The Butler Weekly Times Newspaper, October 3, 1912, Page 4

“TPES MPA “DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR MAKES RINGING SPEECH AT ST. LOUIS. NEW POLITICAL ERA DAWNING Outlines Policies to Be Carried Out for the Advancement of Mis- souri and Her People. . Louis.—With an audience that the Odeon theater to the floors, Elliott W. Major opened the Democratic campaign in Missouri Wednesday. In his opening remarks Mr. Major expressed gratification for the enthusiastic reception and sup- port promised his candidacy for Gov- erpor by citizens of St. Louis and the people of the state generally. If elect- ed Governor, Mr. Major said, the growth, prosperity and welfare of the tities in Missouri would receive the same consideration as rural sections in the co-operation of the administra- tion in all things tending to advance- ment. Continuing Mr, Major said: We have fought the battle of the primary and the people have selected In opening St. trowded their standard bearers, the campaign I take this opportunity to give my unqualified indorsement to each and every candidate upon the ticket with me and commend them to the favorable considération of al! Missourians. They are men worthy of the support of the peopie of this Commonwealth and are progressive In both thought and action, Progressive Democracy. This is a progressive age, the march of progress is upon every hand and the public servant must stand for progression, not only in but in publie service. We principle labor for progress in govern- menta s and in our commercial and civic achievements, The Democratic party has a great futy to perform and before it lies the golden opportunity arising from the tenturies. Let the party meet the problems of today in that masterful spirit which is in keeping with its splendid and glorious past. Let it flemonstrate again its statesmanship and ability to handle every question and meet every situation in both State and nation. In this great hour pf opportunity the Democracy will not fail and the country will be swept by Wilson from Maine to California, and Missouri will go Democratic from Clark to McDonald and from Atchi- bon to Pemiscot. New Political Era. oe e are passing through the deor- of a new political era and there ing to be a new order of things. pendulum of legislative and judi- wrongs has swung to the full arc. pilots have followed, neither nor channel and we are gov- ned, not by the first and just prin- ples of American government, but by the will only of political masters n tur have no thought or creed and ep{ the thought and creed corpor governmental yampires. must Gut, as in all things, there must com end, so today the followers of see their , as they hear the tread of ec.ing millions who feed th great republic, men v alone raark the iru es the nati il who are to declare of Mammon shall not. pr the Goddess of Liberty; ie the hopes ‘and future of ain sons and daug mere than they do.the shining flerin and the golden ducat; men who are in tent in purpose, determined { God over who Amc men zealous in the cause and fit.a faith, = Let the people conti ue to the principles of Jackson, J and Monroe. Let them follow in th footsteps of that Democracy ict has evclyved greater gov iv} principles and wrought more bi ments than all other ned and on whose escutvheon is written the em gic f a century. For twenty-five years I have cham- pioned the principles of Democracy from a thousand platforms in Mi souri end other states in the Union and in this, the sunrise of the great est of the world’s centuries, I thank the Master I have lived to see the tion. standing in the open, con g its wrongs and acknowledging that the Democracy has pointed oui the true path and the only way whicl leads to the eternal welfare of th: American people. I have in other speeches discussec at length national issues, but tonigh: as we have with us Hon. Cham) Clark, Speaker of the House, and Sen ators Sione and Reed, who will ad- dress themselves fully to federal is sues, I will devote the remaining por tion cf my time to state matters an¢ policies, Party Records and Official Service in Missouri. Again the people of Missouri arc called upon to exercise their right ot sufirage and choose between political parties and governmental policies. The Republican and Democratic have each been in power in and each has had its day in is for the voters now tc , . ‘rem the record made which is the reactionary and which is the party of construction, The Republican ELLIOTY W. MAJOR. Democratic Candidate tor Governor. PPP AIR OIRO OOoeean”™”- party retired from the management of state affairs in 1871, and the Demo- cratic party has had charge in all the departments from that time until 1905, when the Republicans elected their candidates with the exception of Gov- ernor. In 1908 the Democrats lost the Governor and- Lieutenant-Governor, but won back all the other depart- ments. Few men know how, by whom and in what way the business of the state is managed. It is taken care of by seven executive