Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 103, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 May 1914 — MAXWELL CONDEMNS INDIANA DEMOCRAIS [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

MAXWELL CONDEMNS INDIANA DEMOCRAIS

Inefficiency and Extravagance of Officials Shown by Records. Pledges to Economically Admlnhiter State Affairs Ruthlessly Broken—* Ex-Gov. Marshall Quote.d. ’ ........ \ -■ ir Indianapolis—Hon. Howard Maxwpll, of Rockville, Ind., presided as temporary chairman of the Republican stbte convention. His address was confined to state issues and was as follows, Jin part: It is now five years since the Democrats came into power in this Strife upon a platform pledging retremthment ana economy in the managemc int of State affairs and containing tikis language: “We are opposed to the creating by the Republican Legislatures of enor. tnous, useless offices, boards and commissions with large salaries, and We propose to abolish all such office is, boards and commissions when in power.” You will recall that Governor Marshall, in the campaign of 1908,

again and again in public address declared that we had too much g overnment, and that there were a gr eat number of unnecessary Boards, C<>mmissions and officials, and that the Democratic policy would be to 7root: out, lop off, and abolish these ■Bos rids 1 and Commissions, reduce the/nur aber of persons in the public service and thus minimize the cost of governr nent. Do you recall of any office 1 being abolished? What is the record? The facts are that under I democratic administration the/ num) «r of Beards, Commissions and' office) i have persistently increased. / There is "not a single department 6f State 1 with offices at the State House, in frwhich increased salary ha/s not been given to the chief officer/or some one up r more of his deputies. At ithe State 'House alone at least 'fifty additional , positions have been created sincefffe! dose of Republican administration, ?M id if you consider appointees under *vw rious recently created Boards,.not dn wing their pay direct from ther Start* B reasury, the number of such increase* runs into the hundreds. This merest le of salary to former officers/and dept ities, added to salary/paid n«w officers . and deputies, all officing /at the I State House, aggregates thei total saw i annually of 1138,460.00.1 Newi Bi jards have been established.! The IL*| filature of 1911 createdJfour Co* amissions. That of 1918/three ICte amissions. In 1908, the /last yealr d f Republican Administration, theuteti il annual expense of all the Beara i and Commissions then etlsting wan- 1 $817,098.67, while in 1913, the tiotadTa innuall expense of the Boards and <£« <mmi*> rions now existing was $53348Q 18, an increase of $216,331.51, or SF.pe r cent. If in 1908, we had,> accorffiatp to > Governor Marshall, too'mueh'gewwxi unent, we are certainlyWling afrertirtf h government now. The DuiitujiwM party has signally fsdledfto keep* iksM t * m ise to the people. Pledgee fortEoone* > But how about-their pfedgeUt/Hooonomically adminiater State! ai teiirdff I. have here in my/hand tltel r teorts of th* Auditor of Estate finj tSe fiscal

years 1908 and 19187 official public records, and I wish briefly to make some comparisons of certain parts of these reports. I choose these years for no other reason than this: The year 1908 marks the close of Republican administration, while the year 1913 marks the beginning of the present Democratic administration. What do the records show as to the conduct of the three old, established departments of State government? In 1908 the expense of the office of Secretary of State was $14,298.89. In 1918 this expense was $38,247.64, an increase of $23,953.75 or 167 per cent., and compared with the legislative year, 1907, an increase of 44 per cent. In 1908 the expense of the office of Auditor of State wa5^558,941.44. In 1913 this expense w< $72,602.32, an increase of $13,66088 er 23 per cent. In 1908, the expense of the office of Treasurer of State was $12,176.24. In 1913 this expense was $13,492.70, an increase of $1,316.46 or 10 per cent Let us go farther. In 1908 the expense of the Bureau of Printing was *77,037.26, last year $118,352.44, an increase of $41,315.18, or about 54 per cent. And compared with the legislative year, 1907, an increase of 23 per cent. In 1908 the expense of the Board of Education and the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction was $20,808.74. Last year $29,802.62, an increase of $8,993.88 or 48 per cent. In 1908, the Library, and Library Commission expended $25,299.00. In 1913 $35,088.93, an increase of $9,789.93 or 88 per cent In 1908 the expense of the Board of Health was $42,886.06, last year $62,393.39, an increase of $19,507.88 or 45 per cent. In 1908, the expense of the Board of Charities was $16,348.63. Last year $27,708.67, an increase of $11,360.1)4 or 70 per cent In 1913 the expense of the Board of Accounts was $63,550.01. This is the amount paid directly out of the State Treasury, and does not include the thousands upon thousands of dollars paid by the municipalities, counties and townships, for so-called investigations by this Board, many of these reports covering the conduct of ex-officers, so far back that the statute of limitations barred any recovery against the officer or his bondsmen, and these reports being without any practical profit or utility to any one. In 1908 the expense of the Railroad Commission was $30,861.96. In 1913 the expense of this Commission and the public service Commission which had been added to it, was $59,251.68, an increase of $28,389.72 or 92 per cent.

