GOV BECKHAM

GOES INTO THE ENEMYS

COUNTRY

AND COMPARES DEMOCRATIC

PERFORMANCES AND REPUB ¬

LICAN FAILURES A SPLEN

trDID STATEMENT OF THE REOF THE PRESENT AD

MINISTRATION

COLUMBIA Ky Sept 9ln thopresence of a largo audience compos

ed of ladles Democrats and Republi

cans Gov Beckhain delivered the fatlowing very strong speech todaywhich was irecelved wljh enthusiasticmanlfestatlow of approval

I como to the good people of thiscounty and of this section of thoState to begin my part In this Im

portant campaign not to speak to

Democrats alone but to all of thoseof whatever political affiliations whounlto with me In common love of

this grand old Commonweal andwho will Join me In the sentimentswhich look forward to Its righteousand successful government-

I bring to you the assurance thatIn my heart and In the principleswhich I represent there Is no unklpd or ungenerous feeling towardanyone who may differ with me andto those of an opposite political faithwho have honored me by their pres ¬

ence hero today I wren to express my

gratitude and to say that I shall speakupon these Issues in no bitter spirit

r of partisan declamation but as one

Kentuckian to another all alikecalmly awl dispassionately seeking tosecure that which In the end will be

beet for our generoushearted and no¬

bleminded peopleFrom these foothills I shall go on

Into the very heart of the Kentucky

mountains bearing to their people amessage of peace and good willpreaching no doctrines of relentlessparty warfare but fairly and fear¬

lessly advocating the cause in whose

Justice and sincerity I so profoundlybelieve With malice toward no onewith toleration and respect for theopinion of every patriotic citizen whomay dlsagree with me I come into theRepublican stronghold of Kentucky

to lift up the standard of Democracy

and to point to the crowning inscrip¬

tion upon its white banner whichsays Peace Prosperity and Happl ¬

ness to all of our PeopleWhen I speak to tho people of the

mountains I shall tell them that In

Central and Western Kentucky thereis a worthy and splendid citizenship

and when l speak to the people of

Central and Western Kentucky I shalltell them that In the mountains thepeople are Just as good as generous

and as hospitable as can be foundanywhere on earth It always grieved me to see any sectional anlmosl

ties In the Nation even more so does

It grieve me to see any in my own

State My humble but earnest miseton In this campaign shall Ke to

bring all of our people to a betterunderstanding of each other and to abroader of what the honored name Kentuckian implies

There is no part of the State In

which the typical Kentuckian Godnoblest creation cay not be found

He may bo seen digging In the mines

of tho Cumberland mountains he may

be seen tending the flocks In the pro ¬

lific pastures of tho Blue Grass be>gay be seen tilling the fertile fields

la the valley of the Mississippi ortie may be seen vigorously strugglingin tihe active commercial life of one of

our beautiful cities Wherever he Is

found ho Is the same generous Ira

pulslve high minded citizen often tooquick to anger but yet always Quicker

to forgive Before such a people anyman or party may go having hiscause Just and confidently expect afavorable Judgment As one of theaccredited representatives of my par¬

ty I therefore come to lay our casec before you and to ask your patient

and impartial consideration of It Letus be frank and candid In dealing

with It Let us lay aside our preju

dices and misunderstandings Let usI reason one with the other and do-

t

u w t + h

termino honestly and patrioticallywhat is tho best for Kentucky

Tho plain proposition before you I-

sthlsDo you want tho Democraticparty or the Republican party to con ¬

trol the affairs of this Commonwealthfor the next four years and do youwant a Democrat or a Republican sentto tho Federal Senate by the nextGeneral Assembly Mark you wo

have agreed to get at the solution of

this question without prejudice orpassion Wo are agreed too that nilof us want to secure the best resultsfor tho people Democrats and Itupublicans both say that Now let atget at the subject in a plain com-

monsense way JustI as Intelligentmen would discuss any business prop ¬

ositionI shall state the case as I under¬

stand It nndI want you to carefullywatch me and stop me It you think I

misstate a fact or overlook a pointI shall state It In such a way thatevery fairminded Republican as wellas every enthusiastic Democrat willadmit that I have stated It truthfullyEach party has placed before you nticket composed of a candidate forGovernor and candidates for otherState offices to be voted for In Novem ¬

ber Each party too hag through Itsconvention or Its candidates announc ¬

ed a platform of principles or promises by which It says It will bo guidedIt placed In power

