Jasper County Democrat, Volume 9, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 October 1906 — RALSTON’S GREAT SPEECH [ARTICLE]

RALSTON’S GREAT SPEECH

In Reply to Hanly— Delivered at Greenfield nn October 16, 1906. Hon. Samuel M. Ralston, of Lebanon, in a great speech delivered at Greenfield on October 16, before a large audience, gave special attention to state affairs. He took up Governor Hanly’s speech at Tipton opening the Republican campaign and laid bare its sophistry and misrepresentation, proving beyond cavil the malice and Insincerity with which it abounds. By irresistible facts and argument Mr. Ralston demonstrated why the Republican party should be driven from power in the state and why the management of the state’s business should be restored to the Democratic party with its long record of honorable and faithful service. The speech follows in full and it should be read by every good citizen from beginning to end: Mr. Chairman and Fellow-Citizens—ln-dlana is a great state. Her soil is rich and productive. Her climate is tn>l‘U Rarely has she known serious droughts or violent storms. The destructive forces of nature have spared her. Among ths riches Imbedded within her bowels are to be found the finest building stone, vast fields of coal and reservoirs of oil. She is one of God’s most bountiful gifts to man, where there has been developed a citizenship unsurpassed by that of any other state in this splendid republic. I am proud of her, and so are you. Mutually we rejoice in her and swear allegiance to her institutwns. It Is of the administration of the government of this magnificent commonwealth that I want to speak to you tonight. It is a representative government and therefore a popular government. A popular government Is a government administered through political parties. No country has ever enjoyed a government by the people In the absence of political parties. So it is our boust that we have in state and nation a government ofpolltlcal parties and by political parties, but not for political parties; and thtf man who rails against these organizations has not familiarized himself with the simplest of the basic principles upon which popular government rests.

Instead, therefore, of a political campaign being looked upon by the people as a hardship unnecessarily imposed upon them, they should welcome the opportunity these political contests afford them of learning what the party lu power has accomplished, why ft hns not accomplished more and what It proposes to accomplish for the public good, if its lease of power be extended; and to judge of these things in the light of the criticisms offered and the things proposed by the party out of power. Hanly’s Tipton Meeting. Governor J. Frank Hanly, in a speech delivered at Tipton ou Sept. 24 last, discussed at length state issues and ills administration In the presence of an audience largely composed of supreme and apellate court judge, state officers and their attaches. including tlie lady stenographers of the statehouse. The governor was at his best and we are told lu a published account of his meeting that the stenographers al times cheered him enthusiastically. The governor was cmimored <>f his theme, but he suffered himself to digress long enough to tell the eminent jurists present how he expected them Io write the law in certain eases now pending in their courts. There Is nothing 1 nearly said small, but 1 menu modest about the governor. In tlie course of his keynote slogan he eulogizes without coercion, his own administration mid just as cheerfully criticizes. stigmatizes mid condemns every administration, Democratic and Republican alike, this state lias had from 1872 down to his own. Hut tmtwithstanding tlie eulogy he pronounces upon his own record, lie nevertheless Ims some misgiving Hint all his fellow-ltepublicmis may not view It as lie doos, for he tells them they have no right to refuse t<> support his mlmlnlsratlon because "of pas’slon, personal pique, the personality of tlie man who happens to be back of it, or adverse party affiliation.” Tlie personality of the men back of the iidniinlstriiMrrn seems to press itself upon governor’s mind. I wonder why? Isn't lie satisfied with himself?

The Governor's Integrity Task. But lie goes on to tell of the corruption and defalcation of his friend Sherrick, and what an ordeal he passed through upon making this discovery, "for." using Ills language, "there were those who counseled condonation mid secrecy, and tlie continuance of tile defaulter In office,” and how. when tlie light broke In upon him, “before him stretched tlie path of duty, rugged ami thorny, but straight and true (nd sure." This is, however, only one of many crises, we are Informed, through which he had to pass In Ills official career of less than two years. He says, in summing up tlie work of ills administration, to use Ills language, “it lias restored and maiutnliieil. under trying and delicate circumstances. Integrity In the administration of public offices." That Is to say. as I understand It, mid evidently as lie intended the public to understand. that it is under delicate clreiimstmives he is now maintaining Integrity in tlie aduiiulstratiou of the different ntllees In tlie statehouse. What a certificate of character tills Is for Bigler, Binis, Hill. Attorney General Miller mid the other state officials, in view of this declaration of tlie governor I am amazed that lie did not accompany ids attorney general oti his recent exploits of the French Lick hills and valleys! What a risk tlie executive took In permitting this limb of the law to scamper about that section of our state with tlie famous one-eyed constable unprotected by executive watchfulness. What a plight this state would be in If onr rosy cheeked attorney general had lost his official virtue In the French Lick valley. Keeping the Judge* Straight. Upon reading this passage of the governor's speech, It was at once made dear to me why he liad Judge Hadley, Judge Monks and Judge Jordan along with the other Jurists to attend his opening meeting of the campaign. In addition to telling them how to write the law he desired to Inform them lu the most public manner possible that he was having the task of his life to maintain official integrity In the statehouse, mid that they must be straight, as he would tolerate no foolishness or questionable conduct on their part. Surely the writer of proverbs had these times In his vision and our governor’s administration In mind when he declared "When tlie righteous are tn authority the people rejoice, but when the wicked bear, eth rule the people mourn." Our governor does not only keep all the Republican officials under him honest, but he furnishes the material for the platforms of his party. He says, referring to Its present platform: "Its platform is not a subterfuge upon which to get Into office. Most of Its provisions grew out of the experiences of the last two years and the public needs that hare been disclosed thereby." So you see the governor la the whole thing, and yon dn not have to prove it on him. He will admit It. And If It were not for the biblical Inhibition that "flesh and blood shall not Inherit the kingdom of heaven." I would hesitate even in prophecy to tlx boundaries to the Jurisdiction he would ultimately assume over the heavenly orbs. Demdcrat* and th* Railroad Law. Coming now to the governor's speech more In detail, what claims do we tint! him making for himself and his narty. but more particularly for himself? He calle attention flrat to the railroad rate regulation of

