USA > Louisiana > The province and the states, a history of the province of Louisiana under France and Spain, and of the territories and states of the United States formed therefrom, Vol. IV > Part 44
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The Democratic convention met at Denver on the 25th of Sep- tember. Caldwell Yeaman was nominated for governor; Platt Rogers for lieutenant-governor; William F. Forman for scere- tary ; William 'T. Skelton for anditor ; James N. Carlile for treas- urer; Joseph 11. Maupin for attorney-general; Nathan B. Coy for superintendent of public instruction ; Henry O. Montague and . Charles M. Ford for regents, and Thomas J. O'Donnell for con- gress. The platform was confined largely to state issues. The Republican legislature was denounced for its extravagant appro- priations and the secretary and auditor were charged with cor- ruption in the matter of printing contracts, etc.
Little attention was given to national questions during the can- vass. Sometime before the nominating conventions were held the state land board, composed of the governor, secretary of state, attorney-general and superintendent of public instruction, sold a body of land, known as the Argo tract, for much less than its real value. For this action the Denver Republican, one of the influential Republican journals of the State, openly assailed the land commissioners for not guarding the interests of the school fund. The land was almost in the city of Denver and was sold for about three hundred dollars an acre. The Republican asserted, and stoutly maintained, that it was worth at least twice that much, and charged the commissioners with incompetency or an intent to defraud. The fight became so bitter that some of the state officials declined a renomination, fearing they would be defeated in the election. After the conventions the Argo land sale became an important factor in the campaign. Two members of the land board, Attorney-General Jones and Superintendent Dick, having been renominated, the Republican continued its warfare on them and advocated their defeat at the polls. Threats and persuasions were alike powerless to control the editor's attitude.
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He was rewarded by seeing his course approved by the people at the election. Jones was defeated by a small margin and Dick by a plurality of about eighteen hundred. All the other Republican candidates were elected. For governor, Routt received 41,827 votes, Yeaman, 35,359; Coy, 5,199, and Ellett, 1,058. Two pro- posed amendments to the constitution were defeated. One author- ized the general assembly to increase the number of judges and the other provided for an increase in the salary of judicial officers.
On January 7, 1891, the eighth general assembly was convened. Immediately upon being inaugurated Lieutenant-Governor Story assumed the presidency of the senate. In the organization of the house the Farmers' Alliance party had a plurality of the votes and elected James W. Hanna speaker. The next day he was charged with bribery and an intention to make up the committees of the house in an unfair manner. Fourteen Republicans agreed to join with the Democrats to take the appointment of the standing com- mittees out of the speaker's hands. Before the combination had time to do anything the speaker appointed his committees and on the ninth announced them to the house in regular session. In an instant there was a scene of wild disorder. Half the members were on their feet at the same time trying to make themselves heard. In the midst of the confusion a motion to adjourn was declared carried and the contest was postponed until the twelfth. Again the house adjourned before the question could be decided, and two days later the speaker ruled that the journal of the 9th stood approved and that the committees then announced were the authorized standing committees for the session. The Repub- licans and Democrats then united and declared the office of speaker vacant by a vote of 28 to 21. A motion was made to fill the vacancy, which was done by the election of Jesse White. Hanna refused to give up the office and for a time there were two houses in session, at the same time, in the same hall. The members of one house refused to recognize the presiding officer of the other but by agreement one of the members of the house was chosen to preside with the lieutenant-governor at a joint session for the election of a United States senator. The joint session men on January 21 and Henry M. Teller was again elected to the senate, receiving forty-seven votes to twenty-seven for Caldwell Yeaman. As soon as the joint session was dissolved the old dis pute was renewed in the house. On the 24th Governor Routt asked the supreme court to decide which speaker was entitled to recognition. No direct decision as to which of the contestants
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COLORIDO FROM 18SI TO 1892.
was the rightful speaker was given, but the court said: "As a purely legal proposition the House of Representatives has the power, by a vote of a majority of members elected, to remove its speaker from office in the manner stated in the executive com- munication submitted."
