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 45
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ent that the people favored the extra session the senate yielded but all through the session, which lasted fifty-two days, it main- tained an obstructive policy. Of the seventy-eight bills intro- duced forty-one were passed by the house and twenty-nine of these were rejected by the senate, so that only twelve new laws were enacted, most of which were of minor importance.
Early in the year 1894 several hundred miners in El Paso county (now Teller county) went on strike for higher wages. At Cripple Creek, which was the center of the disturbance, the demand was for three dollars for an eight hour day. About the middle of March the strikers armed themselves to prevent non- union miners from re-opening the mines. This led to a call for the militia, but the troops had no sooner reached the scene of the trouble than they were recalled by Governor Waite, who tried to get the contending parties to submit the matter to arbitration. After the recall of the militia the non-union men were driven away by the strikers and a shaft house at Victor was destroyed causing a property loss of about twenty-five thousand dollars. The mine owners appealed to the sheriff and sent to his aid several hundred deputies from Denver. Near Wilbur a skirmish between the strikers and the deputies occurred in which one was killed and several wounded on each side. The next move on the part of the strikers was to notify the railroad companies that if any more deputies were brought in over the lines the property of the companies would be destroyed. Again the militia was called out and again it was recalled by the governor. Governor Waite then went to Cripple Creek and in an address to the miners urged them to abstain from any further destruction of property but to submit their demands to a board of arbitration. The miners expressed their willingness to do so but the mine owners refused. Warrants were sworn out for the men who were supposed to have blown up the shaft house at Victor and placed in the hands of the sheriff. The strikers fortified a position on Bull Hill and defied the authorities. On May 30 the Raven Hill mining com- pany went into the Federal court and asked for protection to their property in the hope of getting United States troops ordered to the mines to enforce the court's orders. But the court denied the application on the grounds that it had no jurisdiction, the whole matter being within the domain of the police power of the state. The mine owners then signified their willingness to arbitrate. An agreement was reached on June 4, but the decision of the arbi- trators was rejected by both sides to the controversy and the strike went on. On June 6 a force of nine hundred deputies cut
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the telegraph communication and marched against the miners' fort at Altman, on Bull Hill. The miners were ready for an attack and about two hundred shots were fired, though no serious damage was done. General Brooks and Adjutant-General Tars- ney were ordered by the governor to call out a sufficient number of the state troops to maintain order and go to Altman. They were instructed to let no armed deputy pass through their lines but to allow the sheriff to go alone for the purpose of arresting the parties against whom he held warrants. A final agreement was reached June 11. By its provisions the deputies were to be withdrawn; the mines turned over peaceably to the owners; both mines and miners to be protected by the militia, the troops remain at Anaconda, Victor and Cripple Creek for thirty days and longer if necessary ; and those for whom warrants were held were to be turned over to the sheriff of El Paso county at Colo- rado Springs.
The men arrested were charged with murder and destruction of property. When their cases were called for trial they employed Adjutant General Tarsney to defend them. During the strike the militia had been directly subject to Tarsney's orders, and had been used as much to protect the strikers from the depu- ties as to protect the mine owners' property from the strikers. On the night of June 23 he was kidnapped at Colorado Springs and treated to a coat of tar and feathers. It was supposed at the time that the outrage was committed by some of the depu- ties from whom he had protected the striking miners. Governor Waite offered a reward of one thousand dollars for the appre- hension of the perpetrators and the court at Colorado Springs ordered an investigation. On July 19th, the adjutant-general was summoned to appear and give testimony in the investigation proceedings. He refused because the court, as he alleged, was in sympathy with the mob. He was then cited for contempt and went to Colorado Springs under a military guard furnished by the governor. This was considered a reflection on the people of El Paso county, and the action of the governor was roundly denounced by the judge. In August one of the deputies made a confession implicating the sheriff and a number of others, but the matter was finally dropped.