the last legislature, enacted upon his reeommendation and gives in detail the workings of his commission and the supposed benefits resulting therefrom to the people at a total cost of $ 10,753. But he does not tell the people that the Democrats, us a party, stood by him for thia legislation and that the Democrats In both branches of the legislature voted for the passage of the blli/und that the on 9 objection they made to It was that the people were entitled to a better law. Nor does the governor inform the people that he was utterly unable to persuade the Republicans of the legislature to pass this rate bill In any form until after the railroad la'wyers £ laced their O. K. upon it. Hon. John W. lern led the fight for this legislation as the attorney for the shippers, and It was in hla office that the bill was finally agreed upon In the form in which It became a law; and up to the time of this agreement there was never any show for the governor or anyone else to secure the passage of the bill. The situation was controlled by the Influence that always controls the governor's party. But, my friends. It is a late day for the governor to shriek himself hoarse in Insisting upon the honor dm- him or his party for this character of legislation. For the sentiment In this country that has ripened Into this sort of legislation, honor is due to another. The honor belongs to a man whom the governor has slandere<l In the past and in the Imitation of whom as a reformer he Is now making himself ridiculous. Railroad Plank of 1896. In 1896 the Democratic national platform contained this plank: “The absorption of wealth by the few, the consolidation of our railroad systems, and formation of trusts and pools require stricter control by the federal government of those arteries of commerce. We demand the enlargement of tne powers of the interstate commerce commission, and such restrictions and guarantees in the control of railroads as will protect the people from robbery and oppression.” That plank, my friends, was denounced by the governor of your state and the national platform of his party has never con tained a similar declaration. It was the torch that lighted the way for all the laws that have been enacted on this subject, and it was suggested by and borne aloft In the hand of that great commoner, the first statesman of the civilized world, William Jennings Bryan. Without the assistance of Democrats the Republicans could have accomplished nothing on this question in their last congress, and they were only enabled to pass the emasculated bill they finally got through, when a Democrat assumed the leadership of the tight. No, my friends, there is no reason for any Democrat betraying his party to assist Governor Hanly and his partisan followers, because of anything they may have done for rail road rate legislation In the last legislature. Sherrick and Storms.

But let us pass to the next subject discussed by the governor—the defalcations of certain Republican officials. Aud I want to preface what 1 shall suy on this part of his speech by the statement that I do not desire to deprive him of any honor In the premises. Whatever he did that was right, he should have credit for. Now how did he propose to deal with the Situation when he found himself face to face with these defalcations? In searching for the answer to this question we should not overlook the tact that the governor is posing before the country as a genuine reformer—as an executive who be lieves In the enforcemnt ot all laws without fear or favor and denounces in untneas ured terms compromises with crime. If in truth and In fact he Is a reformer of this fiber and an executive of the character I have indicated, then he Instantly knew, appreciated and resolved that Sherrick should be sent to the penitentiary upon his confessing he bad converted to his own use $145,000 of the people's money, but did he so resolve, and If so, when? I charge the fact to be that before Sher rick sent him his resignation he, the governor, through Janies I’. Goodrich, chairman of tlie Republican state central committee, assured the Hon. Addison <’. Harris, attorney for Sherrick, if the defaulting officer would resign and give up his office, he, tlie governor, would protect him from prosecution. If he denies tiffs, then 1 ask him to say If when he was trying to secure the resignation of Secretary Storms, for whom tin- Hon. Addison C. Harris was also appearing as counsel, this conversation, in substance, didn’t take place In his rooms in the statehouse:

Hanly’s Veracity. Mr. Harris saying: "1 advised Sherrick to resign and was criticised for it throughout tlie state. In that case a man came to me as an emissary for the governor and represented that if Sherrick would resign mid turn over to the governor the securities iu his possession, that that would end the matter. With this understanding, on my advice, Sherrick sent his resignation and nil tin- securities iu his possession to the governor. The same evening tlie governor placed the matter iu the hands of the prosecuting attorney." And If thereupon he. the governor, didn't say. "Hold ou, Mr. Harris, I never authorized any person to make any such representation to you." And if thereupon Mr. Harris didn't say. "The man who .came to me saying that he came from you Is In tills room and someone lias lied." And if thereupon Mr. Goodrich, chairman of tlie Republican state central committee, didn't say, "I made only such representations as 1 was authorized by the governor to make, and 1 mu not tlie Hur"; mid if thereupon Mr. Harris, looking nt the governor, didn't say, "Then. Governor Hanly, you are tlie liar’" 1 repeat I challenge the governor 10 deny. Then if Sherrick did resign with the understanding that the governor would not ask that he lie prosecuted, or that lie would ask that lie be not prosecuted, 1 submit the governor cannot consistently plead with Democrats to support ills administration on account of its moral tone, until he himself quits forming an alliance with criminal.-,.