Upon this Hanna gave up the fight and White was allowed to preside during the remainder of the sitting. The grand jury of Arapahoe county returned indictments against Hanna for bribery, but the cases were never tried.
The State was redistricted for members of the general assem- bly, the number of senators being increased to 35, and the number of representatives to 65. Under the census of 1890 Colorado was entitled to two representatives in congress and the legislature of 1891 divided the State into two congressional districts. The first district was composed of the counties of Larimer, Boulder, Weld, Morgan, Logan, Washington, Sedgwick, Phillips, Yuma, Arapa- hoe, Jefferson, Park and Lake, and the second of the remainder of the State. An Australian ballot law was passed. One feature of the law was that each ballot was to be printed with two stubs containing the number of the ballot. One of the stubs was to be kept by the election clerk and the other by the person receiving the ballots. The number on the ballot was to be pasted down so as not to reveal the voter's identity, except in cases of contested elections, when the voter's identity could be established by the numbers. A World's Columbian Exposition commission was created, and an appropriation of one hundred thousand dollars made to provide for an exhibit of Colorado's products at Chicago in 1893. Of this appropriation twenty thousand dollars was made available in 1891, thirty thousand dollars in 1892, and the remainder in 1893. By virtue of his office the governor was to be the president of the commission, and he was authorized to appoint five other members, only two of whom were to be of the same political party as himself.
On May 19 five hundred delegates to the Trans-Mississippi congress assembled in Denver. The sessions occupied four days. Resolutions were adopted declaring in favor of the construction of a Nicaranguan canal; steamship lines between the Gulf ports of the United States and the Latin American states ; a deep water harbor at Galveston ; the immediate construction of the Hennepin canal; the restriction of immigration ; and the passage of the Tor- rey bankrupt bill, then pending in congress. Congress was asked to code to the several states and territories all the arid public lands
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within their borders, the same to be sold a not less than one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre, nor more than 320 acres to any one purchaser, and the proceeds to be used to reclaim said lands by irrigation. A petition, signed by nearly all the delegates, was presented to congress, asking for the "repeal of all laws which in their effect work dishonor upon or, in the least, challenge the sovereignty of the silver dollar as an absolute measure of values, and to restore to silver the place given it as money by the framers of our Government."
On the last day of June the first passenger train on the Pike's Peak cog railroad reached the summit. Lieutenant Pike's predic- tion, that the pinnacle of the mountain would never be reached by any human being, was thus shattered all to pieces. Not only had men reached the sumniit on foot but now, with true American spirit, the ruggedness of its slopes had been overcome and by the aid of steam the ascent could be made with ease and comfort. The signal station of the United States weather bureau which was. established upon the top of the mountain in October, 1873, was discontinued October 1, 1894.
An election for justice of the supreme court was held in 1891. Chief Justice Joseph C. Helm was renominated by the Republi- cans; Luther M. Goddard was named by the Democrats, and John H. Croxton by the Populists. Helm was elected by a deci- sive majority. A proposition to issue bonds to the amount of three hundred thousand dollars, for the completion of the capitol, was submitted to the voters at this election. Both Democrats and Republicans declared in their platforms in favor of the measure, though the Populists opposed it. A large majority of the voters expressed themselves in favor of the bond issue.
In no state of the Union was the remonetization and free coin- age of silver more persistently advocated, early and late, than in Colorado. Prior to 1892 all parties had frequently declared in favor of it. On April 26, of that year, a convention of non- partisan free coinage clubs met in Denver. A declaration of principles was promulgated, in the preamble of which it was assev- erated, that silver had been demonetized by fraud in 1873; that it was the money of the people, and that its original powers onght to be restored. The resolutions were as follows :
"That the time has come when no longer the division of party should be made upon any party political differences; that it is the sentiment of this convention that the Colorado State conven- tions of all political parties should instruct their delegates to the
1
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COLORADO FROM IS81 TO 1892.
national conventions held for the purpose of nominating candi- dates for President and Vice-President to withdraw from said convention if they do not succeed in getting free coinage planks in their party platforms, with nominees who are unquestionably in favor of the full remonetization of silver."