Each of these two parties has beenin power In Kentucky at dlffersnltimes In the last twelve years orwithin the memory of all voters whowill participate In this election FromDecember 1S95 to February 1900

over four years the Republican partywas In power From February 11 0

until now nearly eight years thDemocratic party has been In controlYou have therefore had a good opportunity to observe what each onewould do when Invested with the pow ¬

ers and responsibilities of office Ins crate

You will readily agree with methat it Is better to Judge of what aman will do by what he has done inthe past than by what ho says hewill do and that you can better fore-cast what a party will do In the fu ¬

ture by its record In the past than bythe promises of its platforms and ofIIts candidates If a man convictedot perjury or false swearlns makes astatement or a promise we may welldlsI ¬

party which has come before you inthe past matting fair promises antuttering serious charges against Itsopponents and when glv<n power byyou has violated thoso promises andIsignally failed to make good thosecharges comes again making thesame promises and charges It Is wellto look upon It with doubt and fearbefore again giving it a chance tobetray you

Let us then see In what attitudeeach of these two political partiesstands before you in this campaignin the light of ltslast recordpromises and its performances By

that test alone it is fair to Judge betyeen tho two and by that testspeaking for my party I ask thatthe people of Kentucky pass JudgmentIn the November election

Now lot us look at the record madeby each party during Its ascendan-cy

¬

In Kentucky and I will ask yourpatient attention while I Impartiallystate some historical facts which youmay easily recall

In 1895 the Republican party plac ¬

ed at tho head of Its ticket as can¬

didate for Governor Hon W O Bradley then as now the dominant andcontrolling force In his party in thisState In their platform and in thesptfc11es ot their candidate theymade thomost extensive and fulsomepromises of what they would do If

elected to the offices They promisedtho moral political and Industrial re-generation of Kentucky They prom ¬

ised a new era In the States progressand development that the laws wouldbe strictly enforced and that peace

and contentment would everywhereprevail They made tho gravest posBible charges against the Democraticparty and its conduct of the Statesaffairs They charged extravaganceand corruption and with the battlecry give us a look at the booksthey made their campaign Democrat ¬

ic leaders refuted these charges andwarned the people that it would bedisastrous to place tho Republicanparty In control In this State or Inany southern State that it believedIn force and fraud and In the subor

donation of the civil to tho militarypower But In vain were the chargesdenied and these warnings utteredMany people were deceived and mis-led Suspicions were created in thominds of many good people that possibly there had been mismanagement

and corruption In the Democratic ad-

ministration

¬

Unfortunate dlssentlons arose In tho Democratic partyand tho Republican ticket with a Re ¬

publican Legislature was elected

the first time In the history of theState In December of 1895 and Jan ¬

nary 189G Jhey came Into possession

tho State government and for fouryears held it

In that dark and fateful periodwhat u record was madtil For Inca ¬

parity mismanagement and disasterIt has never been equalled In thisState Their campaign cry for a lookat the books was answered and forover four years they had ample tlmoto look at them But never werethey able to find a single cent oftho peoples money not properly ac¬

counted for Not a vestige of fraudor corruption upon the part ot thoprevious Democratic administrationscould they discover Their campaigncharges were shown to be false andinsincere just as they aro nowWhat did they do towards upbuildtag and ndvancnlg the welfare ot thoState Nothing whatever but to turnback for at least a generation the dialthat marked Its progress and devel ¬

opment Every fairminded Repub ¬

lican will admit that It was the mostturbulent period In tho Common ¬

wealths history with the possible ex ¬

ception of tho time of th9 Civil WarIn place ot the bread they promisedyou they gave you a stone Insteadof the now era of peace and pros-perity

