UNITED STATES OP AMERICA. (CALIFORNIA.) 



699 



I 



ay by granting a pardon to a negro convict in 

 ;he Penitentiary on condition that he should be- 

 come a resident of Massachusetts within thirty 

 days. "The negro had been convicted in 1900 of 

 assault with intent to kill, and sentenced to 

 three years in the prison. 



Lawlessness. Lynchings have been reported 

 this year at or near Foreman, Tomberlin, Mag- 

 nolia, Stephens, and Forest City. All the negroes 

 lynched were accused of assaults upon women 

 or girls; one, who murdered his victim, was 

 burned at the stake. 



In October a company of the State militia was 

 called out to aid the sheriff to keep order at El 

 Dorado, where great excitement had been caused 

 by a tragic affray in which 3 men were killed and 

 3 wounded, 1 fatally. The fight was the culmina- 

 tion of a feud arising from the shooting of a man 

 by an officer whom he attacked for having ar- 

 rested him. 



Political. The Democratic primaries for the 

 choice of candidates for United States Senator, 

 members of Congress, and State and local officials 

 were held March 29. The candidates for the 

 office of United States Senator were ex-Gov. 

 James P. Clarke and Senator James K. Jones; 

 for Governor, Jefferson Davis and E. W. Rector. 

 Clarke and Davis were chosen by large major- 

 ities. The State convention met at Little Rock, 

 June 11. The resolutions recognized the Kansas 

 City platform " as the declaration of the national 

 Democracy upon national questions until sup- 

 planted by action of a succeeding national con- 

 vention; denounced trusts and the Dingley tariff; 

 favored the building of the Nicaragua Canal by 

 ,he Government; an appropriation for the Louis- 

 iana-Purchase Exposition; laws for protection of 

 labor; a new State-House; enlargement of the 

 powers of the Railroad Commission and of the 

 Interstate Commerce Commission; the establish- 

 ment of a reform school ; and better provision for 

 the insane. Following is the ticket: For United 

 States Senator, James P. Clarke; Governor, Jef- 

 ferson Davis; Secretary of State, J. W. Crockett; 

 Attorney-General, George W. Murphy; State 

 Treasurer, H. C. Tipton; Superintendent of Pub- 

 lic Instruction, J. H. Hinemon; Auditor, T. C. 

 Monroe; Associate Justice Supreme Court, B. B. 

 Battle; Land Commissioner, F. E. Conway; Rail- 

 road Commissioners, J. W. Phillips, B. B. Hud- 

 gins, J. E. Hampton; Commissioner of Mines, 

 Manufactures, and Agriculture, H. T. Bradford. 



The Republicans were divided into two fac- 

 tions, known as the " regulars " and the " in- 

 surgents." Both held conventions at Little Rock, 

 June 26. The " regulars " nominated Harry H. 

 Myers for Governor. Other nominations were: 

 Fof Secretary of State, Charles T. Duke; Audi- 

 tor, John L. Smith; Treasurer, Joseph Berger; 

 Attorney-General, Charles F. Cole; Land Com- 

 missioner, W. H. Conine; Superintendent of Pub- 

 lic Instruction, Robert L. Floyd; Commissioner 

 of Mines, Manufactures, and Agriculture, F. S. 

 Baker; Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, 

 Charles C. Waters. The resolutions commended 

 the national policy of the party at some length. 

 On State affairs they favored an exhibit at St. 

 Louis, equal taxation, and salaries for justices 

 of the peace and prosecuting attorneys. The 

 Democratic party was condemned for its failure 

 to suppress trusts, to invite industries into the 

 State by providing for them reasonable exemp- 

 tion from taxation for a limited period; for its 

 abandonment of the work upon the new State- 

 house, after its site had been chosen, the foun- 

 dation laid, and thousands of dollars of the pub- 

 lic moneys laid out thereon ; for its partizan man- 



agement of the State charitable boards in restrict- 

 ing their membership wholly to the Democratic 

 party; for its partizanship applied even to the 

 public schools, by which none but Democrats 

 need aspire to the responsible position of school 

 director ; for its failure to provide a railroad com- 

 mission which affords any protection to' the peo- 

 ple of the State; for failure to establish a reform 

 school, to provide for the destitute insane out- 

 side the county jails, and to pass an efficient fel- 

 low-servant law; for " its vacillating and corrupt 

 management of the State Penitentiary, by which 

 monopolies are fostered, first, by entering into 

 contracts for hiring out convicts at prices totally 

 inadequate, and then seeking to dishonorably re- 

 pudiate the contracts; and for its repeated re- 

 fusal to change the law so that the minority 

 party might have one judge and one clerk of its 

 choice at each voting precinct in the State, 

 thereby insuring an honest return of all the 

 votes cast." Payment of the poll-tax was made a 

 prerequisite to voting in the Republican primaries. 



The " insurgents " nominated Charles D. 

 Greaves for Governor. No nominations were 

 made for other offices. The following was the 

 most distinctive among the resolutions: "The 

 control of these State organizations has been in 

 the hands of a member of the national Republic- 

 an Committee for no purpose of success in local 

 or other elections in this State, but for the sole 

 control of federal patronage and the aggrandize- 

 ment of the few in control. We earnestly request 

 that the President and his Cabinet officers refuse 

 to recognize such organizations, which have so 

 unworthily represented the Republican party of 

 this State." 



The Prohibitionists assembled in convention at 

 Little Rock, June 25, nominated George H. Kim- 

 ball for Governor, and adopted a platform in 

 accordance with their principles. The concluding 

 declaration was: "We declare our belief that 

 existing conditions in other political parties in 

 this State make it impossible that self-respecting 

 citizens, and particularly Christian men, should 

 continue to support them and the men and meas- 

 ures for which they ask the votes of the people." 



The Ex-Slaves Association nominated Rev. 

 R. D. Campbell, their president, for Governor; 

 but the nomination did not appear on the official 

 ballot. The State election, held Nov. 1, resulted 

 in the success of the Democratic candidates. The 

 vote for Governor stood: Jefferson Davis, Demo- 

 crat, 77,354; H. H. Myers, Republican, 29,256; 

 C. D. Greaves, Independent, 8,345; George H. 

 Kimball, Prohibitionist, 4,791. 



A proposed amendment to the Constitution em- 

 powering the Legislature to place its members on 

 a salary instead of the per diem system now in 

 vogue was carried by a majority of 1,616 votes. 

 The law now in effect gives the members of the 

 Legislature $6 per day and their railroad mile- 

 age. The constitutional limit of the Legislature 

 is sixty days, but for many years past the ses- 

 sions have been prolonged to double that time. 



The question of license was voted upon, about 

 46 of the 75 counties giving a majority against. 

 The State Senate will be entirely Democratic; 

 the House will have 2 Republicans. 



CALIFORNIA, a Pacific Coast State, admit- 

 ted to the Union Sept. 9, 1850; area, 158,360 square 

 miles. The population, according to each decen- 

 nial census since admission, was 92,597 in ls.">t>; 

 379,994 in I860; 560,247 in 1870; 864,694 in 1880; 

 1,208,130 in 1890; and 1,485,053 in 1900. Capital, 

 Sacramento. 



Government. The following were the State 

 officers during the year: Governor, Henry T. Gage; 



