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About La Grande evening observer. (La Grande, Or.) 1904-1959 | View Entire Issue (June 12, 1911)
LA GRANDE EVENING OBSERVER; MONDAY, JUNE 12, 1911. PAGE 3 Have ycii seen Norih2nd Stteet4iiz. Riverside. Ad dition during the past H; ? , . Th strfiiifrrftdft has been established and the concrete nrblng Js in place. Even fctitnis early period pt the work jyott will be able to'eee whaVa fine street this wilt be.' Tt '-"" 'requires no imagination to realize that in two years your " r. ; investment ere will double In value. t ; ' - f , THEREFORE BUY'AT THE PRESENT LOW PRIC-y "eS'LOTS NOW ONLY75.00 TO $200.00 EACH. VERY . EASY TERMS. . l i v .. firii ' ltll tVr J 1107 Adams Avenue. William Miller a pro., phone, main . HI GOVERNCIlJUDSON ARMONliOHIO5 'By : A; V. AWRflE THV ; partisan laws for the benefit of entire people. Irrespective of political parties, and designed to make rale by Interest seeking corporations extreme ly difficult and.xule by.ihe people easy. After lie became governor two years ago Mrv Harmon quietly began pia In vestigation of the' methods by which public , money qnd been; loaned by Re publican 'state treasurers. Be learned they"1 put Interest, earulngs-ln their pockets.. .Thirpl followed In rapid order sfdiManliii thes, estate and bondsmen uivr. for $11(1.785 andtnfefest thereon; against former State" Treasurer L B. Cameron and his bondsmen for $211,- I3i Niid Interest thereon, They, were 'Repuhflkuus.; f Another graft tnvestJ- gatiou ttntugQt - rortb tbe exposure, prosecution and conviction 4 of Mark Slater, former Republican state print-, er. on graft charges In lesser degrees; the settlement of an Interest claim of over $5,700 on funds carried In the bank fuf JTbrtner Republican State Au ditor waitof' D.Gollbert and the filing of a claim forever $31.000 4wjth the re ceiver oty ef unci bank, at Columbus as an Interest charge on fuD&a carried In that bank by Mr. Gullbert as au ditor. p . These reveradbhi' jfluring Jtfce gover nor's first term awakened- the civic conscience and Jbaved jrbe Wajr for bis tftjjjquent re-election, The Democrats captured tbie genera'!. assembly at the same time. . . ,:. -c ., - Then Governor Harmon renewed his efforts in behalf of certain bills two Republican general assemblies denied positions sua wgeriy sought after, had been used as a sort of currency to pur chase nominations and to repay the boys who had delivered; votes la Con tentions. The trustees appointed su perintendents and - all subordinates, and these combined : to furnish the dynamic power for the steam roller which the late Mark Hanna and Boss George B. Cox nsed to crush the life out of rebellions against the rale of the' G. O. P. machine. I Governor Harmon s Idea was that "the establishments which a Christian state maintains for charity are sacred and that every selfish purpose should perish at their doors. ' . t If Acting on this principle, the governor framed and forced through the general assembly a bill placing all employees of the Institutions ranking below su perlntendent under civil semes rules. The nineteen -separate board of trus tees and .nineteen stewards nnder this law wer legislated out' of office, and the duties of the. fifty -eeven trustees .OL:n.&I B bS J O.-fSneolaL I - F . . rxri .i i ,i nueu lut onoery - cuurnen against members of the Ohio . general assembly exploded. yyUb tae suddnnes? and torce of a fiomb and sent ikiores on a Jliint for lawf efs Governor J udson Qiirui(n took thijjf same view or tne peroonauty or guui that be did when he reported to I'res (dent Roosevelt tbnt Paul Modern, a tUfembfr of bis cabinet, bad beeu guilty of grunting rebates while auomcer of, the Banta Ke railroad. "Guilt Is always jwrsonal." sold Harmon - to Roosevelt, and he resigned bis coin mlsstuu to Investigate rebating . be cause , Teddy was inclined to shield alorton. A few hours after the bribery charges were filed the Ohio executive sent out ao-erder that no man should be spared In the legislative boodling Investiga tion. t Party and eveu personal,,,. friend ships must be set.eside, t be ".governor said, and the entire slruatloii Cleaned np. Throughout nineteen years of con tlDj&m contror Republican state,; ad miiatratlns,fw;hen' charpeH of .Irreg nlat;ittes jwere'miidt'Juyolylng members oryrtielr party . umunifdi the nttltuae. prompti '4.ifl il.V.s'.ftf;.