Evening Republican, Volume 22, Number 288, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 December 1919 — APOLOGISTS ARE RAPPED [ARTICLE]

APOLOGISTS ARE RAPPED

E. C. TONER, GUBERNATORIAL ASPIRANT, DEFENDS STATE ADMINISTRATION. Anderson, \lnd., Nov. 25.—Edward C. Toner, candidate for the republican nomination for governor, in a speech before the Roosevelt club here tonight, appealed to the rank and file of the party to stand by the state administration and its record. He rapped what he termed the republican “apologists” and declared that “those who ignore the tremendous benefits which come from the tax law and engage in attacks upon a few minor details of the law, are giving aid to the democrats.” Mr. Toner took a decisive stand upon the Goodrich tax law and declared that if any errors exist in the measure they can easily be corrected. He defended that part of the law which gives the state board of tax commissioners power to limit the bonded indebtedness and declared that such authority was necessary during the first year of the new law. ' Democratic Propaganda. “There are in Indiana entirely too many apologists in the Republican party,” said Mr. Toner. “That’s precisely the situation. Short-sight-|ed republicans have heard the echo 'of an insidious democratic propaganda and have caught it up and have carried it on. They unwittingly are giving aid and comfort to the Democratic party. No man rightfully can claim the support and suffrage of loyal republicans while in. the same breath he repudiates the acts of a republican legislature and a republican administration who have carried out the Republican party’s solemn platform pledges. I “These men are apologists for the Republican party at a time when they should be praising an unparalleled record of republican achieveiment. For I assert that the record 'of the Republican party in Indiana during the past three years in both the legislative and administrative branches of our state government is a record unequaled since the days of Morton. “I repeat the assertion which I made when I announced my candidacy for the gubernatorial nomination, that the tax law passed by the last legislature is not only fundamentally sound, but is a valiant. legislative act which liberates the state of Indiana from the shackles of a vicious and indefensible tax system. It is a landmark in the history of the state and for years to come will be a living monument to the Republican party. Moreover, I assert that those who ignore the tremendous benefits that come from the tax law and engage in picayunish attacks upon a few minor details of the law are giving aid to the democrats of Indiana who, purely for political purposes, are seeking to break down the confidence of the people in this splendid act. Error* Easily Corrected. “In the enactment of any comprehensive law, errors are bound to creep in and if any errors have been made in the tax law they are minor in character and can be corrected. If those republicans who are attacking the law will give but a few moments careful thought to it, they will find that the things which they attack were necessary safeguards put into the law to protect the people of Indiana during the first year in which the tax law is operative. If these safeguards, which restricted the unlimited creation of indebtedness by making it necessary to secure the consent of the state tax board, had not been put into the law, the taxpayers of Indiana for the next decade would have been burdened with a mountain of excessive indebtedness. "These safeguards were incidental, but, nevertheless, imperative during the transition from the old to the new tax system. It may be true that these provisions of the law have served their purpose, but under no circumstance they be repealed until there is substituted for them a legislative limitation upon !the indebtedness which the i taxing units' can Incur law is but one of a very large number of highly constructive legislative 'acts of the republican legislature. The war record of the Republican party in Indiana is unsurpassed by that of any state in the . union. Economy and Efficiency. “I would emphasize another point which republican apologists overlook or ignore. The administration of affairs in Indiana by the Republican party during the past three years, in spite of the tremendous burdens of war, causing unparalleled increases in the cost of government, has been highly economical, highly efficient and the most business-like in the history of the state. The business of the various state offices and departments has been carried on with the single purpose of fulfilling to the limit the obligations which they carry and with economy and efficiency seldom found in public places. , “Why, therefore, this pussyfoot-ing—-%hy these apologies for this admirable record? How can any republican do less than defend it? As for me, I am glad of the opportunity to defend the record of the Republican party in Indiana, but to stand up and ‘be counted as an ardent champion of its acts. I “The Democratic party is trying to divide us—trying to create factions and ill feeling among us—trying by evepy device to destroy our solidarity in order to gain democratic success. Let us not be led into the trap laid for us. It is only 'by complete party harmony and un-

ion that we can win. “We’ve got enough to do to defeat the democrats and we can’t defeat the democrats by petty squabbling about nothing. “I appeal to the republicans of Indiana, regardless of whom they supported for governor, to stand together four square for the Republican party and its record.”