Getting Money From Sherrick. Besides tlie record in tlie Sherrick case now pending in the supreme court shows that iu r.HM Hanly gm m one time $250 mid nt another time SSOO belonging to the state from Sherrick as auditor, and that he didu't repay the state until after tlie exposures came late in 11*15. I mu told by Ai attorney who Is conversant with tlie fact, that if Sherrick is kept in I lie penitentiary. it will lie on the count of the Indictment charging him with the conversion of the money of tlie state, a part of which was the money the governor had. How tlie governor, while Sherrick remains In the penitentiary, can go into tlie pulpit* of tills state and preach civic righteousness without experiencing the sensation of the ball and chitin about tils ankle is beyond my comprehension. But In what better light do the facts in the Storms ease place the governor before the good citizenship of this good state? He tells us that his commission laid bare the wrongdoing In the secretary's office. His language Is: “A little later, a misappropriation of funds by the secretary of state—a conversion of public money to his own use —was laid bare." And then he tells how he demanded the resignation of the secretary, and how that official refused either to resign or to permit an examination of his books, but that finally, rather than have the general assembly convene to Impeach him. nc gave up the fight, handed over his resignation mid left his office. Storms and Question of Crime. Let's analyze this situation. If the secretary had converted public money to his own use he was guilty of the commission of a crime, and no one knew that better than the governor, for he is not ofilv s good statutory lawyer, but also a good constitutional lawyer, and if he 1s to be believed, he has a real passion for the enforcement of Inw. He delights In telling ills preacher and civic audiences how the constitution enjoins upon him that "he shall take c«re that the laws be faithfully executed,” and how all tsws look alike to him, and that it Is his unbending purpose to enforce them, oven at the risk of cutting short his political career. That Is to snv. he wants the people to understand that he Is for Inw enforcement, even If such a course in the future deprive hla country of his services as president. How’ do hla acts square with his words? He admits that the evidence showing tlie commission of a crime by his secretary of state was laid before him end that It was so conclusive of guilt that It enabled him to compel the derelict official to floe from his office. The evidence then was as strong as It was in the Sherrick case. Why. then, was the one sent Jo prison and the other allowed to go free? Why, then, did the governor send for the prosecuting attorney In th* one case and lay the facta

(bowing guilt before him and insist upon a proecution and in the other case remain silent? Do great governors do this way when they are seeking to ferret out crime? Can you Imagine a Folk acting In this way under simitar conditions? And Is such a course in harmony with his Interpretation of that provision of the constitution he enjoys reading to the preachers that the ■Governor shall take care that the laws lie faithfully executed? I make the charge that he does not dare to tell the people of tins state why he has not insisted upon the prosecution of his defaulting secretary of state. Storms Case and Consistency. With what consistency can the governor insist that prosecuting attorneys should see to It that all felons be prosecuted, in view of the position eh has assnmed as regards the felony committed by Storms? Does he answer that. Storms made good his defalcations and gave up the office? If he does, a man does not have to to be a lawyer to tell him that that doesn't satisfy tne law. Any felon in the clutches of the law would make good the value of stolen Eroperty und leave* the state If that would uy his l.berty. Does he answer that an assurance L«d to be given Storms thfit he would not be prosecuted before he would agree to hand In h'.s resignation? If he does, then the official who is keeping that assurance good Is gu.lty of compounding a felony and should be sent to tne penitentiary with Sherrick. Again I charge that tne governor doesn't da;e to tell the people of this state the truth as to why Storms has not been prosecuted and until he does make a satisfactory showing as regards such failure, he is not In a position to appeal either to Democrats or self-respect-ing Republicans to support his administration. But he does not only Insist that he is entitled to great honor for getting Sherrick, Storms and the adjutant-general out of office, but that much credit is due him for. collecting of these three defaulting Republican officials the money they had converted to their own use. Each of these officers had a good bond on file, and a very ordinary lawyer can draft a good complaint for the breach of a bond. The governor, however, is grappling at straws, and no incident that will serve*to bolster up his administration must be overlooked. Hanly’s Motives.

Now the trtfth Is, my friends, ths governor hadn't been In office long until the fact became known to him that the state house, under Republican administrations, had become rotten to the core and that rumors of the condition were then reaching the public, a;id he was not long iu convincing himself that when the whole truth got to the public the righteous indignation of the people would sweep bls party from power. So he became desperate and at once conceived the scheme of starting an investigation of the records in certain officesback as far as 1872 with the hope of being able to scandalize the official record of some Democrat and in this way molify in some degree the outraged feeling of the people toward bls party. The first one he makes an attack upon is a dead Democrat, James H. Rice, who while living bore a reputation tor honesty second to no man. Anu the charge is made that Rice, while auditor, failed to account for certain money that he received officially, and that his shortage now amounts to $108,823.69, including more than $46,000 Interest. . A proper appreciation of the value of character and of good reputation usually suggests to a fair-minded man the importance of stating all the material facts, when he is proposing to ask the judgment of his countrymen thereon, upon the conduct of a fellow man. And especially Is this true when the judgment is asked against on who Is dead. James H. Rice’s Case. I charge that the governor has not given to the people all the facts In James H. Rice's case, and that he has purposely, with evil intent, wltheid them. Notice the language of his speech: "For some unaccountable reason the books are missing and can not lie found.” By that statement he meant for the people to understand that all the books of James H. Rice are missing, when the truth is, the records are only missing for six months of his official term, as 1 have been Informed, and the books covering his term, so I am told, all except this six months, show his aci counts Jo be correct to a cent. Why didu'tthe governor disclose that fact to the people when he was dealing with the honor of * dead man? Is It customary for apostles of spotless purity- to deal with the dead in this wav? How, then, did the governor and his commission arrive at the amount of Rice's alleged shortage? Why. he says: "It is based upon the average receipt of reciprocal fees for a term of years before and after Mr. Rice's term." But that doesn't necessarily show that any part of the alleged shortage went Into his hands. I submit, therefore, In view of all the facts, if the governor had wanted to be fair and decent in his dealing with Rice, he would have refrained from makjng his vicious attack upon his official record, But no, he couldn't do that. He had to have a Democratic victim to break the rising tide of opposition to his party and to get his victim he repairs to the grave of this Irish patriot—this old soldier—and with fiendish cruelty clawing into the sepulchre of the dead, he drugs out the skeleton and rattles it, with ghoulish glee, in the face of the multitude. 1 leave him with the skeleton.

