The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1899-07-30

The antl-Goebel men urged tnat boe-
bel's defeat is desirable:
/. Because he obtained his nomination
by dishonest methods
2. Because he is at heart a gold-bug,
and is in league with anti-Bryan men to
send hostile delegation to the National
Convention.
3. Because he is boss, seeking to gov
ern by methods that are not III harmony
with Democratic traditions.
These are the contentious / had a
talk with one of the best posted men
in Kentucky, and one of the truest sill
yer and Bryan men in the State, and
asked him what was the real secret of
the revolt against Goebel, and he said:
RAILROADS AGAINST GOEBEL.
For many years the louisville and
Nashville Railroad has largely dominat-
ed the politics of Kentucky. They were
able to defeat Railroad Commission
except one that was mere figurehead
with no powers; to evade just taxation:
to prevent the passage of a fellow SER
want law, such as you have in North
Caro4ina, and largely to exercise veto
upon men and measures inimical to their
plans and purposes. Their officers and
attorneys are men of ability and lntiu-
ence, and are scattered all over the
State. always ready to do the bidding of
the corporation. In 1896 the Louisville
and Nashville road showed its hand in
lending its active support TO the Repuh-
licans and Carlisle crowd in carrying
the State for Mckinley. That act open
ed the eyes of many Democrats who had
not heretofore felt the domination of
the railroad in State politics. Some
quailed before the mighty power welded
by the railroad; others took an oath that
the Democratic party should never again
come under the control Of that or any
other railroad company. Above and below
the 1big row that is going on now, hidden
in the public eye outside of the State. the
true issue is. Shall the Louisville and
Nashville railroad. which carried the
State for Mckinley. dominate the Demo
cratic party in Kentucky
MIR. Goebel is State Senator. He
is comparatively new man in politics.
lie was a poor boy who came up from
the bottom of the ladder. He mas the
best paying law practice of any lawyer
in Kentucky. He was Il member Of the
State Senate when the bitter contest
over the Senatorship occurred when
Blackburn was defeated for reelection.
His coolness and determination Che has
killed his man and is afraid of nothing)
made him the real leder of the Blackburn
forces though Bronston was tilts~ floor
leader. That made strong supporters Of
all the Democrats in the Legislature. In
the next State Senate, when the Demo.
Gratis We're in large majority, he became
the legislative leader, and drafted two
bills that brought him the lasting enmity
Of the L. * y. Railroad. They We're:
l. The fellow servant act, which
is virtually the act of North Carolina
drawn by Mr. B. r. Lacy, Labor
Commissioner of North Carolina. The
Legislature passed this act but the
Republican Governor vetoed it.
2 The Railroad Commission act,
empowering the Commission to fix
rates, substantially the Georgia and
North Carolina laws.
8 THE l.. & y. violently opposed both
these and other reform measures cham
pioned by Mr.. Goebel, and used every
influence it could control to defeat his
nomination. 1t looked at one time that
he would be defeated but after a whole
weeks row Goebel won the nomination.
1t was charged by those who supported
others that he obtained the nomination
by unfair methods. This is not true.
There were many combinations in the
convention and none of the candidates
had majority Of the votes. Goebel
was smarter than his opponents and
secured enough adherents from them 20
secure the nomination. He employed
the same method they sought to employ,
and if he did ii more successfully they
ought not to be heard to complain. TO
show that they acquiesced in the result,
the nomination was made unanimous by
the vote of the convention, and when
4 adjourned there was general acquies-
ence in it until-and that's where the
l.. d y. road comes in. They had got
len control of the Louisville Dispatch,
the paper started by the silver men when
the Courier-Journal bolted the party,
and the Dispatch kept up its fight on
the ticket. The j.. & y. road circulated
thousands Of the papers, l.. IL y. en-
ployes simultaneously began TO talk of
bolting, and to encourage the friends
If the defeated candidates to join in
the bolt. The bitterness Of the conyen-
ton left some sore places which time
wal heal, and nearly all would have
been healed by this time but for the
systematic and organized work OF the
l.. * " people. Today if Goebel would
promise to let the l.. * " name the
Railroad Commission and not to press
he fellow servant law the backbone OF
the bolt would be over. The good men
who bolt because they think Goebel used
questionable means would soon be con-
vinced of their error, and there would
he only a few hundred or a few thous-
md boilers.
'tGoebel's unpopularity with the most
influential elements fighting him is that
the T.. & y. road knows it cannot con
troll him, the book trust knows he is !
their uncompromising foe, those telegraph
and insurance companies that seek to
defy Kentucky laws. and all the trusts
are fighting Goebel because he cham.
ooned legislation they didn't like. Every
reform act introduced into the Senate
by Mr.. Goebel has been approved in the
platform and everybody knows that If
Mr.. Goebel is elected those reforms will
BE enacted He is not a gutter. Having
put his hand to the plow to end corpo-
ration rule in Kentucky he will not
luit until ii has been accomplished. That |
explains the head and front Of the bolt
led by the l.. & y. railroad, and the
rusts."