The day following this assembly of free coinage clubs the Republicans met to select delegates to the national convention, and the following platform was adopted : "WHEREAS, The great crime of the demonetization of silver in 1873 was conceived in decep- tion and born in fraud, and since that time has been nurtured by willful and deliberate misrepresentation on the part of the com- bined influence of the money lenders and bondholders of this coun- try and Europe ; and,
"WHEREAS, That crime has cheapened the products of the mine, of the farm and the workshop, and has resulted in unequivocal injury to all the great industries of the country, and has benefited only the money kings at the expense of the people ; and,
"WHEREAS, We believe that the question of the free coinage of silver is the principal issue now before the American people, and steps should be immediately taken for its full restoration as a money metal ; now, therefore,
"The Republican party of Colorado, in convention assembled, hereby demand the enactment by Congress of a law providing for the free and unlimited coinage of silver on an equal basis with gold."
Delegates to the Democratic national convention were selected on the 25th of May. The declarations in favor of the remoneti- zation of silver were fully as radical as those of the Republican convention. In addition to the resolutions on the money question President Harrison's administration was denounced for its attitude with regard to the Ute Indians.
The first nominations for state candidates were made by the Prohibitionists in May. John Hipp was named for governor ; D. W. Barkly for lieutenant-governor; R. A. Rice for secretary ; L. C. Aley for auditor; Fred White for treasurer; J. C. Horne for attorney-general; A. B. Hyde for superintendent of public instruction ; H. H. Bell and Edwin Hungerford for regents, and Frank I. Wilson for justice of the supreme court. The platform demanded the abolition of the saloon ; no national banks; the free coinage of silver; government ownership of railroads, telegraph and telephone lines, and the election of United States senators by popular vo ;. The convention expressed its disapprobation of
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the custom of hiring out the state convicts, for the construction of ditches belonging to irrigation corporations, and advocated the passage of a law to prohibit its further continuance.
The Republican nominating convention was held on Septem- ber 8. Chief Justice Joseph C. Helm was nominated for gover- nor; J. M. Downing for lieutenant-governor; E. J. Eaton for secretary ; Harry Tarbell for auditor ; Harry Mulnix for treasurer; C. S. Libby for attorney-general; G. B. Timberlake for superin- tendent of public instruction ; J. Semple and Warren E. Knapp for regents, and George W. Allen for justice of the supreme court. A resolution was adopted declaring that "President Har- rison, in his letter of acceptance, has placed himself equally upon record as favorable to the white metal, and has effectually dis- posed of the statements upon which are based the campaign of his enemies in this State."
.A few days after the Republican ticket was nominated the Democratic State convention met at Pueblo. The party was divided on the subject of uniting with the Populists in the forma- tion of a ticket. The Fusionists got control of the convention and' part of the delegates withdrew. Those that remained joined with the Populists in the nomination of the following ticket: For governor, Davis H. Waite; lieutenant-governor, D. H. Nichols; secretary, N. O. McClees; auditor, F. M. Goodykoontz; treas- urer, Albert Nance; attorney-general, Eugene Engley ; superin- tendent, James F. Murray ; regents, D. M. Richards and W. E. Anderson ; justice of the supreme court, Luther M. Goddard. The delegates that withdrew from the convention met in another place and nominated Joseph H. Maupin for governor; W. H. McMechen for lieutenant-governor; C. B. Noland for secretary ; John H. Fox for auditor ; W. E. Hamilton for treasurer; W. P. Skelton for attorney-general; Nathan B. Coy for superintendent ; Henry Johnson and Ice Champion for regents; and Luther M. Goddard for justice of the supreme court. The platform approved the work of the Chicago national convention ; favored the free and unlimited coinage of silver; denounced the use of Pinkerton guards in labor disputes ; urged legislation to prevent trusts or combinations from raising prices ; demanded the prohibi- tion of child labor in factories and mines, and a law to secure impartial rates on railroads.
