Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/499

KENTUCKY. removal of certain establishments to the gas-fields of Indiana. The increased railroad interests have given an impetus to the construction of cars, etc. Other industries are the manufacture of clothing and of cottonseed oil and cake. Over half of the total product of the manufactures of the State is accredited to Louisville, and the increase of its share during the last decade was over 45 per cent., as compared with 22 per cent. for that of the State. The preceding table covers the ten leading industries for the years 1890 and 1900.

There are still extensive forests of oak, maple, ash, beech, walnut, pine, and other species. The total forest area aggregates about half that of the State. The supply is now being rapidly drawn upon, as shown by the marked increase in the last decade of the nineteenth century indicated in the above table. The State now ranks among the foremost in the value of its forest products.

Kentucky has profited greatly by the means of water transportation afforded by the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, especially during the early period of the State's history. Transportation on the Ohio River has been much improved by the construction of a canal around the falls at Louisville. Some of the tributary streams—e.g. the Cumberland, the Tennessee, and Green rivers—have been used for navigation, and a few of them have been provided to a limited extent with locks and dams. The State lies south of the principal east and west trunk lines of railway in the United States. Furthermore, the eastern portion of the State is broken and mountainous, and large districts are untouched by railroads. Kentucky, therefore, like other Southern States, compares unfavorably with the Northern States in railroad mileage. The principal period of railroad construction was between 1880 and 1890, when the mileage increased from 1530 to 2942. In 1900 3093 miles were in operation. The Louisville and Nashville, Chesapeake and Ohio, and the Illinois Central are the leading lines. The State has a railroad commission, which is empowered to hear and determine complaints, and, if rates are found to be extortionate, to make just and reasonable rates. This board assesses for taxation the tangible property of all railroads in the State. A decision of the Federal Court has upheld the constitutionality of the railroad-commission law.

The first bank in the State was the Bank of Kentucky, at Frankfort, chartered in 1806, with a capital of $1,000,000, and branches in different towns. The State owned a part of the bank's shares, and was therefore interested in it. In 1818 a general banking act was passed, authorizing the establishment of 40 banks. Six more were added in 1819. Credit was extensively given with real estate as a security, and the Bank of Kentucky and many others were in financial difficulties before a year passed. The independent bank law was repealed in 1820, and the 40 banks were abolished. The Bank of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, established in the same year, was a State institution. Its profits were to go to the State, and its notes were made legal tender; and in order to help the bank along, the State Legislature repealed the charter of the Bank of Kentucky in 1822. The Bank of the Commonwealth was very unsound, however, and its notes became well-nigh valueless. The bank went into liquidation in

1829. For a time the branches of the Bank of the United States were the only banks in the State. In 1834 three large banks were chartered, with an aggregate capital of $13,000,000, and for a period under the influence of the distributing of national deposits these banks flourished. In the crisis of 1837 they all suspended specie payment, and until 1844 were in a very precarious condition. Another critical period was 1854, when 27 banks failed. But the State never went back into the banking business, and accordingly its financial position was not threatened. In 1890 and 1893 many smaller banks failed, but the larger institutions were undisturbed. The Louisville Clearing House, established in 1875, is of material assistance to the banking business of the State. The condition of the banks of Kentucky in 1902 is shown in the following table:

If an amendment to the Constitution is proposed in either House and receives a three-fifths vote of all the members elected to each House, it is submitted to the popular vote. If a majority is cast in favor of it it becomes a part of the Constitution. If a majority of all the members elected to each House concur at two consecutive sessions to a proposal to call a constitutional convention, it is submitted to a vote of the people, and if approved by a majority of those voting, provided the number is equal to one-fourth of the qualified voters who voted at the last preceding election, the convention will be called. Voters must have resided one year in the State, six months in the county, and sixty days in the precinct. All elections for the State, county, city, town, or district are held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November; but no officer of any city, town, county, or subdivision thereof, except members of municipal legislative boards, can be elected in the same year in which members (11) of the House of Representatives of the United States are elected. District and State officers, however, may be elected in the same year.

There are 100 Representatives elected for terms of two years, and 38 Senators elected for terms of four years. Both Senators and Representatives receive a salary of $5 per day and mileage; but the salary may be changed by law. The length of the regular session is limited to 60 legislative days. Revenue bills must originate in the House of Representatives, The House impeaches, and the Senate acts as a court for the trial of impeachments. The Legislature meets on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in January of even years.

The Governor and Lieutenant-Governor are elected for a term of four years, and are ineligible for reëlection. The Lieutenant-Governor and the president pro tempore of the Senate are in the line of succession to the Governorship in case of vacancy; but if the vacancy occurs during the first two years of the term of office the position is filled by a new election. The Governor may veto bills or parts of