On March 7, 1894, Governor Waite removed Jackson Orr and D. J. Martin from the Fire and Police board of the city of Denver, and appointed Dennis Mullins and Samuel D. Barnes as their successors. This was done under the new charter IV- - 30
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adopted by the legislature in 1893. Orr and Martin got a tem- porary restraining order from the court against the governor's removing them, but the governor refused to recognize the court's right to grant the order. He called out the militia and sent them to the city hall with a demand for the surrender of Orr and Martin. In the meantime the two deposed office holders had called in all the police force of the city and a number of their friends, so that when the troops arrived at the city hall they found it guarded by about three hundred armed men who were supplied with a store of dynamite which they threatened to use if any attempt was made to take Orr and Martin by force. Gov- ernor Waite sent orders to all the militia in the state to be ready to come to Denver on short notice and at the same time asked for United States troops to aid him in enforcing the laws. A detach- ment of two hundred fifty men, under General McCook, was sent from Fort Logan but were ordered by the war department to take no part in the affair further than to keep the peace and look after the protection of government property, unless the state authori- ties confessed their inability to enforce the state laws. Great excitement prevailed in Denver and for the time being the city was on the verge of civil war. On March 16th a meeting of citizens was called "for the purpose of considering some plan by which the Governor could be stopped if he again subjected the city to mob rule by ordering out the militia." Some of the speak- ers at that meeting advocated the arrest of the governor on a charge of lunacy. Others insisted upon kidnapping him and carrying him off to some place where he could not interfere in municipal matters. Finally the supreme court agreed to assume original jurisdiction and decide the question. The decision sus- tained the governor, and Orr and Martin retired from the con- test as pleasantly and gracefully as could be expected under the circumstances.
Four tickets were presented to the voters of Colorado in the campaign of 1894. The first party to hold a nominating conven- tion was the Democratic. In the call for the convention to meet at Denver, on September 3, the state committee said: "Populism, the natural offspring of Republican extravagance, mislegislation, and profligacy, has been in power for a year and a half. Its so-called principles, which are the logical result of Republican policy, have during that time been in full and uncon- trolled operation. The miserable consequences are everywhere apparent. The good name of the State is imperiled. Many func- tions of Government have been perverted to selfish, ignoble, and
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unlawful ends and imbecility in high positions has made our career since 1892 a satire on self government.
"The record which both these parties have made in Colorado justifies the assertion that each has failed in the attempt to prop- erly discharge the trust with which it had been endowed by the people. This is the necessary result of a departure from Demo- cratic teaching and principle. To return to the one because of the misconduct and shortcomings of the other is only to continue our present unhappy conditions under different agencies."
The convention met pursuant to the call and nominated the following ticket: For governor, Charles S. Thomas, lieutenant governor, Francis I. Meston; secretary of state, Ernest Meier ; auditor, Joseph S. Swain ; treasurer, Casimiro Barela; attorney general, James N. Brinson ; superintendent, Mary C. C. Brad- ford. Two days later the populists met at Pueblo and renomi- nated Governor Waite by acclamation. Secretary McClees was also renominated. S. W. Harmon was named for lieutenant governor; Stanton F. Lincoln for auditor; Casimiro Barela for treasurer; H. G. Sales for attorney general; Miss Alice Catlin for superintendent of public instruction, and L. J. Morrison and B. O. Driscoll for regents. Resolutions were adopted endorsing the administration of Governor Waite and the work of Congress- men Bell and Pence ; reaffirming the Omaha and St. Louis plat- forms; demanding the free and unlimited coinage of silver and the initiative and referendum ; and protesting against the issue of government bonds in time of peace.
On September 12 the Republican convention met at Denver. Albert W. MeIntire was nominated for governor; Jared L. Brush for lieutenant governor ; Albert B. McGaffey for secretary of state; Harry E. Mulnix for treasurer ; C. C. Parks for audi- tor ; Byron L. Carr for attorney general; Mrs. A. J. Peavey for superintendent of public instruction, and John Campbell for jus- tice of the supreme court. The platform was largely a reitera- tion of former declarations and an arraignment of the Populist state administration. The fourth ticket was that of the Prohi- bitionists, which was nominated at Pueblo on July 30, and was as follows: For governor, George Richardson; lieutenant gov- ernor, Mary Jewett Tilford; secretary, David R. Hunter; audi- tor, Abijah Johnson ; treasurer, David Brothers ; attorney general, John Il Leiper ; superintendent, A. B. Copeland.