Increased Taxation. In hls Tipton speech the goveronr takes exception to the charge made lu the Democratic state platform of 1906 that since 1894 the Republican party "has unnecessarily and largely increased the number of officers, the salaries of officials, the expenses of the public business and the burdens of the taxpayers.” He seeks to break the force of this arraignment by saying that if the expenses and burdens of the people have ineerased, they have been increased without a raise in the tax levy. This sort of statement doesn't deceive any one. Why didn't he tell hls audience how much the assessed valuation of the property In the state had increased during this period? The most ordinary citizen understands that a 3-cent levy, for Illustration, will produce twice as much revenue on a valuation of S2OO as It will ou a valuation of sLoo. Now the’ truth Is the receipts of the state for tlie year ending October 31, 1904, were nearly a million dollars greater than for the year ending October 31, 1895, And yet when the legislature met In January, 1906, the governor announced In his Inaugural address that he found the state's finances "embarrassed," aud cited a deficit of a half million dollars. This was followed by drawing $91»4.0(M> In advance from the counties up to October 31, 1905, and the embarrassment mentioned by the governor forced the raising of the levy for current expenses three cents on the hundred dollars, which Increased the taxes for such expenses about a half million dollars a year. Why didn't the governor, in hls Tipton speech, tell the truth? State Office Expenditures. Again a Republican legislature appro prlated for the expenses of the Auditor's office from 11)03 to 1907, $82,303.90. Under the law us enacted by a Democratic legislature, If Governor Hanly's Interpretation of that law be correct, J. O. Henderson's total legal compensation as auditor for four years was only $3,473.43, as against $82,303.30 for the same office for the same period under a Republican law. Matthews and .Myers, both Democrats, administered the office of secretary of state from 1891 to 1895, four years under a Democratic law, for $41,461. For the same length of time, from 1893 to 1907, under a Republican law, It cost $53,600 to run the same office: that is, $12,119 more than It did under the Democrats. Haying nothing of the different contingent funds upon which the governor has been liberally drawing, the office of governor for 1905. cost the people more than $4,000 in excess of what it did In 1896, when Matthews was governor. But the governor, in hls speech, arguwi that the four offices or governor, secretary of state, auditor or state anil attor-ney-general cost the people, under Democratic laws, mere than SIOO,OOO In excess of what they are now costing under Republican legislation. He Is enabled to reach this conclusion by taking the attorneygeneral's office, when the Hon. Alonso Greene Smith was the Incumbent, under a law that was prepared by AttorneyGeneral Michener, and approved by Governor Hovey, both of whom were Republicans, and under which tn* attorney-gen-eral was, In fact, allowed fees that made him a large compensation. A fairer way to have presented th* question, I suggest.

would have been to have compared the compensation of Smith with that of Michener, as they both operated under the same law. But the governor couldn’t do this and make the ■ point he was seeking to establish, as he knew Michener’s compensation was many thousand dollars more than Smith's. Ex-Attorney General Smith’s Services. I concede that Mr. Smith was well compensated for his services, but no man, not,' even the governor, has ever charged that Alonzo Greene Smith took a cent from that office that the law did not give him. 1 hold no brief for Mr. Smith, but I cheerfully defend him as a Democratic official und Just as cheerfully bear witness to the great ability be displayed in the discharge of his official duties. He was ever vigilant and watchful in protecting the state's great Interests entrusted to hls care. Indiana has had many able attorney-generals, but she never had one who has served her to a better purpose than Smith. ' In the campaign of 1880 the Democrats took the position that the wealth of the state, especially the corporate wealth, was not bearing its fair part of the expenses and burdens of our state government, and following Its triumph at the polls, it enacted by its legislature of 1801, the tax law, having for its object the equalisation of taxation. No sooner was this law passed than the great corporate Interests of the state, assisted and encouraged by the Republican party, including the present governor, began to plan to render it Ineffectual and ultimately to overthrow it. Under the leadership of Senator Fairbanks the Republicans incorporated In their state platform of 1882 a plank condemning the law, and they never ceased to oppose the law until it was fought through and upheld In all tue courts, including the supreme court of the United States. These tights were with the railroads, the express companies, the telegraph companies, the minks and the Republican party. Smith, ably assisted as he was, led in all these contests on the side of the state. He not only did all this in the case of the tax law of 1881, but he discovered, while in office, that none of the great sleeping car companies hud ever paid a cent of taxes to the state of Indiana. So be prepared the bill that afterward was passed by the Democratic legislature of 1883, over the protest and votes of the Republicans in the legislature, providing for the taxation of these companies. As a result of his labors millions of dollars have gone into the different treasuries of the state from properties not previously bearing their part of our government expenses. And when the governor, in hls Tipton speech, boasted of the work of hls state tax commission, in increasing in 1905 and 1906 the assessed valuation of these properties (29,261,000, he unconsciously boasted of the successful working of the law be voted against in the legislature. But there was something vastly more Important involved in the tight Mr. Smith and his party made to uphold the tax law than the amount taxes were Increased under It. it involved the right of a sovereign state to Increase whatever taxes upon property It might be necessary for the legitimate purposes of government without regard to the wishes of either man or corporation. Fee System and Hanly. We are informed by the governor that hie views concerning the law under which Smith received his compensation "are not new born," und that be opposed it In the general assembly on account of the excessive compensation it provided for the attorney-general. Is this possible in the light of the record? In 1880 the Democratic platform contained this plank: “We favor the total abandonment of the system of fees and perquisites In the payment of state and county officers; ana we demand the enactment of a law by the next legislature fixing fair salaries tor all public officials, the same to go into effect us soon as firact Icable." The next legislature was n 1891 and it was Democratic aud It redeemed that pledge made to the people by passing the general fee and salary law. The passage of this law was opposed in every manner conceivable by the County Officers' association of the state and this association was assisted tn its opposition to the' passage of this measure by J. Frank Hanly, who was then a state senator. And the fact is thut Attorney-General Smith stood with his party for the enactment of this law. which meant a saving to the people all oyer the state, and actually prepared with bls own hand a provlsloq of the law that reduced his compensation on collections forty per cent, below what had been paid Michener for like services. Every one understands, of course, thut the most fruitful source of income iu the attorney-general's office has been on collections. Aud the governor tells us he voted against that law. Then he voted to give Smith a greater compensation than he was asking, aud I submit he is now estopped to Und fault with the legal charges of this Democratic official. Proposed Insurance Legislation. We are told at length by the chief executive of the things he hopes to accomplish, If the Democrats will Join lu voting him u Republican legislature and lu tilling the state house with his partisan friends. The governor has the art of begging as highly developed at the man who turns hls crank or thrusts bls hat under your nose on the street corner. He pledges a great service lu dealiug with the insurance companies in the event the people will give hint a legislature that will do his bidding. He,,seems to want to deal principally with the local companies, aud informs the publib that the foreign companies are not children of Indiana, and that the governor does not bear the same relation to them as he does to the home companies. He admits, however, that their management has beeen as bad as that of the local companies. Now, since the governor is pleading so zealously with Democrats to vote his way, I would suggest to those Democrats, if there are any who are seriously considering gratifying his wishes, that they might get up a little reciprocity scheme with him. The Democratic platform of this year pledges the party to prevent the old line Insurance companies from doing any new business In this state until "a good faithful effort shall be made to recover the money" corruptly given to the Republican national committee for the purpose of debauching the voters of the country. If the governor is earnestly in favor of decency aud (♦an things in public life, be should not do less than to stand with bis Democratic supporters on this plank of their platform. But he will not do It. . He can not afford to. He was one of the beneficiaries of the theft and he has no disposition to iuter. sere to any considerable extent with the way these foreign companies carry on their business, since they are not children of Indiana und he is their beueticlary. Liquor Traffic. But I must not overlook the fact that the governor makes the usual biennial claim of the opposition of hls party to the liquor traffic lyid yet It is notorious that the liquor Influence of this state has for years past almost solidly supported the Republican party. I do not wish to be understood as saying that there are no saloon keepers who vote the Democratic ticket. There are many of them who do that. But I mean that the capitalists In the business—the manufacturers and wholesalers—line up with the Republicans, as a rule. Although It was a Republican legislature that passed the Nicholson law, It Is nevertheless true that Republican officials have Insisted In every Campaign since that they had the bill hung up In the committee on temperance, and that there it would have died If John W. Kern, then a senator, bad not had the bill called from the committee for action upon It. As recent as the last campaign Kern lost thousands of votes because of the part he took In getting the Mil out of the hands of the committee. It would seem from this that the whisky element believed It had more to fear from Kern than from the governor. And If you will stop to think about It, beyond what he says on law enforcement, you cannot tell where the governor stands on the • liquor question in this campaign. Does he favor more stringent legislation on the subject, or is he a standpatter? Let him apeak, if he has the courage. State Institutions. The governor, true to the custom of Republican politics, praises hls party for the nonpartisan management of our state Institutions, and he assures the public that

