Hopkinsville Kentuckian., 1895-03-19
THE RACE FOR GOVERNOR.

1t is now less than ninety days TN
til the county conventions will b
called upon 30 instruct delegates t,
the state convention. There are bu
two candidates for the nomination
for governor and it may be taken as
settled fact that no other aspirant
will enter the race at this late day
Western Kentucky has no candidat,
and this portion of the state viii
therefore have to decide between two
Bluegrass men. Hon. Cassius NJ
Clay, Jr., of Bourbon county, is one
of these candidates, and hon. p
Watt Hardin, of Mercer county, is
the other. Both were candidates fol
the same Office in 1891 and both have
been actively engaged in canvassing
the state for a ye4r or more.
Gen. Hardin, having been candi-
date at every quadrennial state cleo
tion for twenty years, is well known
in nearly every county of the state
He is a speaker of acknowledged
ability and has frequently been
heard in Hopkinsville. His ac
quaintance is therefore wide and his
following strong in this county.
MIR. Clay, on the other hand, is al
most a stranger in this end of the
state. He is comparatively a new
man in public fe and has never held
a state Office. He has been a state
senator, was a member of the consti-
tional convention, of which body he
was president, and, as stated above,
was an unsuccessful candidate for
governor four years ago. Last sum-
mer he was in Hopkinsville for few
hours, but as his v sit had not been
preViousl ly announced he met but few
OF our people. Those who met him,
however, were most favorably i'm
pressed with him and his views on
state affairs, and he already has a
considerable number of supporters in
this city. This is about the present
attitude of the gubernatorisl race in
this part of the state.
Realizing that the time has come
for the KENTUCKIAN to take a stand in
the governors race, we are confronted
with the problem of choosing be-
tween two good and worthy Demo
Gratis. The duty--for it is a duty-is
an important one. 1t is conceded
that the coming contest will be more
doubtful than any of recent years.
The Republicans will make a deter
mined effort to secure control of state
affairs and their candidate for COVER
nor is already loudly claiming a
sweeping victory for his party, We
do not believe Kentucky will go Re
publican, but the Democratic party
must not invite defeat by putting out
a weak or Objectionable ticket. 1t
must ac- with wisdom and patriotism
in formulating a platform and then
nominate a ticket containing every
element of strength, composed, as far
as possible, or new men, and the stay
at home Democrats will return to the
polls and help to roll up the usual
majority. Looking at this matter
from the standpoint of party welfare,
personal strength and availability, Ve
believe the party can present a
stronger front and make better
fight with Mr.. Clay as the leader.
A farmer himself, he would repre-
sent the people who constitute the
bone and sinews of the party and not
the politicians and court house rings.
Being new man in state politics, it
could not be charged thai he is like
Bradley, professional politician and
chronic office seeker. He is a grad
uate of Yale, a cultured scholar,
man of brains, capable of dealing
with state affairs in an intelligent
manner, which would be in striking
contrast to his Republican opponent,
who will paw the air as a calamity
howler and windjamming spellbinder,
with the same diarrhoea of words he |
has broken up public gatherings
with for the last fifteen years. Be
tween Clay and Bradley, it would not
take the people of Kentucky long to
decide how to vote. Clay would
gather strength not only from the
liscontented classes of his own party,
Ithe independent voters and |