¬

about which they prated somuch In the campaign they establish ¬

usurvnltlonsthree months when tho Republican I

Governor called Into active sorvf e

the State Militia and placed It Incontrol of the General Assembly of

the State then In session There wasabsolutely no necessity for such anarbitrary anti unwarranted exercise ofpower It was an unconstitutional ef¬

fort upon the part of one branch ofthe government to Intimidate and con ¬

trol the action of a coordinate branchA member of the General Assemblycould not enter tho Capitol withoutthe permission of a military officerThe whole purpose of it was to forcetho election of a Republican to thoU S Senate

In numerous other instances wasthe santo flagrant use made of themilitia and in the State election of1899 when W S Taylor was the Re¬

publican nominee for Governor thissame Republican Governor In hisdesperate desire to aid in Taylorselection called into active serviceState troops In the City ot Loinsvllle on election day in order to InUmidato and Influence the votersDuring that entire administration law-

lessness and crime were rampartRepublican leaders now try to ref-

lect upon the Democratic administration by referring to the Breathittcounty troubles and reports aboutthe Night Riders Let them goback to the unto when they were Incontrol and refresh their memoriesabout the toll gate raiders and feudalwars in some of the counties Letthem read the messages of their Gov-ernor to the General Assembly to seehis lurid pictures of lawlessness andcrime at that time If It was not fateto hold him responsible for the tollgate raiders the Clay county feudand other similar outbreaks it car

aD4nocraticGovernoritt coimv and other such troublesOr 3 of the chief reasons for whichthe Republican Governor In 1897 call ¬

ed an extra session of tho GeneralAssembly was to get more power tostop lawlessness In the State

ThcT In December 1S9D with theuse of the military at the polls fraud-ulent tissue ballots in many countiescorruption and force in the ilectlonthere came Into temporary powerTaylor and his blcody cohorts Con ¬

fronted by his Democratic opponentwith a constitutional contest beforetho General Assembly he filled theState Capital with an armed and des-perate mob Realizing the hopeless ¬

ness ot his case he became recklessand murderous From a window Inthe Executive building not forty feetfrom where he sat nervously await ¬

ing the fatal sound there was fired ashot which struck down In mortalagony the man whom ho could notdefeat in a legal or constitutional wayAlmost instantly armed troops keptia concealment ready for this awfulevent swarmed into the Capitolgrounds took possession of the build-ings under orders from tho Republi ¬

can Governor guarded all the en ¬

trances and drove back the civil offi ¬

cers who sought to enter and arreaithe murderers

Awl yet they tell us that It Is per ¬

secution to attempt to bring to trialtho man who directed all these movemont who admits that he was only

forty feet from where the fatal shotwas fired and prohibited the civil offi

cers frpm coming in to make asearch

ire suspended the writ of HabeasCorpus Ho Issued his proclamationadjourning the Legislature to Lon ¬

don without the slightest authority oflaw He had his lawless soldiery us ¬

lug their bayonets to drive tho Sena ¬

tors and Representatives from theirhalls and chase them through thestreets of Frankfort like a lot offelons forcibly preventing them from

ot

J

meeting anywhere until for tho satety of their lives they wero compelledto secretly leave the Capital and go

to tho city ot Louisville where theymight hold their sessions lie senthis Adjutant General with n lawlessmob to the Capital Hotel where Wm

Goobel lay suffering with the agoniesot his cruel wound that by their bois-terous laughter and the grounding ottheir arms upon the brick pavementsthey might disturb the last hours ofthe dying man Ho made It necessaryfor the Court of Appeals to abandontheir court room and seek safety In

the city ot Louisville He made itdangerous for any man woman orchild to walk upon the streets of theCapital City And yet this is the mannow a fugitive from Justice who willreturn in triumph to Kentucky witha pardon before trial in his pocket ItMr Wlllson and the Republican ticketare elected in November

