The Mt. Sterling advocate., 1900-09-04
MESSAGE.
{Gov. Beckham Sends the Docu-
ment 70 the Legislature.
HoRT AND TO TIE POINT.


Beckham's message TO the General
Assembly was sent to that body and
is as follows: ~
" Gentlemen of the Senate and House
OF Representatives You have been
assembled here in extraordinary ses-
sion for the single purpose oi anend
ing the election laws of the State, ana
shall undertake to state brit fly the
reasons why I believe the occasion to
be extraordinary and why l have CALI
ed you in session here at this time.
Section so of the Constitution OF Ken
tucky reads as follows:
ale may, on extraordinary occa-
sions, convene the General Assembly
at the seat of government, or at diff
ferent place, IL that should have be-
come dangerous from an enemy or
from contagious diseases. In case Of
J disagreement between the two hous-
&es with respect to the time OF adjourn
Snt he may adjourn them to such
N Fle as he may think proper, not ex.
" teding four months. When he shsll
gfconvene the General Assembly it shall
be by proclamation, stating the sub.
jects to be considered, and no others
shall be considered"
! consider that some changes in our
election laws at the present time
would be productive OF much good
and would remove some of the unfor-
tunate bitterness and dissatisfaction
that now exist among our people. The
present laws on the subject are un-
- doubtedly distaststul to large num-
bcr OF people in the State, and their
amendment Is earnestly desired by all
those who want to relieve as much as
possible the friction and ill-feeling EN-
gendered by hostile political factions.
An exciting aud important political
contest in the State is about to begin,
aud all good citizens desire to see snat
contest conducted in as orderly and
peaceable manner as possible, and 1t
is not ouly essential that the laws con-
trolling the election should be fair,
but also that every honest citizen
whatever may be his political faith,
should believe them TO be fair. A
law, to be satisfactory, must not only
:, De good, but must be generally con-
Vsidcrcd SO by large majority of the
people. l do not believe the present
law in it's operation to have been un'
fair or unjust, aud | know 1t to have
; been passed with the earnest and hon
est intention to remedy the evils
which existed under the system which
it supplanted. 1t was a great i'm
movement upon that system, but by
reason of strong prejudice against j
many people have been led to believe
that the change was mistake an(
the law bad one. This prejudic
against it, whether reasonable or not
j. sufficient to Justify vour considers
ton and warrant on to take come &C
tion in securing q more satislactor
law. know it is your wifh, as we
a. mine, that the election law in thi
State this fall shall be so fair, so just
so honorable, that no citizen in tn
Commonwealth shall have cause I
complain as TO the law and its admit
istioD, and that, whatever The resul
4 every fair-minded citizen, whether b
sides with the victor or the vsnquisf
ed, can say that the verdict of the pee
pe has been properly recorded an
the victory awarded TO him who d'
serves it. Let us have such law,
oossible. l will gladly co-operai
with you in the effort 10 secure ii.
have not called you here to legislsi
ON this subject with the idea that
fair election would not be held unde
the present law, for am firmly COZ
yinced that if the law, in its opers
ton, had been unfair and unjust
anyone 1t has been SO to those VIII
were charged with being its benefic
aries, who gained nothing by any III
lust manipulation of the law, but wh
lost many thousands OF votes by res
SON OF the violent prejudice against ]
However, this opposition exists, an
< You should deal with it frankly al