Do Not Reduce Expenditures. In 1908, the aggregate expense of the then three separate departments, known as the Labor Commission, the Department of Inspection, and Inspector of Mines was $29,467.66. Under Democratic rule these three were consolidated under one known as Department of Inspection. One would ordinarily suppose that such consolidation would result in reduced expenditure, but, on the contrary, the facts are that this one department, in 1913, expended $50,196.36, an increase over the three departments in 1908 of $20,728.70 or 70 pe*r cent. Then there is the office of gas inspector. I had been under the impression that we no longer had natural gas. In 1908 the expense of this office 'was $4,273.92 and in 1913 $8,656.18, an increase of *54,382.26 or 102 per eent. Under these figures natural gas ought to be increasing in the State of Indiana. Take the office of State Entomologist. In 1908 the expense of this office was $3,247.02. In 1913, $14,970.98, an increase of $11,723.96 or 361 per cent. The last regular legislative session under Republican rule, that of 1907, cost $130,024.87. That of 1913, $162,507.67, an increase of $32,482.80 or 25 per cent.

A. glance at the conduct of our State’s institutions reveals the same general condition. In 1908 the exSense of all the institutions of the tate, including the penal correctional Charitable institutions, all schools and soldier’s monument, amounted to sl,852,663.56. In 1913 this expense was $2,775,092.28, an increase of $922,428.72, dr 50 per cent. In view of these enormous increases some one may say that there exists something peculiar and extraordinary abou* these years 1908 and 1913. It may be that in some particular instance peculiar and unusual conditions prevailed that would make that particular comparison an unfair one. So tihat there can not be a shadow of doubt in the matter, let us compare the annual average cost of government for the entire four years of Republican rule under Governor Hanly, with the average annual cost of government for the entire five years of Democratic rule, under , Governors Marshall and Ralston. There can be no successful contention that this basis of comparison is not entirely fair. When the State buys grounds, makes permanent repairs and erects ■new buildings or makes payment upon the State debt, it has, after the expenses are incurred, something to show for them. Payment upon the debt relieves us of that much debt, and while the money is gone with which the grounds were bought and buildings erected, the equivalent, the grounds and buildings remain, actual, visible, tangible property. Expenses, such as salaries, maintenance of institutions, in short all other expenses, 'are intangible; that is, after they are incurred the State has no actual property or thing of value to show as their equivalent, and these expenses in the truest and strictest sense, constitute the actual cost of government. Excluding then the items of payment upon the State debt, and cost of grounds, permanent repairs and new buildings, so as to arrive at the actual cost of government, there was exSnded for all other purposes, during e four years of Republican administration, under Governor Hanly, an annual average of $2,805,168.28; during the four years of Governor Marshall’s administration an annual average of $8,678,812.08, an average increase each year of $868,648.74, or of about 81 per cent, and during the one year of Governor Ralston’s administration, $4,453,879.70, an inof $1,648,716.41, or more than abuse your patience with

further reference to these reports. These facts abundantly establish the proposition that in the great majority of all the important departments of our government, enormous increase of expenditure has occurred, until economy has become a mere Democratic catch-word to be used only in the platform and then dropped from their political dictionary. The Democratic party has signally failed to keep its promise to the people of economical government.

Economy a Catch Word. The history of the State debt tells the same story. The administration of Governor Durbin is noteworthy for the amount of public debt paid. At his incumbency it was $4,704,615.12, and at the close of his administration it had been reduced to $1,902,615.12. The same policy was continued under Governor Hanly, so that in 1906, the second year of his administration, all had been paid on the foreign debt that could be paid, the balance not maturing until 1915, and the bondholders refusing payment prior to 1910, when payment was optional with'the State. At the incumbency of Governor Marshall, the debt was $1,510,163.12.