This Is the man too whom a Re ¬

publican state convention only a fewyears ago after he had done all thesethings indorsed for his resolute andpatriotic course This Is the manwho Mr Willson says was resoluteand patriotic whom Mr Willson supported in 1899 and supports now Ifhe has over changed his opinion hohas not said so

Is ho any better than Gov Bradleybig mentor and chief advisor Is heany bettor than W S Taylor whosoresolute and patriotic course ho has

Indorsed Can we expect more ofhim than wo could of Gov Bradleyor of W S Taylor If so will hoplease to explain to tho people inwhat respect ho differs from them orby what process of purification ho hasbeen made better than they were Hocan not answer by retailing some exploded slander or baseless falsehoodabout the Democratic administrationHo must come to the point directTho people have no toleration fordodging or equivocation lie musteither defend tho administrations ofGov Bradley anti Taylor or repudiatethem And ho can not do either with ¬

out confessing tho futility of his can ¬

didacy and the absurdity of his claim-I will relieve him somewhat of his

embarrassment and answer It for himHe will not deny that my answer Iscorrect Ho does Indorse these twomen and if elected Governor howould show his indorsement by tryingto send one to the U S Senate andbring the other a free man back toKentucky

Now let us look at the financial con-dition ot affairs when that party tookcharge in January 189C and the con ¬

dition when they went out In Februa¬

ry 1900Tho Republican Auditor stated that

he found a debt ot 180000000 withcash In tho treasury amounting to

15373428 leaving a net debt of 1

C462C5C2 Taking their own figuresabout which tnero is much questionand It Is probable that they over-stated

¬

the amount the fact remainsthat the debt which they found wasnot as great as the debt which theyleft In February 1900 for n statement from tho Auditors office showsthat on February 26 1900 when thoPemrcratr tool charge of that de-partment the total liabilities amounted to 206299187 with 3G333467cash in the treasury leaving a netdebt of 1C99G5730 a greateramount than tho debt which theysay existed when they first tookcharge It therefore appears thatnotwithstanding their Increase of tnetax rate ten cents and Issuing bondsfor which they received nearly 54000000 all done for he avowed purpose of paying off the State debtthey left the State in heavier debtthan they found It They chargedthis debt to what they called Demo-

cratic extravagance no explainingto the people that the preceding Dem ¬

ocratic administration had been bur-ltten with extraordinary demands

upon Its resources owing to the longsession of the Constitutional Conven ¬

tion and the unusually long session ofthe General Assembly of 18919293made necessary for the purpose of arevision of all our laws In accordancewith the new constitution-

In order to pay off tms debt as theyclaimed they called an extra sessionof the General Assembly in 1897 resecured the passage of acts to enablethem to Issue bonds for J60000000jfor which they received about 540

00000 and to Increase the tax ratefrom 4212 cents on the one hundreddollars to Democraticmembers voted for these measuresbecause they placed patriotism abovepartisanship and did not want to embarmen the financial affairs of theCommonwealth merely to secure aparty advantage

What wns the result The bondeddebt of the State was doubled making it 100000000 the tax rate wasraised to tho highest point in theStates history nil doss they saidto pay off debts and yet after theirfour years of power they left theState with a bigger debt than theyfound It In those four years and twomonths ot power they appropriatedonly 18700000 for public Improve ¬

ments while tho Democratic adminis ¬

tration slice It came into powerwith a reduced tax rate has paid oftall tho debt It inherited from theRepublican administration made Ken ¬

tacky one of tho four or five StatesIn tho Union which have no debt andappropriated over 260000000 forpublic improvements and In the esItablishment and development of our

