idea as "Free Old Dog Ring," and sometimes howled like a dog in speeches deriding the proposal. On another occasion Stanley, who had too much to drink, vomited in front of the audience as Morrow spoke. When Stanley took the podium, he remarked, "That just goes to show you what I have been saying all over Kentucky. Ed Morrow plain makes me sick to my stomach." Democrats had been divided in the primary, but united behind Stanley in the general election. Senators Beckham and Ollie M. James endorsed him, as did Governor James B. McCreary. Samuel Gompers praised Stanley for his opposition to trusts while in Congress; endorsements from local chapters of the American Federation of Labor soon followed. Even Harry McChesney, Stanley's primary opponent, urged Kentuckians to vote a straight Democratic ticket. The election was too close to call on election night. Knowing that a challenged election would be decided by the heavily Democratic General Assembly, Morrow conceded a week later. Official results showed that Stanley won the election by 471 votes, the closest gubernatorial vote in the state's history. Historian Lowell H. Harrison called Stanley's administration the apex of the Progressive Era in Kentucky. The most significant legislation passed during the 1916 legislative session were a state antitrust law and a ban on railroads offering free passes to public figures. A Corrupt Practices Act required candidates for office to file reports of their expenses, limited the amount of allowable expenses, and forbade public service corporations from contributing to any campaign. Other accomplishments included initiating the state's first budget program, enacting its first workman's compensation law, and instituting a convict labor law. The one progressive measure that did not pass, a bill granting women's suffrage, failed in the House by a single vote. Stanley called the General Assembly into special session in February 1917. At issue was reform of the state's tax code, which Stanley felt unjustly burdened agricultural interests. The state was also incurring large deficits, ranging from $100,000 to $700,000 annually. Though Kentucky was in better shape financially than many of its peers, Stanley still sought to balance the budget. The session lasted sixty days, and the legislature passed many of the bills he advocated. The most significant created a three-member state tax commission, chaired by M. M. Logan. Additional taxes were passed on distilled spirits, oil production, race tracks, and corporate licenses. Assessments on the value