MISSOURI. 



McVicker was knocked senseless. The sheriff and 

 his deputies were overpowered and disarmed, and 

 the jail was broken into. When the bridge was 

 reached Williams was asked whether he would 

 rather be hanged up and strangled slowly, or al- 

 lowed sufficient drop to break his neck. lie said 

 he did not care. His nerve was phenomenal. The 

 mob finished its work with dispatch and quietly 

 dispersed." 



In September Benjamin Jones (white), sixty-eight 

 years of age, was taken from the Liberty County 

 jail by about 75 men and hanged. He had confessed 

 to an assault on a girl eleven years old. 



Political. At the November elections the State 

 went Democratic by less than 25,000, there being a 

 loss of 65 per cent, compared with 1896. The plu- 

 ralities of the 12 Democratic Congressmen ranged 

 from 2,000 to 3,500. In the retiring Legislature the 

 Democrats and Populists had 52 on joint ballot ; 

 this election gave them 40, there being a Republican 

 gain of 12 on joint ballot. 



The State Democratic Convention, which met in 

 Springfield on Aug. 11, nominated William C. Mar- 

 shall for Judge of the Supreme Court for the long 

 term, and Leroy B. Valliant for the short term ; 

 William T. Carrington for Superintendent of Pub- 

 lic Schools, and William E. Scully for Railroad and 

 Warehouse Commissioner. No other nominations 

 were made, and the nominees were elected. 



The platform of this convention approved that of 

 Chicago in 1896, demanding free coinage of silver 

 and gold at the ratio of 16 to 1, without waiting for 

 the consent of any other nation, and confidence in 

 William J. Bryan as the leading exponent of these 

 principles was expressed. The Republican party 

 was censured for nonenforcement of anti-trust 

 laws. The issuance of interest-bearing bonds was 

 condemned. The platform then continued : 



" We assert that the declaration of war against 

 Spain was justified by the causes which called it 

 forth. We direct attention to the fact that the Na- 

 tional Republican Administration, backed by the 

 Republican majority in Congress, was opposed to 

 war, and yielded only after delay to strong public 

 sentiment aroused by the just and persistent de- 

 mands of Democratic Senators and Representatives, 

 I foremost among them those from Missouri : and for 

 | their part in forcing the Republican President and 

 | Congress to defend the rights of our country, we ex- 

 i tend them our hearty congratulation. 



" We are opposed to waging a war for conquest, 



but as this war was forced upon us by the intolerant 



! action of the Spanish Government and people, we 



declare it should be prosecuted until Spain is driven 



from the Western hemisphere. 



" We favor carrying out in good faith the resolu- 

 tion of Congress under which we intervened in Cuba, 

 and aiding the Cubans to establish and maintain an 

 independent government of their own, if they desire 

 this, and we will favor its peaceful annexation when- 

 sver it can be done with the consent of the people 

 of the island. 



" We are opposed to the acquisition of the Phil- 

 ippines or other territory in the Eastern hemisphere. 

 We declare that as an important incident to war our 

 Government should acquire all necessary harbor 

 ind coaling stations in the Philippines or elsewhere, 

 mil that the Treaty of Peace with Spain or any gov- 

 'rninent established on the islands should guarantee 

 to us commercial privileges equal to or superior to 

 :hose enjoyed by any other nation. 



''The Nicaraguan canal should be constructed 

 ind controlled by the United States." 



The Populist State Convention, which met in St. 

 Louis on July 7, split on the question of fusion, and 

 :wo conventions were held, one by the " regulars " 

 ind one by the " middle-of-the-roaders." The plat- 



MONTANA. 



463 





form of the regulars reaffirmed the principles 

 adopted by the Omaha and St. Louis conventions, 

 declaring that money for carrying on the war with 

 Spain should be obtained by coinage of silver and 

 the issue of legal-tender notes, and not by increase 

 in taxes and enlargement of the public debt ; that 

 the present system of using bank credit as a circu- 

 lating medium is extravagant and dangerous. The 

 initiative and referendum were favored in the en- 

 actment of laws. The platform of the middle-of- 

 the-roaders was substantially the same. 



The Republican State Convention met in St. Louis 

 on Aug. 23. The platform congratulated the nation 

 upon the unparalleled success of the administration 

 of President McKinley; extended thanks to the 

 army and navy for their achievements in the Span- 

 ish-American war ; reaffirmed faith in the declara- 

 tion of principles of the Republican party in 1896 ; 

 favored an increase of the navy, an adequate system 

 of harbor and sea-coast defenses, and the mainte- 

 nance of a regular army sufficient to insure the 

 safety of the nation at all times ; favored the com- 



Eletion and control of the Nicaragua canal by the 

 nited States, and reasserted the Monroe doctrine 

 in its full extent. 



MONTANA, a Western State, admitted to the 

 Union Nov. 8, 1889; area, 146,080 square miles. 

 The population, according to the census of 1890, 

 was 132,159. Capital, Helena. 



Government. The following were the State offi- 

 cers during the year: Governor, Robert B. Smith; 

 Lieutenant Governor, A. E. Spriggs; Secretary of 

 State, T. S. Hogan ; Treasurer. T. E. Collins ; Audi- 

 tor, T. W. Poindexter, Jr. ; Attorney-General, C. B. 

 Nolan ; Superintendent of Education, E. A. Carle- 

 ton all elected on a fusion ticket of Democrats and 

 Populists; Adjutant General, James W. Drennen, 

 succeeded by C. F. English; Commissioner of Agri- 

 culture, J. H. Calderhead ; State Examiner, John G. 

 Moroney; Land Agent, Henry Neill; Land Regis- 

 ter, H. D. Moore; State Architect, C. S. Haire; 

 Chief Justice of Supreme Court, W. Y. Pemberton. 

 Fusion ; Associate Justices, W. H. Hunt, Repub- 

 lican, and W. T. Pigott, Democrat; Clerk, Benjamin 

 Webster, Republican. 



Finances. The following details regarding the 

 State finances are from the Governor's message to 

 the Legislature of 1899 : 



At the close of the fiscal year in 1896 there were 

 outstanding warrants amounting to $366,974.57. and 

 deficiencies not represented by warrants amounting 

 to $51,237.15. To meet this indebtedness was the 

 revenue for 1896, yet uncollected, amounting to 

 $286,902.76, and cash in the treasury on Dec. 1, 1896, 

 amounting to $21,239.38. 



It thus became necessary for the present adminis- 

 tration to pay off and discharge the large deficiency. 

 $51,237.15, in addition to running the expenses of 

 the State for the next two years. During 1897 

 there was collected from all sources $516,719.81, 

 which, added to the cash on hand, Dec. 1, 1896, gave 

 a total of $537,959.19. 



The warrants drawn during 1897 amount to $525,- 

 520.07. During 1898 the warrants drawn aggre- 

 gate $474,658.40, and the total revenue for 1898 

 amounted to $520,497; and during 1898 there has 

 been paid out on warrants and interest $520,494.76, 

 leaving the cash balance on hand, Dec. 1, 1898, $2.70; 

 butthere were warrants outstanding on Dec. 1, 1898, 

 amounting to $337,649.21. The total amount of 

 deficiencies for the two years aggregates $42,270.43. 



By adding together the outstanding warrants on 

 Dec. 1, 1896, and the deficiencies for that year, we 

 have a total of indebtedness, $418,011.82. Deduct- 

 ing from that the cash on hand in the treasury, 

 $21,239.38, left a net indebtedness of $396.772.44, 

 to be met by the uncollected taxes of 1898, and by 