InstitutionsIn by which the Republicanadministration raised the tax rateto 5212 cents they provided that attho end ot their term the talrateshould fall 5 cents or bo 4712 centsunder which rate wp lived for twoIyears when In 1902 the General As-

sembly¬

raised it to 50 cents tho pres ¬

ent rate Consequently when wo cameinto control In February 1900 wo

found a reduced tax rato seriouslycutting down our revenues at a crltl ¬

cal time and a debt ot about 110000000 facing us

What have we done under such dlsIastrous conditions With tho 11010I

State in disorder nod chaos wo calmlywent to worthwhile our enemies bit-

terly¬

assailed and obstructed us nndIwo tried to faring order out of an-

archy¬

solvency out of bankruptcyWhether or not wo succeeded let therecords speak

In the place of mob rule we re-

established the authority of tho courtsof Justice Instead of pJunglng theState into a bloody civil warfare WO

calmly nod patiently awaited tho con ¬

stitutional determination of our causebtifornf tho Judicial tribunals Wosuffered much and wo bore muchHavjn won out In over court fromthe Circuit Court of Kentucky to theSupremo Court ot the United Stateswo started out In an honest and busInossllko way to deserve tho confi ¬

deuce placed in us and to uplift Ken-tucky from tho fearful condition Inwhich Republican ralsnilo had lefther

Wo wiped out tho State debt Wobought up and burned before theywere due tho million dollars otbonds Wo enlarged and Improvedevery public Institution In tho Stateall of which were ina most dcploraoio condition when wo took chargeWo placed them upon the best bailsever before known and equal to thoseIn the roost progressive States InAmerica

Wo established tho ConfedcrAtoHome and yet Mr Wlilion says howill get eighty per cent of tho Con ¬

federate vote Tho war has been overmore than forty years and this istho first and only administration that

Boldlerlotthooo gallant old veterans when hecharges thorn with such ingratitude

Wo havo fostered and helped theChildrens Homo Society and made Ita State Institution that It mightcontinuo Its noble and splendid workamong the helpless little orphans oftho State Today the Childrens HorneSociety of Kentucky under its ablemanagement In recognized Ill thobest Institution of its kind In tho

countryWehave reestablished the flee

logical Survey that it might continueits excellent work In the developmentof our wonderful mineral wealth Wehave enacted we legislation for thebetterment of our laboring people achild labor law a factory Inspectionlaw and other laws for their welfareand advancement Wo have Increas ¬

ed tho term in our common schoolsfrom five rapnths to sJx months costIng nearly 40000000 more per yearWo have established two Stato Nor¬

mal schools for the better trainingand perparatlon of our school teach-ers

¬

liberally providing for their maintonnnce and conduct We have givengenerously of our means to tho StateCollege and the Colored NormalSchool Increasing their annual appro ¬

priation as well as giving them spe ¬

cial appropriations for their enlargement and improvement We have increased the school per capita to thehighest point ever known in theStats In 1900 It was 245 this yearUis 340 Notwithstanding tho unit-ed opposition of the Republican lend-

ers¬

we passed the School Book lawwhich gives to the children of theState their school books at onethird

pleas than they formerly paid Thwas one of tho platform pledges ofWm Goebel

Kentucky is tho most generousState of all In the proportion of herrevenues which she gives to the causeof education Out of her 50 cent taxrate she gives 26 12 cents to the pub ¬

tic schools anti normal schools 12cent to the State College and 2 centsto tho sinking fund to pay the inter ¬

est on school bonds making 29 centsto that cause leaving only 21 centsfor all the general expenses of thoCommonwealth in all of Its branchesand its public institutions Many ofthe counties of the State have a high ¬

er rate than that for their county expongee In a few years with itho pres¬

cat progress If the Democratic partyIs continued in power we will have aschool system equal to tho best Inthe country Can anyone point to a

Ct

single thing dODO by the Republican <administration for the benefit of ed¬

ucation Tho only thing it did wasIn 1899 when tho State campaignwas on and it padded tho figures andcreated a largo deficit In tho fund thefollowing year In order < o show aalargo a per capUa as possible for thocampaign t-