departments, to-wit: that of Governor, Lieutenant-Gov- ernor, Attorney-General, Secretary of State, State Auditor, State Treasurer and Saperintendent of Public Schools, together with various boards, such as the State Board of Equalization, Board of Fund Commissioners, Board of Education, Board of Inspection, ete., each of which boards is composed of three or more officers from these va- rious executive departments. one of the departments transacts the business enjoined ujwn it under Constitution and laws of the state, and also as a member of these vari- ous boards assists in handling the financial and other business interests of the commonwealth. The majority of the members upon each of these boards is and has been Democratic for the last four years, consequently if the affairs are now in good conii- tion the same has been brought about by the labors of the Democrats. The Governor represents one-sey- enth of the Executive Department, he being designated as the Chief Execu- tive. As the Attorney-General of the state, I represent one-seventh of the Executive Department and am the le- gal adviser of all the other executive departments, as well as these govern- ing boards. When the Republican party retired from power in 1871 it left a record upon the pages of Missouri’s history which no one can or will now attempt to defend. Under its management the rate of taxation was 50 cents on the $100 valuation, and the bonded indebt- edness of the state $21,673,000. Rail- roads were not assessed and the'state received no interest returns whatever on its public moneys. These were some of the conditions confronting. the Democratic party when it came into power. By the splendid management of the state’s business by the Democratic party, and under its guiding hand, Missouri, in the march ‘of progress, has become one of the greatest states in the American Union—a period of legislative and business construction, a period of progressive achievements. By economy and business methods the Democratic party reduced the rate | of taxation for state purposes from 50 | cents to 15 cents on the $100 valua- tion. It paid off and discharged the bonded debt of $21,673,000, which, to- gether with the interest, amounted to | practically $40,000,000. While it was paying off this heavy indebtedness it also reduced the tax rate. This was a great business and financial achieve- ment, and Missouri is the only state In the Union that discharged its bond- ed indebtedness and at the same time reduced the rate of taxation. Public service corporations, which | were not assessed under Republican rule, are now assessed at $185,498,514. The public moneys held by the State Treasurer, and on deposit at that time, gave to the state no interest returns, while now the state receives interest at the rate of 3.29 per cent on its daily deposits, or about $90,000 per annum. - The Republicans during this period of Democratic construction cried from | the housetops that the public school | fund had been looted and that the books must be seen. The Republic- ans were successful in 1905 with the exception of the office of Governor, and had charge of the books until 1909, and during that time found the School fund had not been looted, but hag grown from $1,500,000 to $4,- 300,000, and that the books were in perfect balance, and, we now no long- er hear of any charges of wrengful doirig during all the period, covered by Democratic rule. We disbursed over Each | Ane | under the law, ! the $100,000,000 in managing the affairs of the state, and that withoyt the loss of a single dollar. This has been the way of Democratic achievement in Missouri. It is and has been a party of progress anc is in touch today ‘with the progressive spirit of the age. It established for this state a public school system not excelled by any state in the Union. It established a great State University, five normal schools, homes for the ex-confeder- ates and federal soldiers, five hos- pitals for the insane, schools fur the deaf and dumb and blind, homes for the feeble-minded, «industrial and re- form schools for the wayward youth, a sanatorium for sufferers from tuber- culosis, a fruit’ experiment station and other worthy institutions, all of which have been ‘liberally supported in Sher party iu thle or Soy Oe Mate . A public office'is a public trust and the public servant must give.e-sirict account of his stewardship, 'The man who has served in public life who cannot place his hand upon some- thing accomplished for the benefit of the people has served in vain. As one of the executive officers of the state, I wish ‘to tell you how your business has been transacted at the capitol by your Democratic executive servants. — State Board of Equalization, The State Board of Equalization is composed of thé Governor, Auditor, Treasurer, Secretary of Stdte and At- torney-General, four Democrats and one Republican. In the discharge of its duties it has written a record of which it can justly feel proud. In equalizing the assessments