they shall be kept free from poUtloal control. One not conversant with the facts would conclude from wnat Republican leaders say on the subject that their party alone rescued these institutions from partisan control and placed them under nonpartisan management. The nonpartisan law governing these Institutions was approved by a Democratic governor, and the first nonpartisan boards appointed under it were named by him. At the head of the Central Hospital for the insane at Indianapolis he placed Dr. Edeuharter; over the Deaf and Dumb Institution he Installed Richard O. Johnson; Dr. Smith was given the management of the Institution for the Insane at Richmond, and Dr. Rogers was appointed to a similar position over a similar institution at Logansport. These men are all old-fashioned Jacksonian Democrats, still serving the public iu the positions given them by Governor Claude Matthews, and the credit is due to them more than to anyone else for the humanity, the economy and the improvements in the management of these institutions. So satisfactory has their services beet) that the Republicans, in their maddest moments, have not dared, and they do not dare, to remove them. Building Naw Institutions. When the governor comes to consider what hls party has done tn the way of providing penal and benevolent institutions for the state be finds himself embarrassed for the want of a recora—for the want of something that has been accomplished by his party along that line, and he is obliged to content himself with telling what he hopes his party may do in the future. Fortunately for the state aud the Democratic party, the Democracy of Indiana has a record of works accomplished In behalf of our unfortunates and the state in general to which it proudly points. From 1875 to 1895, during nearly all of which time the legislature aud administrations were Democratic, the following buildings and institutions were constructed: The main buildiug of the Central Hospital tor the Insane, the statehouse, the Northern Hospital for the Insane, the Southern Hospital for the Insane, the Eastern Hospital tor the Insane and the Scuool for FeebleMinded Youth ut Fort Wayne. Besides, Democratic legislatures made necessary appropriations fur numerous additions to other Institutions and Xor erecting additional buildings at the State University, Purdue University, the State Normal School, Soldiers and Sailors' Orphans' Home at Knightstown, for the State Soldiers' Monument, at Indianapolis, and tor the Reform School for Boys aud the state prisons. Don't you think the governor will have so be kept iu office a long time to make a showing that will compare with that? Paying the State Debt. The Republican party ts constantly lauding what It Las done in the payment of the state debt, and yet neither in its platforms nor from the stump has it ever told how it was enabled to make any payments upon this debt. I cannot* at tikis time discuss this subject at length, but I can very briefly show to whom honor is due for the increase lu the debt. The devising of a method for the payment or the debt was first takeu up by the Democratic party in its legislature of 1889, upon the recommendation of Governor Isaac P. Gray, and under an act of that session of the general assembly and under the Democratic tax law of 1891, and the sinking fund act passed by the Democrats In 1893, every dollar tfils beeu' raised that has been applied on this debt by any party up to this good day, except the amount of an old war debt, amounting to (635,859.20, which was paid lu 1902, by the national government to our state and applied on this debt. So you see the debt has diminished aud is being wiped out through methods originated and put in operation through the wisdom and statesmanship of the Democratic party, and the only credit Republican officials deserve in the premises is that they have refrained from stealing aud properly applied the money. For this lam willing to concede they are entitled to great honor in the light of recent disclosures.