Wo have nearly finished a now Cap-

itol

¬

building costing for the coupletII structure one million and n quar

ter of dollars In beauty and magnifi ¬

cence It Is unquestionably tho hand-somest

¬

Capitol to bo found in any oftho Southern States It will bo ex-

celled¬

by tow If any of tho otherCapitol buildings in tho country Itwill not bo Inferior In architectureand beauty to the now PennsylvaniaCapitol built by a Republican admin-istration

¬

as a coat of 1300000000When compared to thq cost per cublofoot of even Capitol jityMt in the pastgeneration in any Strve the Kentucky

0Capitol has coat lostkan any Infact only about half of what tho low ¬

est In other States have cost It Ispronounced by all who have scat Itas n superb structure and splendidly +

built To tho criticisms of our ono amica wo need only answer Go andlook at It Tho ninrvol is that somuch could have been done and doneso well for tho money used Whencompleted in n few months it will bon building worthy of tho prideof ourpeople and of tho admiration of allwho behold It

Tho Republican candidate In theirscarcity of campaign material havotrim to revive a miserable old slan ¬

der about tho employment of an arch ¬

itect That question has been thoroughly met and answered before thopeople The building costs 1250n00000 and the li fM l WIOOOmnklnp 129000000 cox of o andstructure Wo shall pay tho archi-tect

¬

who designed and planned whokconstantly superintends andits contraction 5100000 for his services or barely 4 per cent of thecost Every other Stale paid its arechitect 5 per cent That Is what thogovernment and every other concernpays a first class architect Mr WillSon borrows an old falsehood for UteI i

In his campaign which has long sincebeen exposed about a certain manwho offered to furnish plans for ftCnplol at 1600000 and that ourboard turned down his propositionWo did nnd wo would do it again ItIfitmanrecord ID Texas and elsewhere showsthat be wns dishonest and corrupt TtuIreport of the Texas Capitol Commit

thfStateMr Wlllson knows tho record ot theman and I am surprised to learn thatho thinks Myers ought to have beenchosen If ho was Governor and Myera is his kind of architect and ho IsMyers kind of Governor thIn womight have hid in Kentucky a similartcoxporlonco r

Capitol of Pennsylvania Tho recordsof the Capitol Commission are opento tho Inspection of tho publiC andthey present n comnMo refutationto ovrty attack made upon thnt boardWo art proud of Ntho record And Ifthe Republican candidates will Justpause for n few days in their wildand reckless campaign and como toFrankfort wo will courteously showthem the records and give thema perfect opportunity to lookftt the books In everyment of the SlateWo Invite and urRo 11epartjevery department of theernmont Wo nvtn and urgodo so Wo will afford them every nislstnnco they irny need Mir Wlllsonlives only a short distance fromFrankfort less than two hours riderwhy Is It then he has not been upand made n portion a 1 Inspection ofthis Captol and the records beforegoing out to tho people and repeating1heno alnndern aiJd calumnies widen iho knows to be false If he washonest In there charges ho wouldhave made a personal Investigationand not relied upon tho false rumorscoming from some vicious malcon ¬

tents It Is strange in tho light otexperience that a Republican ticket In

i

this Stato con not learn that honestyis tho best policy and that In ithoend truth is tho most powerful cam ¬

paign argument The people of Ken-tucky

¬ I

are never going to elect a can ¬

didate or a party whoso campaign Isbased upon falsehood and calumnyIn every campaign where I havo metthem the Republican candidateshave seemed to bo actuated bytho overwhelming conviction thnta falsehood toll to hundredIpeople was tho best campaignargument If only fifty of them shouldover hoar the correction of it Dofeated every time when they hapmade such a light It is surprisingtherefore that they have not profitedby experience and pitched this campalgn upon a higher plane Ho andhis associates have been far back intho mountains trying to Impose those iwell known slanders upon tho good-

Y

Y