among the various counties in the state as to personal property and real estate and in assessing the properties of the pub- lic service corporations, it has endeav- ored to and has done as near as pos- sible equal justice to all. The real estate in the country is valued and equalized on a parity with that of the city. If the property in a county is lower in the country than in the city in the same county, the State Board of Equalization, under the law, is powerless to remedy: that condition, as it has no authority to equalize the values of different pieces of real estate located in the same county, but only to equalize the valuation in one county, as a unit, with that of the other counties.in the state, the city of St. Louis being taken as a county. The local condition in the county or | city can only be reached and reme- died by the local assessor and the local board. The State Board of Equalization, assesses the public service corporations in the state, and during the last four years we have increased the assessment on such property $22,015,643 over the assess- ment as fixed by the Republicans in last year they controlled the board, to-wit, 1908, notwithstanding they assessed for the first time during the years they céntrolled the board 839 miles of new road, whereas we have had but 229 miles of new road. The assessment of the properties in this state on June 1, 1911, for the taxes of 1912, was as follows: Real estate, $1,182,900,552; personal prop- erty, $368,972,522; railroad, telegraph, telephone, etc., $185,498,514 making the grand total of all properties $1,- 736,371,588, : The total receipts into the state treasury to the credit of the various funds during the year 1911, and with which to meet the demands on the various funds and the expenses and liabilities of the state government, were $7,598,067.50, Of this amount nearly $5,000,000 went to the state revenue fund. The revenues are am- ple and sufficient to meet all the de- mands of the state and raise its eleemosynary, penal and educational institutions to the very highest standard and furnish the best evi- dence why the taxes of the people of this state should not be doubled and trebled merely to satisfy an appetite for a spectacular and extravagant ad- ministration. In 1909 the Governor offered a sub- stitute resolution, the purport of which was to treble the taxes on all real estate, etc., by assuming that the property was assessed at gne-third its value, and by requiring the property | to be equalized at its full cash value. The duties of the State Board in equalizing properties are fixed by the Constitution, and that provision is self-enforcing. This substitute resolution was de- | feated by the votes of Gordon, Roach and myself, thus preventing the taxes from being trebled. In other words, if the state tax on a certain piece of real estate was $50, had the resolu- tion been adopted it would have been $150, a net yearly increase of $100. The adoption of the resolution would | not have brought to the books for as- sessment or taxation a single added dollar or reached a single tax-dodger. It will not do to say the rate was to be changed, as the board has nothing to do with and cannot change the tax rate. The state rate is fixed by stat- ute and can be changed. only by an act of the legislature. It needs no argument to convince anyone that the trebling of the assessed value would treble the tax. No amount of sophis- try can escape this conclusion, Secretary of State. Honorable Cornelius Roach, the present Secretary of State, is ever active in‘discharging the business of his office and in the matter of making money for the people has become a veal mint. He has set a new sjand- ard and scale of excellence unequaled in the history of the department. We must commend his energy and effi- ciency. State Auditor. The treasury will never be empty as long as Hon. John P. Gordon is Auditor of the state. Not a claim or voucher presented is audited save and except it has first had his personal at- tention, and thousands and thousands of dollars have been saved by his eliminating items here and there "which were unauthorized by lay. The account of every man, both high and low, has been scanned and pruned alike. If the charge was illegal, ex- orbitant or unauthorized by the appro- priation, Gordon caught it. Tm this way he has saved the state a sufficient sum to run any one of several departments for a full bien- nial period. The fruit ee oon ee service is one of the best standards by which the servant can be meag- ‘part of his term of having included ment has made, he is ‘entitled. to the confidence and support of all citizens, irrespective of politics. State Treasurer. The interest: recéived from state deposits during the four years that the Hon. J. F. Gmelich was State Treasurer amounted to the total sum of $289,477.49. ‘Fhe receipts from the interest on state deposits during the term of Hon. Jas. Cowgill, Dem- ocrat, ag State Treasurer, to Sep- tember 1, 1912, already total $347,- 561.30. Thus