What, ver may have been Governor Waite's motives, the peo- ple of Colorado were not disposed to adopt some of the radical reform measures he proposed and in 1894 the conservative busi-
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ness element of the state was active in urging his defeat. A large vote was polled owing to the enfranchisement of women, and during the canvass it was the field against Waite. Many Democrats deserted their own party candidate and voted for McIntire to insure the downfall of Populism. The result was the election of the entire Republican ticket. McIntire received 93,502 votes; Waite, 74,894; Thomas, 8,337; and Richardson, 4,250.
Albert Washington McIntire, the ninth state governor of Colo- rado, was born at Pittsburg, Pa., January 15, 1853. After a preparatory course at Newell's institute, a private academy at Pittsburg, he entered Yale college at the age of sixteen years. At the age of twenty he graduated from the academic department, and from the law department two years later. In June, 1875, the year of his graduation from the law school, he was admitted to the Connectiont bar, and in November following he was admitted to the bar at Pittsburg. He practiced for about a year in his native town and then removed to Denver, Col. In 1880 he located in the San Luis valley where he became interested in stock raising and gold mining operations. In 1883 he was elected judge of Conejos county, being nominated by both Republicans and Democrats. He held the office for three years but declined a nomination for a second term, preferring to give his time to his ranch and his law practice. In 1891 Governor Routt appointed him judge of the twelfth district, in which posi- tion he continued until he was nominated for governor in 1894. Ile was nominated by acclamation by the Republican convention, and was elected by a plurality of nearly 20,000. Governor MeIn- tire is a man of high intellectual attainments, speaking and read- ing readily French, English, German, Spanish, Latin, and Greek.
The tenth regular session of the general assembly, which met on January 2, 1895, was the first to occupy the legislative chiam- bers in the new capitol. Lient .- Gov. J. L. Brush was the presid- ing officer of the senate, and A. I. Humphreys of the house. A brief resume of the building of the capitol may not be uninter- esting. In 1883 the legislature created the board of capitol build- ing commissioners, made an appropriation for the construction of one wing, and submitted to the people the question of issuing bonds to the amount of $300,000 for the construction of the entire building. This proposition was sustained by the voters and the next general assembly fixed the location on land donated by H. C. Brown, provided for a revenue of $200,000 for each of the five years beginning with 1885, and named January 1, 18go, as the
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time when the structure should be complete. Two years later the legislature increased the appropriation, authorized the sale of lots, the proceeds to be placed to the credit of the capitol building fund, and transferred $400,000 of the state's resources to that fund. The foundation was completed in 1888, and the next gen- eral assembly fixed the cost of the building at $2,000,000; sub- mitted to the people a proposition to issue an additional $250,000 in bonds, and appropriated $20,000 to lay out and beautify the grounds. Another issue of bonds, amounting to $300,000, was voted in 1891, and in 1895 the last appropriation of $200,000 was made by the legislature.
Very little legislation of importance was enacted by the tenth general assembly, the interest being centered in the election of a United States senator. The Republican caucus nominated Edward O. Wolcott for re-election, the Democrats supported Charles S. Thomas, and the Populists put forward Lafe Pence. The joint session met on the 16th of January. Wolcott received . 57 votes; Pence, 39; and Thomas, 6.
The campaign of 1896 was opened by the Democrats holding a convention at Denver on the 15th of April for the selection of delegates to the national convention. But one resolution was adopted and that was as follows: "We favor the immediate res- toration of the free and unlimited coinage of gold and silver at the present legal ratio of sixteen to one, as such coinage existed prior to 1873, without waiting for the aid or consent of any other nation, such gold and silver to be a full legal tender for all debts, public and private." Instructions were given the delegates to withdraw from the convention unless a platform in favor of the free coinage of silver should be adopted. On August 20 a second Democratic convention was held and the following candidates for state offices nominated : For governor, Alva Adams; lieutenant- governor, James M. Ellis ; secretary of state, C. H. S. Whipple ; auditor, W. W. Rowan ; treasurer, Olney Newell, attorney-general, A. 1. Moses ; superintendent of public instruction, Miss Grace E. Patton ; regents, O. J. Pfeiffer and M. J. Hogarty.