The entire Fusion ticket was elected in November. Waite received 11,314 votes to 38,812 for Helm; 8,938 for Maupin; and 1,712 for Hipp. In the presidential contest the Republicans were
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COLORADO FROM 1881 TO 1892.
victorious. The Republican electors received 38,614 votes; the Fusion electors 32,982, and the Prohibition electors 1,677. The Republicans also elected a small majority of the members of the legislature. Two amendments to the constitution were ratified. One provided for special assessments by municipalities, for the purpose of making public improvements, and the other reduced the rate of taxation for state purposes from six to four mills on the dollar.
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CHAPTER V
From Waite to Peabody
D AVID HANSON WAITE, the eighth state governor of Colorado, was born, April 9, 1825, at Jamestown, N. Y. He was the son of a lawyer, and after a course in the Jamestown academy he took up the study of law in his father's office. In 1850 he went west and settled at Fond du Lac, Wis., but the next year removed to Princeton and engaged in merchan- dising. In 1856 he was elected a member of the Wisconsin legis- lature. In 1857 he removed to Houston, Mo., where he taught until the breaking out of the Civil war, when his strong Union sentiments forced him to leave the state. Ile therefore went to Warren, Pa., and later returned to his native town where he became interested in the publication of the Jamestown Journal. He continued in this business until 1876, when he sold out his Newspaper and removed to Larned, Kan. Two years after locat- ing at Larned he was elected to represent Pawnee county in the Kansas legislature and as a Republican he cast the deciding bal- lot that elected John J. Ingalls to the United States senate in 1879. The same year he removed to Leadville, Col., and opened a law office, but in 1881 removed to Aspen and began the publica- tion of the Umon Era, a reform paper. Hle was a delegate to the St. Louis conference, in 1892, that organized the People's party, and also a delegate to the national convention of that party at Omaha, on the 4th of July, the same year. On July 27 he was nominated for governor of Colorado, and his candidacy was endorsed by the Democratic convention in September. During his administration there were several events of a stormy nature that tried hi executive ability to the utmost. His administration will pass imo history as the one under which the women of Col-
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COLORADO, FROM WAITE TO PEABODY.
orado were given the right of suffrage. He was renominated for governor in 1894, but was defeated. After the expiration of his term he continued to live in Denver and entered the field as a lecturer. He was inaugurated on January 11, 1893.
The ninth session of the state legislature met at Denver on the third of January, 1893. In his message Governor Waite dwelt at length on the subject of legislation affecting corporations, and made the following recommendations regarding railroads: First, "The repeal of the present law providing for a railway commis- sion." Second, "A new act for a railway commission, with the commissioners empowered to hear and determine complaints with- out recourse to the courts, and to revise the rates of passengers and freight." Third, "That the system of pooling as now in force among the railways of the State be made illegal." Fourth, "That the issuing by any railroad company of any pass or free ticket to, or the acceptance of or traveling upon such pass or free ticket by, any State, district, county, or municipal official be made a penal offense."
The legislature passed an act repealing certain laws bearing on the railroad situation, and provided for the appointment of a rail- road commission with new and extended powers, but the gov- ernor vetoed the measure. It was then passed over the veto. All through the session the relations between the governor and the members of the general assembly were lacking in that harmony that is necessary to secure good results in the enactment of laws. In political opinions the majority of the members were opposed to the views of the executive. In the senate there were fifteen Republicans, eight Democrats, four Populists, seven Fusionists and one Independent. The house was composed of thirty-three Republicans, five Democrats and twenty-seven Populists. When it came to a question of politics enough of the Democrats would vote with the Republican members to defeat the governor's pro- jects. Among the acts passed were the following: One to pro- hibit insurance on the lives of children under the age of ten years ; one to amend the charter of the city of Denver; one creating the county of Mineral; one to amend the election law ; one declaring Saturday afternoon a legal holiday during the months of July and August ; and one providing that after the year 1900 no one unable to read and write should be allowed to vote.
Under the constitutional provision, that any general assembly had the power to submit to the people the question of extending the ch tive franchise to women, the legislature of 1803 passed such an amendment to the constitution and submitted it to the voters
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at the judicial election in November, when it was ratified by more than five thousand majority.