Cleaning the State House. What does it cost to keep the statehouse clean under a Republk-nn administration? My question has no reference to the salaries and fees of the officials. It only embraces whitewash and disinfectants. Governor Hanly took hls office In January, 1905, and up to September, 1906, he has paid out of the state treasury for recent Investigations of state offices. Including attorney fees, the following amounts: Out of the governor’s military and civil contingent fund( 5,420.00 Out of the governor's contingent fund for Institutions 5,984.65 Out of the governor's emergency fuud 2J541.85 Out of the escheated estates turn!. TOO. 00 Total (14.340,00 I submit It cost entirely too much to keep Republicans straight In office, and this within itself ought to be a sufficient reason for a change of administration. House Rent and Bipartisan Graft. The attack the governor makes on what he denominates "bipartisan graft," Is eloquently und forcefully stated. He says that "every doubt has been solved against the state and in favor of the official." His words penetrate like arrows in his denunciation of the hateful system he so righteously abhors, and he leaves the impression that under no possible circumstances could he be seduced to join the organization of the bipartisan grafters. But let's judge of him by his record—not by hls eloquence or power of Invective. The law under which he is serving the people provides geneAmsiy for him. It contains this provision: "For the executive department: Regolar salary of governor, (8,000; rent of governor’s residence, (1.800." Eighteen hundred dollars a year for rent is at the rate of (150 a month. He was inaugurated January 8, 1905. and lived in the Claypool Hotel in Janury and February of that year. March, 1905, he drew rent for January, 1905. less nine days. (105. and for February, 1905, (150, and in all (255. He will doubtless welcome the opportunity to explain where it was that he had a house rented during this period. But he draws bls rent at the rate of (150 a month to and Including September, 1906. Then a thought dawns upon- him, and he concluded he nad better write a letter to hls attorney-genera I and get an opinion. He was prompted to wrtte this letter beyond doubt by the peculiar condition of affairs then existing In the statehouse. He had been drawing rent at the rate of (150 a month, but hadn't been paying that amount for a house. Asking Attorney-General’s Opinion. He closed down on Sherrick on September 14, and soon thereafter it became apparent to him that he might be called upon to give an account of how he bad been bandllug funds upon which he was authorized to draw under proper conditions. So Oct. 21, 1995. he begins to get ready to Justify hls conduct and he calls the attention of the legal department to the section of the constitution that provides: “The governor shall, at stated times, receive for hls services a compensation which shall neither be increased nor diminished during the term for which he shall have been elected"; and then he save to the attorney general In a letter, “I desire to be advised by you whether the provision for rent of the governor’s residence is within the meaning of the word 'compensation' contained in the section of the state constitution above referred to." But fearing that the attorney general's opinion might be against him on this question and being exceedingly anxious to appropriate to his own use the whole of the (1,800 set apart by the state for his house rent, he fires another question at the attorney general, nad here it Is: “Is the governor entitled to draw the (1,800 for house rent provided by this appropriation without regard to the amount of rent actually paid for the residence occupied by him? Now. It would seem that it ought to have occurred to Mr. Hanly that If the legislature had Intended that he should have by way of Compensation for his services more than (8,000 annually, It would have said so by Increasing the amount of the stated salary, and the attorney general so informed blm in effect. Mr. Millar’s Reply. But the. legal department of the state comes to the governor’s nelff on hia secend question. I quote from the opinion of the attorney general: ■ "It is a well-known fact that in 1901 the legislature very seriously considered the irectlon and maintenance of an executive I niuloi, and that a bill to that effect waa

introduced in the legislature, and It is rea- I •enable to prose ms that the Increase n ; the amount of house rent was made to sub* serve the purpose of an executive mansion. "This being true, it la my .opinion that this appropriation can be properly used to provide a home in a habitable condition for the chief executive, and this would inefude necessary light, heat and water, as well as repairs, for the comfort •? the chief executive and hls family.” I think it will be generally conceded by the legal profession that Governor Manly’s attorney general has suggested a new canon of statutory Interpretation. What lawyer ever before heard it contended that the interpretation of a law may be determined by or will depend upon the character of a bill Introduced In the legislature on some other subject? Aud who before ever heard It suggested by the-learned or the unlettered lu the law’ that house rent means coal and gas and watet? How many farmers do you suppose there are In Indiana who feel it is their duty to supply their tenants with coal oil? Of course there is no law preventing a landlord from agreeing to furnish his teaant, in connection with ths bouse, gas and coal and other necessities. But he -cannot be compelled to furnish these things unless they are in the contract. Now, If I were going to search for a presumption springing from the introduction of a bill for the construction of an executive mansion, I would say that the attention of the legislature having been called to the needs of an executive mansion and taking no action thereon, but afterward enacting a law giving the governor a specified amount for house rent without any reference to lights and fuel, the presumption would arise that the law-making power did not Intend to provide light ana fuel for him. I submit it would be more reasonable to indulge this presumption than the one suggested by the attorney general: but the truth is, they neither one arose, and no one knew that better than the governor and his legal adviser. Early Lack of Itemized Interest In the legislature of 1897 a Democrat secured the passage of a law providing that when vouchers are presented to the auditor of state for a warrant, they snail be accompanied by Itemized accounts and statements. This is a wholesome law, and Its object is at once apparent, but our governor failed to comply with It the first be was iu office, unless he paid (150 a month for hls house alone and of course he will not claim he did that. There la evidence in the auditor's office showing he pays for hls house alone at the rate of (85 per month, which is but (10 more than onehalf of the amount he bus been drawing. In June, 1900, Mr. Hanly received a warrant drawn on hls house rent fund, for (721.54, aud In this Instance he accompanied his voucher to the auditor with an Itemized statement showing how he expended the money. It will be of interest to you to know how he did It, and here is his showing: For telephones he paid (24; for repairs of his landlord's house be paid (18.45: for gas for light and heat, (81.09: for fuel, (155, and for rent. (425. Now- if the governor believed thut house rent included telephone rent or cnarges, house reflairs, gas and fuel, why did he file hls temized statement? Why didn’t be just write his voucher for house rent? Does anyone doubt how Mr. Hanly would have sddved the doubt had he beeu in the position of Daily aud Henderson in the auditor's office? I believe that upon this showing alone the bl-par*isan grafters could be persuaded to admit the governof and hls legal adviser to their organization. Fails to Publish Receipts. The constitution provides that “an accurate statement of receipts and expenditures of the public money shall be published with the laws of each session of the general assembly.” The purpose of this provision of the organic law la to furnish the people a means of knowing what their state government Is costing them. Thousands of citizens of the state seldom If ever get to the state capltol, where a record of those things Is kept. They therefore have no way of gaining such informa tiou except in the manner provided by the constitution. The acts of the general assembly are distributed in all sections of the state, so that auy citizen may obtain the desired information with but little trouble to himself. Former administrations have yielded obedience to this constitutional mandate. Governor Hanly is at the head of the board of public printing that has charge of the publication of the laws, but he omitted to publish with the acts of 1905 a statement of the receipts and expenditures of the public money. He may make his explanation for this omission, if he has one, but I surmise the people will experience no trouble in reaching their own conclusions for hls failure to perform this duty. It Is costing the people, according to the reported receipts, more than three million dollars a year more to run the state government than It cost under the last Democratic administration, and yet we have Governor Hanly’s word at the time of hie Inauguration that there was a large deficit in the public funds. If it were not that the counties have come to the relief of the administration by makmg enormous ad vances, the state would have to Issue bonds to get money to meet her obligations, and Republican lenders eall this condition of affairs "business management."