The Republicans met for the selection of national delegates at Pueblo on the 14th of May. Senator Henry M. Teller was made leader of the delegation, the other delegates being instructed to follow his directions. A platform was adopted in the preamble of which it was declared that the free coinage of silver was the paramount issue; that bimetallism and protection were vital to the prosperity of the country ; and that Democratic free trade and the gold standard were responsible for the destruction of one-
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half the values of all property. Some of the leaders wanted to nominate a state ticket but the majority held that it would be better to postpone such action until after the national convention, so that, if the St. Louis convention failed to adopt a free coinage platform, a state ticket could be nominated on its own merits, and the fight be made on state issues, leaving all Republicans free to support a free coinage candidate for the presidency if one was nominated. On July 29, the Republican state central committee held a rather stormy session. A resolution was introduced, pledging the support of the party organization to McKinley and Hobart, but it met with considerable opposition from a respectable minority. On the final vote the resolution was adopted by a vote of 48 to 38. Then the thirty-eight who voted against its adop- tion charged the majority with being bought, United States Senator Wolcott and National Committeeman Sanders coming in for a fair share of the opprobrium. The chairman tendered his resignation and a new one was elected. The new chairman demanded that all members who intended to support Bryan withdraw from the committee. Several refused to do so and the committee adjourned amid great confusion. The Republi- can party became divided into free silver and administration factions each claiming to represent the purer doctrines of Repub- licanism. The free silver wing of the party met at Denver on September 9 and nominated Jared L. Brush for governor ; Simon Guggenheim for lieutenant-governor; Harry E. Mulnix for secretary; John W. Lowell for auditor; George W. Kephart for treasurer ; Byron I .. Carr for attorney-general; Mrs. Mayme Marble for superintendent ; and W. J. Orange and E. C. Lobengier for regents. On the last day of the same month the administration wing held a convention at Colorado Springs. George W. Allen was nominated for governor ; Hosea Townsend for lieutenant-governor; Edwin Price for secretary of state; George S. Adams for auditor; James H. Barlow for treasurer ; Alexander Gunnison for attorney-general ; and Mrs. Ione Hanna for superintendent of public instruction. The platform said, in part :
"We regret that the national convention at St. Louis did not view this question as we view it. We accept, however, the assurance of the party that its efforts will be devoted to the secur- ing of an international agreement for the unlimited coinage of silver as a sacred pledge. We believe that the pledge will be ful- filled, and we are firmly of the faith that the remonetization of silver, so essential to the welfare of this and all other civilized
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countries, will be accomplished through the efforts and under the direction of the Republican party and no other."
After the different parties had made their nominations an effort was made to unite the free silver forces in the support of one set of candidates by making a fusion ticket. The promoters of the scheme felt encouraged by the fact that on June 25 a joint convention of silver men had been held and delegates selected to attend the St. Louis silver convention on the 22d of July. That convention had been harmonious, and had endorsed Sen. Henry M. Teller, who was now the recognized leader of the Colorado Free Silver Republicans, for president. A conference was called for September 12 when representatives of the Demo- crat, Free Silver Republican and Populist parties inet to agree upon the terms of coalition. The first two readily assented to an arrangement but the Populists withdrew from the conference. The fusion ticket consisted of the Democratic nominees for gov- ernor, secretary of state, and superintendent of public instruction, and the Free Silver Republican candidates for lieutenant-gov- ernor, auditor, treasurer and attorney-general.
