The Frankfort roundabout. [volume] (Frankfort, Ky.) 1882-1908, 1891-04-04
CAPITAL REMOVAL.
That Rowan County Incl
dent-A Crime Against
Society at Large.


body had forged the names of num-
Der of his constituents to petition
instructing him to vote for submit
ting the location of the State Capital
to vote of the people, and how he
had gone home and found out that
some one from distance had gone to
Morehead, and that a boy of Rowan,
county only seventeen years old, had
been induced by some one to forge the
names to the petition. No one here
at Frankfort had any idea who it was
who had made this bold assault upon
the integrity of the Convention, and
no one here pretends to know yet
who the real criminal was. 1t is true
that the Louisville Post on the even
ing Of the same day, and before any
name was suggested as the author of
the crime, published the following
very significant denial of the forgery
part of the business before any one
had been charged with committing
it:
MR.. ADKINS STATEMENT.
Mr.. Wilbur Adkins, Secretary of
the Capital Removal Committee said
this afternoon "that he had been to
Morehead; that he had requested
couple of friends of Mr.. Williams to
write petition to that gentleman,
but that he knew nothing about the
alleged forgery"
We do not know, except from what
the Post says, that this gentleman
ever visited Morehead in his life.
How do we know whether the Secre
tary of the Louisville Capital Re-
moval Committee had any thing to
do with the forgery or not; and we
do not intimate that it would be pos
sible for man holding such high
position to lend himself to an outrage
that would disgrace heather. No
one in Frankfort ever dreamed that
a man could be found anywhere,
holding any respectable position
among his fellow men, who would
thus attempt to victimize and tamper
with the integrity Of so grave and
exalted body of men as compose
this Constitutional Convention. 1t is
true that the Post says he admits
"that he had been to Morehead; that
he had requested couple of friends
Of Mr.. Williams to write a petition to
that gentleman, but that he knew
nothing about the alleged forgery"
The Post does not say what bust
ness called the Secretary to More
head at this particular time, nor was
it necessary to explain the object of
his trip, for he had as good right to
go to Morehead as any other person;
but as the Secretary resided in Louis
vile we fail to see why he should feel
authorized to request a couple OF
citizens of Rowan county to write a
petition instructing the Delegate
from Rowan county how to vote on
the Capital question. We think he
ought to have saved his railroad fare,
and have allowed the constituents of
Rowan to have done their own in
structing to their own Delegate if he
was not voting in accordance with
their wishes. We must be allowed
to remark that we don't think it was
any of the Louisville Secretary's bust"
ness how the Delegate from Rowan
or any other county voted on the
Capital or any other question.
We don't know who bribed that
boy to commit these forgeries, and
we don't intimate that any particular
person did SO. The father ofthe boy,
who was thus outraged, and the good
people of that county, who were thus
insulted, and the grand jury Of that
county, who will soon convene, are
fully competent to investigate this
crime and bring the guilty parties to
the bar of justice, and they will see
that this is done. Then the guilty
parties, whoever they may be, may
have an opportunity to visit More
head and finally to become acquaint-
ed with the Warden of the Penitenti-
airy at Frankfort.
We understand that several otner
Delegates have received forged petit
tions of similar character, and they
are likely to expose them as the Dele
gate from Rowan has done.
Under all these terrible provoca-
tions the people Of Frankfort are still
behaving in quiet, respectful man