Hanly and Taggart. The governor is giving much time in hls speeches to the Democratic chairman. I have not been commissioned to represent Mr. Taggart. In a contest with hls assailant be does not need any defense at my hands. He has always taken care of himself In the past, aud I think it is reasonably certain he will mauuge to do so In the quarrel the governor Is Insisting upon having with him. Mr. Taggart understands that If he has violated the penal laws of his state he will have to mnke hls owu defense unassisted by his party. But I submit the governor Is Insulting the intelligence of Democrats when he asks them to support him In this campaign because of the charges be is making against their national chairman. In view of the fact that up to this time the courts have found for Taggart aud against him. But to break the force of Taggart’s Judicial victory over him, be says to the public: "Taggart won In hls own court, but the state will win in the supreme court.” This is a vicious, anarchistic assault upon the courts of our state. Under the circumstances, it is as much of a condemnation of our supreme court as it is of the Orange circuit court, and Is a part of the vocabulary of the "Red Flag” organization. Honorable Thomas B. Buskirk, who presides over the latter conrt, belongs to one of the old prominent and substantial families of the state. He had served his country well. When a boy he shouldered bls musket aud under the folds of the flag fought for four years to [ireserve the nation, and It has been left for the governor of Indiana to call in question for the first time the high character of hls citizenship and patriotism, for If he Is a corrupt Judge Be has no more patriotism than a grafting governor. On April 30, 1904. at a reception given the governor and that other eminent Republican, Daniel E. Storms, upon their return home ofter their nomination respectively for governor and secretary of state, Mr.’ Hanly, lu addressing hls remarks particularly to the soldiers present, said In a trembling voice: “O, sirs, but for you there would be today no proud republic; but for you there would be no starry emblem of the free, teaching the nation* of the world lessons of civilization, freedom and patriotism; but for you there would be no state of Indiana for me to lie governor of." How hollow and hypocritical these words now sound, when viewed in the light of the treatment Judgll Buskirk is receiving by the man who uttered them. Bryan's Test Applied. Democrats are urged by the chief executive to get themselves in good shape, by voting the Republican ticket this year, to beat hls party In 1908 when he hopes to be its nominee for president. It is never hard to find men who are willing to barter future sacrifices for present victories. The latter always come first. But In order thst the Democrats may have he doubt about It being their duty to vote the Republican ticket, he quotes Mr. Bryan’s statement, tuat “The honesty of the party’s purpose is shown, not merely hy Its platform or the speeches of its candidates and supporters, but by the character of the men who are Intrusted with the party management," and then he pulls a poker chip from hls pocket and asks “if that doesn't Impeach the management of the Democratic party.” Weil, if it does, what is going to become of the governor and his party when the Bryan test is applied to them? Now the goveror will admit, of course, that he is at the head of the management of the Republican party in Indiana, and I charge that the governor’s aversloa to men who won poker chips to new born. It