One wing of the Populist party united with the National Free Silver party and nominated Morton S. Bailey for governor ; William S. Lee for lieutenant-governor; F. Kratzer for secre- tary; George Seaver for auditor; Horace L. Clark for treasurer ; N. C. Miller for attorney-general; L. S. Cornell for superintend- ent ; Miss Ada McElroy and John B. Cochrane for regents. The other wing, generally known as the Middle-of-the-road Populists, field a convention, nominated D. II. Waite for gov- emor and John McAndrew for attorney-general, and instructed the central committee to fill the other places on the ticket. This was done by the selection of George Ash for lieutenant-governor ; Solomon J. Toy for secretary ; D. II. Dickason for auditor ; J. R. Hinkle for treasurer; and George J. Blakely for superintendent of public instruction. The fusion ticket headed by Alva Adams was successful at the polls in November. Adams received 87,345 votes ; Bailey, 71,808; Allen, 23,929; Waite, 3,359. There were six presidential tickets voted for at the same time. Bryan electors received 158,880 votes; Mckinley, 26,279; Levering, Prohibitionist, 1,724; Bently, National Prohibitionist, 386; Mat- chett, Socialist, 159; Bryan and Watson, 2,389; Palmer, Gold Democrat, 1. The question of validating about one million two hundred thousand dollars of the excessive appropriations, made by the general assembly of 1889, was voted on at this election and was rejected by a large majority.
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Several minor disasters occurred in the early part of the year 1896. On February 18 an explosion of gas in the Vulcan mine, at Newcastle, in Garfield county, wrecked the mine buildings and killed fifty people. Massive timbers were blown into the Grand river some distance away and a hole one hundred feet across was torn out of the hillside. It was the worst mine explosion that had ever happened in the state and came at a time when it was least expected as the mine had been inspected only a few days before and pronounced in safe condition. On the 12th of April a severe wind and snow storm swept over the Cripple Creek region doing a great deal of damage. Great trees were uprooted, and in the town of Cripple Creek buildings were utterly demol- ished and tents carried away. About two weeks later fire broke out in the business portion of the town and before its ravages could be stayed a large part of the business section was destroyed. The stock exchange, the gold mining exchange, two theatres, two banks, the post office, two churches, and several stores and office buildings went up in smoke and flame. The loss was almost two million dollars. Four days later another fire broke out and did about half as much damage as had the first. Nothing daunted the work of rebuilding was at once begun. The first buildings had been erected of the flimsy materials so frequently used in min- ing camps and the pine lumber burned like tinder. The second buildings were of a more substantial character, and the new town of Cripple Creek wore an entirely different air from that of the old. Bear creek canon was the scene of a cloudburst on July 24. A number of campers and cottagers from the city of Denver were spending the summer in the valley. The flood came so suddenly that they did not have time to escape and about thirty lives were lost.
On June 19, 1896, began a strike of miners in the Leadville district. Men who had been getting two and one-half dollars a day struck for three dollars. Some months before wages had been advanced to three dollars a day by some of the employers and this led to the strike. All the men of about a dozen mines went out and the business of mining was at a stand-still. To make matters worse a number of the employers who were paying three dollars shut down the mines. The men shut out of these mines joined the strikers and by the first of September there were abont three thousand men out of work. A riot occurred on September 21 in which the miners used dynamite. Six per- sons were killed and the works at the Coronado mine were burned. A call was made for the militia and a force of 1,000
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men was sent to Leadville to maintain order. On the 23d martial law was proclaimed and the militia settled down for a long stay. Toward the latter part of November the miners' union of the Cloud city issued an address to Governor Melntire and the people of Denver, in which they said: "The miners of the union are anxious for an amicable settlement of this trouble. They opened the field of this immensely productive district. They made it possible for millionaires to arise from it. They have in it the interest of their day's pay, bread and meat, shelter and clothing for themselves and their humble dependents. Others have in it the interest of rapidly accumulating fortunes. The miners are ready and willing to meet the operators in a spirit of fairness and justice. They can not, of course, consent to the destruction of the union, nor can they consent to perform their hard and exhaustive labor, undergo its constant hardships and face its manifold dangers for less wages than will supply them with the necessities of life."
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