for the three years and eight months of his term Judge Cow- gill has collected $58,083.81 more in- terest on the public moneys and turned same into the state treasury than did Treasurer Gmelich during his entire term of four years. By the end of his term Judge Cowgill will have collected at least $80,000.00 more interest during his term than did Treasurer Gmelich during his term, or an excess average of $20, 000.00 per year. Treasurer Gmelich had the advantage during the greater in the state’s deposits the sum of $475,198.13, which was collected by a Democratic state administration from the United States government. It. was received April 1, 1905, and held in the treasury until September 10, 1907, at which date it was paid out under proper appropriation to the several counties in the state. Attorney-General. . In the office of Attorney-General I have endeavored to discharge the duties with efficiency and dispatch. Never before in the history of the state has the business of the de-; partment become so important and so great in volume. Suits pending when I came into office and those in- stituted by me have demanded that for the public good certain interests | be prosecuted and certain laws main-| tained. I unhesitatingly made the} fight and enforced the laws. As to; whether or not I have given a good | account of the stewardship, the record | must speak for itself. Since my incumbency the business of the department has increased fully fifty per cent. We have had forty-; nine cases in the Supreme Court of the United States, which is a greater number of cases in that tribunal than the entire number handled by all the other Attorney-Generals since Mis- souri was admitted to the Union. That is more cases than the Attor- neys-General from the other forty- seven states have had in that court during the time I have been in office.. We have had forty-six cases in the United States District Courts, some thirty-odd original suits in the Su- preme Court of Missouri, and more than four hundred criminal cases. During this time we wrote fifteen hundred opinions, as against six hun- dred and twenty-nine written by my predecessor during the four years he was in office. Out of this great volume of busi- ness there were many important cases and matters which materially affected the entire citizenship of Mis- souri. Stamp Act or Dowell Law. Among the more important cases which we have conducted might be} mentioned the one involving the! stamp act or Dowell law. This act required a twenty-five cent stamp to be placed upon the memoranda of cer- tain sales made at certain places and commonly known as futures. This law was passed in 1907, but had not beens) observed. The law was attacked on the ground | that it was unconstitutional. After a} conviction was had in the lower court, upon appeal to the Supreme | Court of Missouri we sustained its constitutionality by a divided opinion. The case was carried to the Supreme | Court of the United States upon writ | of error and there we sustained the | law by a unanimous decision. We then visited the exchanges in} St. Louis and Kansas City, in com- pany with the Auditor, and collected at one time a fraction less than $70,- 0060.00 from those who had failed to observe the law, and placed that sum in the treasury of the state to the credit of the road fund. The proceeds from the enforcement of this law now amount to over $100,000.00, and are increasing at the rate of practically $100.00 per day. This is our officiql contribution to the good road move- ment in the State of Missouri. Harvester Trust. The Legislature ip 1907 passed a resolution demanding that Attorney- General Hadley institute suit against the harvester trust. Suit was in- stituted and some three or four wit- nesses examined at the time I came into office. We immediately began a vigorous prosecution in this case and something like one hundred wit- nesses or more were examined by both sides. We went to New York and took the evidence of George W. Perkins, junior member of the bank- ing firm of J. P. Morgan & Company. Mr. Perkins is the man who -en- gineered and brought about the formation of this trust. The International Harvester Com- pany had a capital stock of $120,000,-- 000.00 and not only did ninety per cent of the harvester business of the United States, but of the entire world. It was a complete monopoly in that industry. We convicted the harvester trust, secured a fine of $25,000.00 and an order from the Supreme Court for the trust to dissolve. At the request of the Department of Justice we have furnished the Federal government with our evidence in the case, and it Is now proceeding with its prosecu- tion, following the same lines and se- | | frat step in the four trust-forming ; peals and cross-appeals, suits had been won in the State Su preme Court by my predecessor. The companies carried the cases to the Supreme Court of the United States upon writ of error, and there for the first time attacked the constitution- ality of the anti-trust statutes