hasn’t been long since he met, for party consultation in an Orleans bank, the famous Ed Ballard, the gambler of all gamblers in the French Lick valley, and who has made liberal contributions to Republican campaign funds. A few years ago, when our governor was trying to break into the United States senate. Captain Harry New, then the proprietor and editor of the Indianapolis Journal, and now acting chairman of the Republican national committee, said of him In hls paper: “Hls services to hls party do not Justify hls selection. Either of the four gentlemen who oppose him has rendered the party much greater and longer service. Hls claim to being the poor man's candidate is not sustained by the lavish display being made iu hls behalf. Hls political, oratorical and professional attainments are surpassed lu each case bv some one of bis competitors, no one of whom has ever demanded or received financial compensation for whatever he may have given in the way of campaign effort.” According to this picture drawn of Mr. Hanly by Captain New, he was then sailing under false colors and demanding pay for whatever he did toward the success of hls party; and he has never yet changed hls colors. He pretends to be morally shocked over Taggffrt’s poser chips, when it is charged, and be doesn’t deny it, that he is a stockholder in the Columbia club (a corporation), that maintains, runs and operates a saloon, bartering and selling intoxicating liquors every hour of the day. A corporation can not obtain a license to sell whisky, and a stockholder In a corporation that deals In wnlsky is nothing less than a saloon keeper without a license in the background. If Governor Hanly will repair to hls mother's grave hand In hand with Tom Taggart, and there, some night when the voice of nature is hushed and the language of conscience most easily interpreted, compare records with him from their boyhood, I assure him the national charlman will not suffer in the comparison. Gordon's Opinion of Hanly. One of the lending Republican papers in Indiana is the Richmond Da ly item. Its proprietor and editor is Biunett Gordon. a stanch Republican, and a scholarly and cultured gentleman. He Is for law and order. ' In -a long and able editorial on the governor’s Tipton speech, he says: "When the peace and sanctity of the home, and the protection and safety of the fireside was the issue in Richmond a year ago, where did Governor J. Frank Hanly stand? ~ , "He stood for a polluted home. legalized and blackmailed prostitution, and political corruption, and stood there knowingly, defiantly, Insolently, because be had an alliance with the machine of this city.” So I submit that to whatever extent the governor is in charge of the management of his party, his party is utterly discredited under tue Bryan test that the governor adopts for the guidance of Democrats. Let no one deceive himself that Governor Hanly is better than hls party. He is a part of Its machine, and knows of its corrupt operations. He misleads no one. iu referring to certain Democrats as bosses, and will not be able in this way to'have the iniquity of himself and party to pass for virtues. I am speaking advisedly. Judge Roby’a Speech. One of the nominees of the recent Republican state convention Is Judge Frank 8. Roby, flow appellate Judge aud a candidate for re election. Judge Heaton, of Ft. Wayne, was also a candidate before that convention for the nomination of supreme judge, but was defeated. On the Saturday following the state convention Roby, who is an honest man and »n able jurist, made a speech before the Republican district convention at Ft. Wayne, in which he made serums charges against the management of the Republican party in Indiana. Hear a very brief part of what he said: "What I mean is the corrupt lobby representing large interests that spent thousands of dollars within • the last week to work its will in the Republican party in Indiana » » » "These men have the balance of power and it is to those who hold It that I direct my words. “It Is an actual fact, which I know, that every man who has proved derelict In hls duty, has become a thief and a defaulter in Indiana had hrs warrant for the nomination written for him by a corrupt influence at work in the organization of the Republican party. "i say to you. gentlemen of this convention, that the time must pass when Republican state tickets are written iu any other state or by any other control than the people of Indiana. I say to you that the time must end when six men can meet on the eve of a state convention, the day before the balloting, and strike off this man's name and put on that one. as It might suit their master's will. I am talking, gentlemen of this convention, about conditions, not about theories. * * * I say to you that the man who. ns much as any other man, made that slate and left from It the name of your distinguished fellow citizen j Is a resident of the state of Kentucky and a part owner of a Republican newspaper i in this mstrict. "Gentlemen of the convention. Judge I Heaton and myself, in some way, incurred the animosity of these men, who spend corporate money to buy legislation and Influence courts. I had rather ten thousand times be defeated on an Issue of this sort than have been nominated and elected by votes thus obtained."

As to Boss-Ridden Indiana. There is the charge directly made by the nominee of the governors own parly that thousands of dollars were corruptly used to control the Inst Republican state convention. and if I remember correctly Governor Hanly and his friends boasted that that convention was under hls control. It comes of 111 grace, in the light of Judge Roby’s senthing charge, for the governor to talk about the boss-ridden condition of the Democracy of Indiana. Again, applying the Bryan test solely upon the strength of Republican evidence, would the Republican party merit a single vote at the polls this fall? I commend this test to those Republicans who think more of their state than they do of the band of conspirators and traitors who, through the instrumentality of the Republican party, In the language of Judge Roby. T 'wlth corporate money buy legislation and Influence courts." The Democratic party’s record In the management of state affairs In the past is a guarantee of what the people may expect In the future, if they again elect to restore it to power. 1 can not, In the course of one sp<’eeh. discuss all the meritorious things going to mnke up Its claim upon popular favor and at the same time give proper consideration to the venal acts of commission of the party In power. In addition to the creditable thlugs done by the Democracy, to which I have already alluded, the voter should not for?et that the Democratic party has stood or the preservation of our Institutions and for public morals through a pure ballot. It gave to the state the Australian ballot system, over the hostile opposition of the Republican party and has continuously labored to preserve nnd strengthen that law, over the persistent efforts of Republican boodlers In every way possible, to weaken and render It noneffective to the end that voters might be corrupted without the purchaser nnd those buck of him Incurring the risk of prosecution. Democrats and School Book Law. Democracy rescued the state over the opposition of Republicans from the corrupt, heartless and oppressive control of the school book octopus, nnd saved the people more than one-half of What they nad heretofore been paylug for books. Under that law the saving amounted to millions, and to whatever extent the octopus is again controlling the situation and operating In Indiana is directly chargeable to the unholy alliance It has with the Republican party. The heart of Democracy has always beaten in sympathy with the struggling masses. Ours la not only the "white man's” party, t»ut first, tne "poor mnti’a” party. It has always tenderly guarded the Interest of labor. It has to Its credit a long list of laws enacted for the benefit of workingmen. Some of them to which I may direct your' attention are: The eight-hour labor law, the law prohibiting "pluck-me" stores, the repeal of the nefarious Republican Intimidation laws, the law prohibiting the Importation of Pinkertons, the law prohibiting "blackmailing,'’ the miners’ law providing for the proper rentllation of mines and the use of honest weights and screens; the law protecting workingmen In the right to organize for mutual defense, the co-employes' liability law, the mechanics' Hen, law, the law proLtoitlng the forced collection of fees froze

•mployta of railroad corporations to sustain company hospitals and restaurants, ths law guaranteeing the civil righto of all citizens and the law prohibiting the Importation of paupers and aliens under contract into the state who have no purpose of becoming citizens thereof. The conditions and methods of our benevolent and reformatory institutions have been improved by the board of charities’ law, given the state by the Democracy. Under this law our splendid system of charities has attracted wtde attention and is a monument of honor to the party that originated It. -Jne service rendered the state by the

DCTMRjgrir-tiffrty onni'.ea frtp m snppon of the people. They have enjoyed the fruits of Its labor, skill and honor, given for the public welfare without having to endure shame and humiliation while it was Intrusted with power. It pointe to a clean record. ’ No charge has ever been made that a Democrat, while holding a state office, became a felon. The contraet Is shocking and admonishes the Christian citizenship of the state to vote for a change, or administration. See G. E. Hersh man for farm and city loans and fire insurance.