On July 11 a second non-partisan free coinage convention was held in Denver. An address to the people of the United States was adopted, and a million copies ordered to be printed and dis- tributed. It was intended to show the blighting effects of the demonetization of silver on the industries of the country, particu- larly on the mining interests of Colorado. Later in the same month the state labor convention endorsed the doctrines set forth in the address.
Pursuant to the act of 1891, creating a board of managers for the state exhibit at the Columbian Exposition, Governor Rontt appointed Alexander Shaw, B. S. LaGrange, A. B. Mckinley, Frederick Steinhauer, and Nathan B. Coy as the five members left to his selection. In addition to members appointed by the gov- ernor the act provided that the Colorado commissioners, lady managers and their alternates, should be members of the state board of managers. The commissioners were R. E. Goodell, of Leadville, F. J. V. Skiff, of Denver, Henry B. Gillespie, of Aspen, and O. C. French, of New Windsor. The lady managers and alternates were Mrs. E. M. Ashley, Miss M. A. Samson, Mrs. R. J. Coleman, and Mrs. M. D. Thatcher. This constituted a board of fourteen members who worked in unison to present the progress and resources of their state in a way that would be sec- ond to none. Splendid opportunities to succeed were offered by the diversified industries of the state, and the board was not hampered for want of funds. Colorado appropriated a larger sum of money in aid of the exposition than any state in the Union in proportion to the population. Besides the one hundred thousand dollars voted by the general assembly . the different counties made appropriations amounting to nearly as much more, while boards of trade, corporations and public spirited citizens aided by liberal donations. As Colorado produced about one-third of the gold and silver output of the United States a fitting recog- nition was accorded her by the appointment of Commissioner Skiff as chairman of the committee on mines and mining. Com- missioner Goodell was chosen a member of the executive com- mittee.
Visitors to the exposition will recall the Colorado State build- ing, standing at the corner of Stony Island avenue and Fifty- eighth street, on one of the largest plats on the grounds alloted to state briflings. It was designed by Architect 11. T. E. Wen- dell, of Denver, and was erected by Contractor J. W. Hill, of
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COLOR.1DO, FROM WHITE TO PEABODY.
the same city, at a cost of thirty-five thousand dollars. The style was the Spanish renaissance, and the two Spanish towers, a hundred feet in height, standing on either side of the main entrance, gave the structure an imposing appearance. In size it was 45 by 125 feet, two stories high, and the broad balcony between the two towers formed a resting place that became a favorite with many denizens of the Centennial State who enjoyed sitting there and watching the restless throng below. Among the exhibits presented by Colorado were three hundred and seventy-one specimens of agricultural products, eighty-one of which received special premiums. Wheat, oats, rye, barley, potatoes, flaxseed, wool, seeds, flowers, grasses, etc., were repre- sented in profusion. Wheat alone received twenty-five awards. The mining exhibit was awarded first premium for best col- lective display of mineral resources and ores, and many special premiums.
Late in December Governor Waite issued a call for the general assembly to meet in extra session on the tenth of January, 1894. In his call he stated that the object in convening the legislature in special session was to offer some relief from the depression caused by the Federal policy regarding silver. In his message he recommended that all dollars, not less in weight and fineness than the standard dollar of the United States, be made a legal tender in Colorado for all debts, public and private. He argued that if the Mexican dollar was thus placed on an equal footing with the American dollar the miners of Colorado could send their bullion to Mexico, have it turned into coins, and brought back to the state at a trifling cost, thus giving relief from the stagnation conse- quent upon the scarcity of money. Both houses decided, how- ever, that such an act on the part of a state legislature would be in direct conflict with the Federal constitution and no such bill was passed. At the beginning of the session a difference of opinion arose between the two houses as to the necessity for a special session. The senate favored an adjournment without tak- ing any action on any of the governor's proposed measures, while the house was in favor of going on with the business for which they were called together. Petitions and communications were received by both branches urging the members to stand firm in the position they had taken. From these communications it seemed that the majority of the people were in favor of a special session. The house adopted a resolution calling for the appoint- ment of . conference committee, to agree on a course of action, but the senate rejected the proposition. When it became appar-
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