of Mis- souri. I therefore tell to my lot to sustain the validity of these laws in that trib- unal. The real fight in thege cases therefore took place in the Supreme Court of the United States. The con- viction of the companies in the court below was a simple and ceftain pro- cedure. The Standard Oil and Waters- Pierce companies had, by agreement, divided the territory in Missouri. This is known as a simple combina- tion in restraint of trade, being the epochs in this country. The anti-trust laws had been upon our statutes for twenty-three years and were written by Hon. Champ Clark, now speaker of the National House of Representatives. On the first of last April, in a unanimous opinion handed down by Justice La- mar, the law: was sustained. In thus winning the cases over some of the greatest lawyers in the west and in sustaining the law, wé can but feel proud. In sustaining the law and af- firming the judgments, we were en- abled to collect from the companies fines totaling $100,000.00, and placed same’in the treasury of the state of Missouri to the credit of the revenue fund. Two-Cent Passenger Fare and Lower Freight Rate Cases. These cases were tried by my pre- decessor. I had no hand in nor any- thing to do with the trial, and these laws were by the trial court held con- fiscatory. It became my duty to take charge of the cases upon appeal to the Su- preme Court of the United States; eighteen cases‘in all. Two great questions were presented to the court: that of whether or not the laws im- pinged upon section 8, article I of the constitution of the United States, known as the commerce clause; and whether or not they were confisca- tory and violative of the fourteenth amendment to the Federal constitu- tion. In considering these questions matters of both law and fact were involved. It affected the right of a sovereign state to fix maximum rates on commerce wholly within the state. In my humble judgment the state unquestionably has the- exclusive right and ‘authority to regulate and control intrastate commerce, includ- ing rates and tolls therefor, and Con- gress has the exclusive right to con- trol and prescribe rates on interstate commerce. The mere amount named as to such state rates cannot impinge upon the commerce clause, neither can the reduction of state rates on intrastate traffic as a matter of law change interstate rates. As to -whether or not the rates were really confiscatory was merely a problem in | mathematics. We, together with associate coun- sel, argued the Burlington case in October, 1910, and the court, after having same under advisement for seven months of its own motion re- assigned the cases to the docket for second argument. This was an indi- cation tiiat the eight judges before whom the case was presented were equally divided. I spent six or seven months in | briefing the other seventeen cases, and on the first of last April in an argument Jasting practically three days, we presented both the ap- and same have been finally submitted and are | awaiting decision, which is expected at the October term. Being thorough- ly familiar with both the law, and the facts in these cases, I now feel satis- fled that the State of Missouri has an | equal or better chance to win than the railroads have of securing an af- firmance of the judgments in the court below. - The principles involved in this liti- gation not only affect the State of Missouri, but every other state in the American Union. The principles involved strike at the. foundation of our government, shall the rights of the states be preserved or shall they be swallowed up by the Federal gov- ernment? To carry these cases to the Su- preme Court of the United States, on account of the voluminous records, was necessarily expensive, but we nave spared neither time nor labor in our efforts to sustain these laws for thé people of the commonwealth. STATE POLICIES AND PRO- GRESSION. There are many questions of im- portance to the- people of this state which must be considered by the next administration. A progressive spirit is abroad in the land and we must push the dome of our commercial and civic achievements’still higher in the skies. * Public Roads, L Chief among the questions of the hour is the permanent improvement and building of public roads. The public .roads of the commonwealth are its first great highways of com- merce. They constitute the strong- “est link in the chain of commercial greatness and are the first evidences of commercial progress. Build more good public roads and permanently improve the roads we now have, and land and other property values will increase rapidly while business and commercial activities will follow as @ Necessary sequence. ‘Republlo r Standard and Republic ofl| freal ach taeasured by the system ‘of ‘popular’ d { “heok well to the education of the youth of the land, for therein les the safety and hope of the future, for no state or nation can rise above the inte gence of its citizens. While we haye a good public school system, yet we