiring the purchase of tickets by passengers 

 boarding trains at ticket stations was declared to 

 be reasonable. 



Cities and Towns. The towns of Lake City, in 

 Lawrence County, and Shiloh, in Cleburne County, 

 were incorporated this year, making the whole 

 number of cities and incorporated towns in the 

 State 205. 



Cotton. Representatives of the various com- 

 press and warehouse companies in Arkansas met at 

 the capital in May and organized the Arkansas Com- 

 press Association. Its object is to promote a uni- 

 form and efficient method of baling cotton, for, ac- 

 cording to the report of a committee, it is gener- 

 ally admitted that the American cotton bale is now 

 delivered at its final destination in a dirty, uneven, 

 and ragged condition ; and on account of this con- 

 dition the cotton consumers are discriminating 

 against American cotton. It was decided to rec- 

 ommend the adoption of a uniform press box, 24 x 

 54 inches, inside measurement. By making a bale 

 of these dimensions, it is said, lower freight rates 

 abroad can be secured. 



Political. A new political organization was 

 formed at a convention held in May at Little Rock. 

 It was named the Liberal party. Its platform fa- 

 vored prohibition ; the initiative and referendum ; 

 woman suffrage ; Government control of the means 

 of transportation and communication ; free coinage 

 of silver at the ratio of 16 to 1 ; an income tax ; 

 direct election by the people of the President, Vice- 

 President, and Senators ; reduction of congressional 

 representation ; abolition of " useless offices with 

 large salaries and insignificant services " ; reduc- 

 tions in salaries of public officials; Sunday laws; 

 the establishment of reform schools; abolition of 

 official fees and payment by salaries ; a new road 

 law ; the teaching in public schools of the effects 

 of alcohol and narcotics ; and amendments to the 

 election law requiring the names of all party and 

 independent candidates complying with nomination 

 regulations to be placed on the official ballot at the 

 expense of the entire people for whom the election is 

 held ; that the' candidates of each party be placed in 

 separate columns ; entitling each of the three larger 

 parties to a State and county commissioner and a 

 judge of election of their respective choosing ; allow- 

 ing each party having candidates to be voted for a 

 watcher to serve without fee under oath as to se- 

 crecy ; and requiring that the ballots of electors who 

 may be unable to prepare their own ballots in the 

 booth shall be filled out in the presence of all the 

 judges. 



Alexander McKnight was nominated for the 

 'ffice of Governor. No other nominations for State 

 ces were made. 



The People's party held its convention in Little 

 Rock, May 31. The platform was as follows : " We 

 reaffirm the fundamental principles of our national 

 platform adopted at Omaha and St. Louis ; we also 

 reaffirm the State platform adopted by the Popu- 

 lists of Arkansas in 1896, and call especial attention 

 to that part denouncing the Arkansas election law ; 

 and in order to secure all necessary reforms we de- 

 mand an amendment to our State Constitution giv- 

 ing to the people the right of direct legislation." 



Following is the ticket: For Governor, W. S. 

 Morgan ; Secretary of State, A. T. Barlow ; Attor- 

 ney-General, R. A. Moore ; Treasurer, B. L. Jones ; 

 Superintendent of Public Instruction, B. P. Baker ; 

 Commissioner of Mines, Manufactures, and Agri- 

 culture, T. W. Hays ; Commissioner of State Lands, 

 George Martin. 



Candidates for the offices of Auditor and Associate 

 Justice were afterward named by the State Central 

 Committee. 



The Democratic State Convention was held in 



Little Rock, June 21. The platform reaffirmed the 

 Chicago declaration of 1896, declared the Monroe 

 doctrine to be a cardinal tenet of the party, ap- 

 proved the war with Spain, opposed the issuing of 

 interest-bearing bonds for defraying the expenses 

 of the war, favored the building and control of the 

 Nicaragua Canal by the Government, and recom- 

 mended the adoption of the proposed amendments 

 to the State Constitution providing for the creation 

 of a railroad commission and for the improvement 

 of highways. A resolution contemplating the con- 

 tinued use of the primary-election system was de- 

 feated, and the county central committees are left 

 to exercise their own* judgment in prescribing the 

 manner in which elections shall be held for State 

 candidates, whether by primary election or conven- 

 tion of delegates. 



The candidates named were : For Governor, 

 Daniel W. Jones ; Secretary of State, Alexander C. 

 Hull; Treasurer, Thomas E. Little; Auditor, Clay 

 Sloan ; Attorney-General, Jefferson Davis ; Com- 

 missioner of State Lands, J. W. Colquitt ; Superin- 

 tendent of Public Instruction, J. J. Doyne ; Com- 

 missioner of Mines, Manufactures, and Agriculture, 

 Frank Hill ; Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, 

 J. E. Riddick. All but two of these nominations 

 were determined by the vote of the primaries on 

 May 7. 



The Republican convention in Little Rock, June 

 29, adopted a platform demanding that each party 

 be represented on each election board. The St. 

 Louis platform was reaffirmed and the McKinley 

 administration commended, and declarations were 

 made in favor of the Dingley bill and the gold 

 standard, the annexation of Hawaii, the construc- 

 tion of the Nicaragua Canal, and a national quaran- 

 tine law. On State matters the platform declared 

 for consolidation of State and congressional elec- 

 tions, a constitutional convention, an amendment 

 to the grape-culture law, encouragement of immi- 

 gration, and the inviting of capital for the develop- 

 ment of the State's resources. Protest was made 

 against the exclusion of Republicans from the 

 boards of the university and the other State insti- 

 tutions. Resolutions were adopted asking Congress 

 to provide for the care of Confederate cemeteries, 

 asking that the office of superintendent of the Hot 

 Springs reservation be exempted from the opera- 

 tion of the civil-service law, and favoring in- 

 struction in military tactics at the Branch Normal 

 College, at Pine Bluff. The ticket follows: For 

 Governor, H. F. Auten ; Secretary of State, H. H. 

 Myers; Auditor, Andrew I. Roland ; Treasurer, A. L. 

 Krewson ; Land Commissioner, George M. French ; 

 Superintendent of Public Instruction, J. R. Willi- 

 ford ; Attorney-General, J. F. Henley; Associate 

 Justice of the Supreme Court, James Brizzolara; 

 Commissioner of Mines, Manufactures, and Agri- 

 culture, Charles W. Cox. 



The result of the election, Sept. 5, was the success 

 of the entire Democratic State ticket. The official 

 returns gave the following figures on the candidates 

 for Governor : Jones (Democratic), 75.362 : Auten 

 (Republican), 27,524; Morgan (Populist), 8,332; 

 McKnight (Liberal), 679. The next State Senate 

 will be entirely Democratic, while the lower house 

 of the legislature will have two Republican and no 

 Populist members. 



Two constitutional amendments were submitted 

 and both were carried, one providing for a railroad 

 commission, the other giving counties power to 

 levy a road tax of 3 mills, with the consent of 

 the people. The counties voted on the question of 

 granting liquor licenses and also on the sale of na- 

 tive wine. 



At the November election the Democrats elected 

 all their candidates for Congress. 



