The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1911-08-23

party. did not suspect II was cor.
rupted by having been bribed. Those
Democratic members who bolted Mr..
Beckham we're Of the same stripe as
the Courier-Journal--wer In fact, liv-
ing exponents of its political teach
ings They of all the Democrats in
the Legislature exemplifed exactly
the Courier-Journals political attitude,
which was to defeat Beckham, and
thereby further the liquor trades in
terests. That may have been bad poll.
tics, or bad taste, but 1t was not per
Sc corrupt. Among those who bolted
Mr.. Beckham we're, besides the four
that afterwards supported Mr.. Brad
ley, Mr.. William f. Klair, OF Lexing
ton, and Mr.. l.. w. Arnett, of Coving-
ton. They were both elected on the
same ticket that had been nominated
with Mr. Beckham, and were elected
as Democrats. They supported Mr..
Beckham for awhile, but finally bolt
ed like the others, and continued
thereafter to vote against him, as did
the others. All of these boiling men,
bers voted for about month for some
other Democrats than Mr.. Beckham.
None of them began by voting for Mr..
Bradley. Some voted for Mr.. Ollie
James, Mr.. Henry Watterson, J. J. G.
Mayo. Colonel John r. Allen and Sen
ator McCreary. | inferred from the
course of these gentlemen, shifting
their votes from one to another, that
their real purpose was to defeat Beck
ham, and that they we're casting about
for some one upon whom enough could
10, rIfch thn rncnIf without
electing a Republican. There seems
to be no doubt that If those supporting
Beckham had gone over to the insur-
gents led Ly Mr.. Klair and Senator
McNutt, any Democrat whom the lat
ter were supporting could have been
elected After some weeks OF futile
balloting, Mr.. Bradley says he notified
the insurgents that unless they voted
for him the next day he would resign
his caucus nomination, thereby abb
solving the Republican members from
further supporting him, in which
event he Predicted enough Republicans
would vote for Mr.. Beckham to elect
him, in spite of the insurgent Demo
Gratis. Under this threat four of the
seven insurgents voted for Mr.. Brad
ley the next day. and he was thereby
elected Two of the other insurgents,
Klair and Arnett, continued to vote
against Mr.. Beckham, but did not vote
for Mr. Bradley. In a speech delivered
at Frankfort at consolation banquet
rendered him by his friends few days
later. Mr.. Beckham declared that all
seven of the insurgents were equally
guilty for his defeat, and that all sew
en- had voted against him at the behest
of the liquor interests. It is true he
intimated that some of them (perhaps
all Of them) had been corrupted TO
do so, but did not state any fact show
ing it to be so. | understand that the
Franklin Circuit Court, while the Leg
islature was still in session, charged
its grand jury to investigate those
charges of corruption, and that 1t did
so, reporting that it could find no evil
dence upon which to base an indict-
ment. The judge of that court is an
official of integrity and the personal
friend and appointee of Governor
Beckham. The Commonwealth Attor-
ney is a man of great ability and in
tegrity. ! felt assured they had done
their full duty. ! assumed the investi-
cation was energetic and earnest.
have never heard anything to the con-
trary. Two years later another Legis-
lature was elected. Both branches of
it were Democratic. 1t did not offer
to further investigate the alleged cor
ruptiOn of its predecessor. That it
had the rover to do so is not doubted.
The party press, after the first burst
of disappointment following Governor
Beckham's defeat, was silent on the
subject. Later the Democrats of Cow
ington nominated Mr.. l.. W. Arnett
for State Senator and elected him.
That was equivalent, take it, to his
vindication by his party. This sum
mer the Democrats of the Second
Railroad Commissioners District have
nominated Mr.. w. F. Klair for Rail
road Commissioner on the same ticket
with Mr. McCreary. | took this to
nean his vindication by his party OF
the imputation of corruption.
Among those voted for by some of
The insurgent Democrats was Senator
| McCreary, then a Democratic United
States Senator at Washington. Mr.
McCreary. though called upon by
party friends and some of the party
press to repudiate such votes las Mr.
| Ollie James did, failed to do so. there
| by leaving the inference that he was
willing to receive them, and others
Ike them. of the four insurgents who
6ral'y voted for Bradley. three of them
were the first to vote for Senator Nc
Creary when they began balloting-
McNutt. Charlton and Lillard. Were
he men who voted for Mr. McCreary
corrupted to do so? have not thought
so On the contrary, my deduction has
been that they were animated by the
sole purpose to defeat Beckham. Was
il worse crime morally for them to
bolt and vote for McCreary than to
bolt and vote for Bradley? Certainly,
according to political ethics II was a
less offense for Bradley to receive
such votes than it was for Mr. Nc
Creary TO have received them. AS the
latter did not feel called upon to re-
pudiate them, the former was not.
Mr.. McCreary's silence then and ever
since on this subject allows the infer
ence that he did not regard the bolt
as having been purchased or other
wise corrupted. To sum the matter
rp: The Courler-Journal, self-consti.
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