should endeavor to increase ‘its effi- ciency and improve the service, Our public school teachers: are progress- ive, and we should enact laws which will enable them to give the people the maximum benefits and bring the opportunities of a liberal education to the door of every home. The con- stitution requires that at least one. fourth of all the revenues be given to the public schools and, realizing that popular education is the first element of state and national success, the Democratic party adopted the policy of giving, not one-fourth, but one third of all the revenues to the pub- lic schools and extended the helping hand to the. weak, so that every boy and girl in the land might be given the best opportunities to equip him- self or herself for the battle of life, , Immigration. Missouri is a great state and has been made such by reason of its re- sources and imperial citizenship. Mis- souri is now really. the first state in the Union, the only difference is the world does not know it. We have here the rich valleys and plains, the minerals, the forests, the climate, the water, and the great opportunities which go to make Missouri the fore- most of the sisterhood. We should make it known to the world by ae vertisement. Reclamation of Land. I believe in the reclamation of our swamp and overflow lands and in ‘the enactment of proper laws to accom plish that purpose. This rich alluvial soil is awaiting the time when its fer- tile acres will bear abundant harvests. The laws should be improved, sim- plified and brought into one Compre hensive whole. Workingmen’s Compensation Act. With the growth and development of our transportation facilities, fac- tory system, and industrial progress, and with the increase in the number of unskilled workmen about’ high- power machinery, etc., the necessi- ties of the hour demand the enact- ment of a workingmen’s compensa- tion act, Such a law should be fair and just both to the employer and the employe. Home Rule. In accordance with the platform declaration, we favor giving the large’ cities home rule because such is a fundamental Democratic principle, Local self-government is Democratic and sound, and to that end we favor giving them the right to elect their excise and police commissioners as they now elect all other officers, or in such other manner as the munici- palities may wish. Presidential Preferential Primary. A Republican form of government is one in.which the supreme power is lodged in the body of the people. The closer the government can be brought to the’ people, the better and safer. Believing in a full and fair expression of the people both as to their nom- inees and their servants at the gen- eral election, for every office from the lowest to the highest, I favor the en- actment of a law providing for a presi- dential preferential primary. Taxation. In the matter of taxation no sys- tem can be devised which will be per- fect. No more taxes should be col- lected than are necessary to efficiently meet the burdens of government and give the best of service. I oppose any policy or effort to unnecessarily in- ~ crease the burdens of taxation on the citizens, as our revenues are ample to meet the demands of the state gov- ernment and support its institutions, saw Enforcement. The laws of the state represent the will of the people as expressed through the legislature. The people rule through the laws and the laws should be enforced and adequate pro- visions made for proceeding against public servants who fail and refuse to perform their official duties. Without further lengthening this address, I wish to impress a% these things I have said upon the citizens of this state, confident in the belief that the service rendered by our Democratic servants has met with the approval of practically the en- tire citizenship of Missouri—a service rendered in the interests of the whole people; a service which reaches to and ‘has its beneficial effect in every - home in the commonwealth. During my campaign for the nom- ination I made a fair, clean and open fight, and purpose to continue so to do during my campaign preceding the general election. I have given the People the best service I could pos- sibly render. The day has come when the people, irrespective of party, will endorse a public service faithfully rendered. I have no fear in submit- ting the cause to the citizenship of Missouri in the record made and the service rendered. The Democracy has nothing to ex- Plain, nothing to take back and noth- ing to fear. Its principles were right in the beginning and its principles will be right in the end. So let us pitch our tents beside every stream, let our ‘campfires be lighted upon every plain and upon every hilltop. Like the great armies of the earth, our brave sons have been beaten in national battle, but stand undaunted in defeat. The light of a grander day is breaking. The hour js at hand when the Democracy stand full- statured and acknowledged as the greatest of the economic and political Darties of the age