Jasper County Democrat, Volume 11, Number 39, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 October 1908 — VOX POPULI NOT VOX MANLY, WATSON AND THE REPUBLICAN MACHINE [ARTICLE]

VOX POPULI NOT VOX MANLY, WATSON AND THE REPUBLICAN MACHINE

After sitting thirteen day—or rather an average of less than an hour a day for thirteen days—Governor Han)y*s unnecessary, costly and partisan special session of the legislature managed to come to an end. The new appropriations made for legislation and institutional expenses amounted to nearly 190,000. The old appropriations which the governor was afraid would lapse—amounting to 1869,000 — were re-appropriated. As the six special elections to fill vacancies had cost 130,000, the taxpayers can figure an outlay of >IIO,OOO of money, not count* Ing the large re-appropriations. Aside from the money end of it, what was doneT A county local option bill was passed. The people were considering whether they should vote for county option or township option. But that made no difference. Governor Hanly and the Republican politicians, who distrusted each other, also distrusted the voters, and so they took the matter out of their hands. It is now admitted that the sole purpose of the extra session was to do this thing, with the hope that the Republican temperance people might be placated and the Republican party be beneflted. Having done it after much travail and agony, and having done it in such a way as to seriously jeopardize

I the existing effective remonstrance laws, the Republican politicians, according to gll reports, have again hoisted a bucket of water upon one shoulder and a keg of booze upon the other and have resumed their frauduj lent campaign—appealing for temperance votes in one locality and whisky votes in another. In the meantime the Democratic ; party stands now just where it has stood "bi nee, the 26th day of last March. :It favors local option. If the people 1 want the kind of local option that the , special session of the legislature gave 1 them without awaiting their instructions —the kind that endangers the Moore and Nicholson laws, perhaps destroys them—the result of the‘ballot- , Ing in November will tell. Vox populi . may not always be Vox Dei, but the Democratic party yields to it when it has been freely expressed. But the voice of Hanly, Watson and the Republican machine is neither vox populi nor vox Dei. The people will speak in their own voice at the appointed time. And now to the issues of the campaign. the issues which the Republl- ‘ can candidates and managers have dodged and evaded for months. They ! can no longer hide the rotten record of their party, its faithlessness and greed, its unholy alliances, its exces- . sive taxation, its squandering of the 1 public funds, its sham pretenses of reform, its crooked dealings with dis- ' credited interests and its treasonable . parversion of the government to the 1 special use and behoof of the criminal trusts and monopolies. Let the ' people resolve to rule and cinch that resolution on November 3rd.