Ottumwa semi-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1899-1903, 1900-02-01
HISTORY OF GoEBELIsm.
Review of Political Events which Led
to the Tragedy.

1 Goebel was nominated for governor
on June 25, 1899, after more than 100
delegates opposed to him had been ar
bitrarily unseated. The hall was po-
Iced by his creatures, and the con-
vention was in a state Of pan
demonium when the nomination was
made.
Goebel at the time was state sena--
tor, and he was holding over when
shot. A convention was called by pro-
testing democrats to make an indie
pendent nomination, and, on August
16, Ex-Governor John Young Brown
was chosen to lead the boilers.
Attorney General Taylor had been
nominated by the republicans. The
most passionate and acrimonious cam
paign in the history of Kentucky fol-
lowed. One of the charges against
Senator Goebel was that he, on the
floor of the convention, had betrayed
the interests of Representative William
Stone, who was also candidate for
Governor, and that Goebel had pro-
cured the nomination for himself by in
timidation and corruption. Another
charge was that he had caused to be
enacted an election law which virtually
constituted the election board the tool
OF any INSCRIPTIONS demagog who
was a candidate for the governorship.
Prominent democrats all over the
state came out against Goebel's can
didacy. Among them were Senator
Lindsay, General Simon B. Buckner,
Representative Owens and ex-Repre-
sentative Breckenridge.
Senator Goebel defied his enemies,
and by his abusive speeches outraged
the proprieties. "Drunkard," ''liar,..
| "scoundrel," sour" We're some of the
epithets which he hurled at the most
active of his opponents. An instance
of the abuse which he uttered and
provoked follows:
Theodore Hallam, of Covington,
sturdily repudiated Goebel's title to
honorable leadership, whereupon the,
senator raked up the private scandal
that Hallam had brother who had
served term in the penitentiary, and
he called Hallam ''drunkard and a
debauchee, who had face like cam
cerous beefstake''
Mr.. Hallam retorted that Goebel's
face would put to blush the composite
cadaver manufactured by Franken-
stein"
/ During the storm of contumely Goe-
bells life was often threatened, and he
promised his enemies that when the
campaign was over he would wipe out
some of the insults to which he had
been subjected
One of the amazing features of the
campaign was the ardent support OF
Goebel by Joseph S. c. Blackburn, who
was candidate for United States SEN
ator. When Sanford was killed, Mr..
| Blackburn had denounced Goebel as a
] murderer, and vowed that he would
devote his life to Furnishing Colonel
Sanford's slayer. But no sooner was
the senator nominated than Blackburn
hailed him as pure and noble-hearted
/ statesman, and was almost fearful in
his appeals to democrats to elect him
| governor.
1t had been predicted that blood
would be shed on election day, but
the polling passed off without unusual
/ incident. On the same evening it be-
came evident that Goebel had been re-
pudiated by the voters of the state,
but the former senator remained calm
and confident. He claimed his election,
and the returns were juggled in every
precinct in the state to count him in.
But in spite of the fact that his crea-
lures were in control of the election
machinery, the plot failed.
GoebeIs agents had not provided for
the emergency of a great majority for
Taylor. Liberal as their dishonest cal