Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 22, Number 4, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 2 October 1900 — Evidence of Incompetency. [ARTICLE]

Evidence of Incompetency.

Evidence of Democratic incompetency in public affairs is furnished in large quantities by the Indianapolis administration, at whose head is Tom Taggart as mayor and John W. Kern as city attorney. The latter is the machine-made candidate for governor of Indiana, and the people are entitled to know what he has been doing in a public place. It has been by the advice and with the consent of Kern that the Indianapolis treasury has been emptied, that SOBO,OOO worth of bonds have been issued and that now it is necessary to borrow money from month to month to meet current expenses. Every reckless and extravagant expenditure has resulted from schemes having the indorsement of Kern, and the law has not been infrequently so construed as to promote the raids upon the public funds. Having thoroughly depleted the city’s cash receipts, the purpose of the Indianapolis Tammany is to extend its operations to state affairs. Every form of consistency suggests that the people j should contrast the Republican man- * agement of state affairs with the Democratic wrecking of the capital city. The state administration, by careful management and judicious expenditures, has been able to make vast improvement in benevolent and penal properties without borrowing a dollar. There has been no issuance of bonds for any purpose and every bill for current expenses is met promptly. But more than this, since the Republicans have been in charge of state affairs they have paid off $3,940,000 of state indebtedness. Within the past two years there has been paid $095,000 on. old bonds not due for 10 years, on which the interest saving alone has been $230,450. These are facts which appeal to the judgment of the people", . and it is knowledge of this that has caused the Democratic organization to attempt in some manner to mitigate the charge of recklessness in Indianapolis.