J „ The Democratic party could not deny this truly remarkable achievement but they formerly contended that it was due to our tax law, which they claimed as a Democratic measure, and that this tax law in a sort of automatic way paid the debt. During the administration of Governor Marshall the debt was reduced $250,000.00 so that when the present administration came into power the debt was $1,260,163.12. The valuation of taxable property in the State, which in 1908 was $1,723,311,564, in 1913 was sl,938,207,235, an increase of more than $200,000,000.00. The levy, which in the last year of Republican administration, was 33.35 cents on the SIOO.OO was, by the Legislature of last year, fixed at 40.10 cents on the SIOO.OO, an . increase of 6.75 cents, or about 20 per cent. Not only has the State rate been thus elevated, but recent Democratic legislatures have been prodigal in creating a number of minor additional county officers, and increasing salaries of old county officers. In Marion county alone, salaries of county officers have thus been increased more than $40,000.00 annually. Never in the history of the State, in times of peace, has every section and community been so oppressed with the burden of taxation as at this very hour. The last legislature also created several forms of special taxes, yielding large revenues, notable among which are the automobile license fees and the inheritance tax. Now with this immensely increased valuation, with the higher rate, with these special taxes, and with the same eld tax law, we find that the State debt, including floating or temporary debt was at the close of the fiscal year 1913, $1,470,163.12, an increase of $210,000.00. The citizenship of our State is humiliated by the fact that our State institutions are kept open and the State government is now being run on money borrowed of Chicago bankers, ana that ‘more money must be borrowed, and more loans negotiated, in order to keep these institutions open, the government running and to prevent the State from failing to pay its' obligations like a common bankrupt. This enormous increase in the cost of government, this contracting of additional debt, have all occurred under Democratic rule, under normal conditions, when no war, famine or pestilence vexed our borders. Fiscal mismanagement combined with legislative extravagance, have placed the State’s finances in an intolerable condition. In fine, Democratic administration may be characterized as a time when all of the financial dreamers and incompetents, out of jobs and hungry for public provender, and the money derelicts gather together around the State Treasury to bold high carnival.

Before the recent Democratic State Convention, Governor Ralston made a 6ngthy Speech in attempted defense the r*cord of his party. It is an able speech by an able man in a hard cause, a speech replete with explanation, extenuation and'special pleading 'When the speech is analyzed, the Governor’s defense for the present conditions is largely based upon two propositions, the first of which is that the Democratic party ought to be excused ter the increased cost of running the (State's institutions because of high (pries*. No one disputes the fact that

prices have advanced since 1908, but if care is taken to analyze the figures, this increased cost of our institutions is explained only in minor degree by high prices. The cost of maintenance of inmates has only reasonably increased, about which there can be no fair criticism. In other words the Democratic party has not been lavish in clothing and feeding these unfortunate members of society. But the increased expenditure is mainly attributable to administrative charges, that is for salaries and expenses of a. large number of added officials and employes. This whole defense, however, is one that by the rule of political ethics, Governor Ralston should bo estopped from making. The Democratic promise was: Put us in power and we will reduce the tariff,' and lower prices to a reasonable level Well they have tinkered with the tariff, put thousands out of employment and, according to Governor Ralston, affected prices not at all. What we need is more tariff and less taxes in the State of Indiana. The Governor’s other proposition of defense is that while many new laws have been enacted and new offices created, entailing an increased expenditure, the people demanded them because the legislature passed them. The fallacy of this argument is easily shown. The Democratic Legislative majority is not the people of Indiana, and does not represent the majority of the people, but as we all know is only representative of a minority. It is a far cry, indeed, that because the Legislature made the laws, the people demanded them. The voice of the people is the voice of God. If, according to Governor Ralston, a Democratic majority in the Legislature, elected by a minority, is the voice of the people, then such Democratic legislative majority is the voice of God, a logical calamity, which God forbid. Now, understand me, I do not charge that every Democratic office* . holder is incompetent. There are a ’ few exceptions, notably the office of the Attorney-General. But what I do say is this: that the men of efficiency, of sound and conservative judgment, are so few in number that their counsels are disregarded and, they are powerless to remedy these conditions. I submit that we can no longer afford to make our State House an experimental station for all the fads, fancies and follies of the Democratic party.

Honest Democrats Ashamed. In my own neighborhood a condition exists of which even honest Democrat* are ashamed. Since Donn M. Robert* has. become the leader of the Vigo county democracy it is notorious that elections in that county have been farcical. A political lieutenant and an appointee of his city administration has recently been convicted of high crimes against the ballot. He, himself, is charged with like crime*. And at this very hour we have presented the astounding spectacle of this man Roberts, nominally elected mayor of Terre Haute, but indubitably elected chairman of the Vigo County Democratic Committee, performing the functions of Mayor, and managing hi* party as their chosen leader, from the prisoner’s dock in one of the court* of the city of Terre Haute. These are the men who, in the face of the record, in defiance of the facts and proofs of their incompetency, extravagance and mismanagement which can be piled mountain high, are again asking the people to continue in their incapable hands, the government and prosperity of this great Commonwealth. The difference between the parties in the administration of State affairs can be summed up in this: The Republican party in the State of Indiana is a debt-paying party, the ’ Democratic party, a debt-making party.

Men of Indiana, men of the State of Morton and Harrison, I appeal to you td lay aside all petty strifes, jealousies and differences, and as patriots per-, form the plain duty of this hour-—Get ready for the coming battle. The Bepublican party in this State can noser go backward. Like Napoleonic dnanmer boy, we do not know how to Boat the retreat, but we do know how to} sound the charge. My missans to you, fellow Republicans, is a call to! arms. The hour has struck. The flpportunity is at hand. Let as, than,! sound the' charge and attack along flto whole line.

HOWARD MAXWELL

JUDGE ED. JACKSON Republican Nominee for Secretary of State.