-'; munlty . batitiuu - ana .prevuted.any one bathing in Its mim.OiIiiu waters by Insisting that uo legwintlve investigat ing coSnmiuVe 'be appiiiiiid and that' the luiri of thf grand jury be the only prim, . ; i " ludiftiiii'Uts were rfiumed fjfalnsd s.'ven nifiiiiiers oi me general assem bly and the sergeant at-arms ot the seflatej,; and ihesjW y-ases Jsliy tiKethe sanie course as SU4i oJ( he uitM)ijin ble citizen who becomes mvonreil in ciimluai charges f'A coterie of pemo crate who bud been, fighting the gov ernor's bills were amoug the members indicted In less than three years ot bis ad ministration Governor:. Harmon has made a record ot accomplishment Un paralleled in the history of Ohio poll tics. He has wrought more progress for the people than was accomplished in the forty years that, preceded blm. There has been written into the stat utes legislation that the enlightened citizens bad been demanding and plead lng for In vain tor decade. ' The supremely important achieve ments of the Ohio Democracy under 1 i 1 ' The moat notable achievement ac complished by the executive during the legislative session was the enactment of the Wyman bill. Including the Ore gon vplan of nominating and electing! United states senaiorjv , n , , A conference committee was appoint ed to frame a" compromise aenatorial nomination and election bllL HI would vote 'f qiC jfT. Reput)Uchnl for I United States senator if the. people by,.. their votes declared for a Republican," the governor told this ' committee dur- I the 'conference. . "1 y.iuldt 'be M were placed In a single board of four, ' x i I t 1 J I :r-4 $ oovxaaoB habmor catch ks fish as will . . . AA VOTES. prfod to do It. 1 would tfciig the will of the people the leadership of Goveruor Harmon Thv! are 6ur thleVes. lnd we fmust may be divided Into transactions and defrtd. them",Jhere Is a'o' Ohift stat- legbITOo'n., first. tor!shei elimination ite wnicn gran which- grant itnninnitv . to-pverr of. 3: jtiiTohd, sucjr ?iform In th V " i -It IK- ' .: : HON. JUDSON HARMON, GOVERNOR one who jestifles' before a legislative tax system as will protecCjthe tax committee, and this law. together with payer from the tax spender and will whitewash brush, bad prevented any compel corporations u stop' dodging Republican law violator ' from being taxes and pay along with' ' all 4 Indl haled before a court of Justice. .. . . rldual property owners; third, the ap Naturally there, was a great yusb by plication or business methods and distraught'-' members I for legislative economy In pobllc exwLdltures. and, flnfm'uhlty Bm( I Goy?fn3r iiarmouv fourth, the enactment bf purely non- njplw be ,tOne of 4hemmlttee suggeitfed tlT Oregon plan was undemocratic. The executive replied, rjt's the very essence of De m6cracy to put the gverument back into the tiands of the people and let them say whom they want for United States senator." T'" '-'r- -'' : Governor Harmon took a hew tack and had a similar measure offered In the house, the Wyman bill. That body passed It and sent It to the sen ate, where the governor finally got sufficient Republican votes to save it Ohloans had demonstrations recent ly that their Judiciary, one of the most sacred institutions of a free govern mpnt. had been Invaded byt)arty boss es In their Inordinate thirst for power Instead of being places where the reo pie could turn to Invoke the penalties of the criminal statutes on those who had offended certain, courts were be ing used,' In cases where men of vat political power were concerned, to shield violators from the vengeance ot the law. : But-the general assembly1 took a long step forward from boss domination of the courts by enacting a bill provid lng In the future that all Ohio Judges, from the dignified gowned Justices of the supreme conrf down to the humble laymen who sit as 'Justices of the peace, shall be elected on tickets ab solutely free from party emblem or device. Nominations may be made by conventions, but the power of bosses to control nominations was. broken by a clause in the; bill which says that nominations may be made by petl tlons. There Is not another such law In the United States Ohio has been hampered by the crude, unwieldy machinery of a con stltutlon which was adopted In 1831, and the subject of making a new or ganle law Is the biggest and most lm porta nt proposition that has come be fore a Buckeye general assembly In many years. Selfish bands were being outstretched to get control of Hbe con stltutlonal convention to be held In 1912. when Governor Harmoii took charge of the arrangements for It and succeeded In getting through the gen era! assembly a bill which will remove the delegates from political Influence and make them responsible to the peo ple only. . Ro. well did he manage. th? campaign that Ohio will set a prece dent for all other states to follow when they come to rewrite their organic laws Nominations, of delegates wll be made by petition only, and nominees will be elected on ballots absolutely free from party device or emblem or any form of party designation. The liquor question, which baa been a sore spot In Ohio for sixty years, will be finally settled when the new constitu tion Is adopted. The state when Governor Harmon grasped the reins of government bad nineteen penal, reformatory and benev olent institutions, with the responsibil ity of governing them divided among nineteen separate boards of trustees, three members to board. They were so conducted a to secure neither econ omy nor best results. These trusteeships, all honorable from $3,400 to $1,500 and are graded on the scale of wages paid employees.' The taxing laws of the state were a Joke when ilr. Harmon was Inducted into office and the taxpayers had no means to . check extravagance of their public officers. These men decid ed on the amount ot money they were ' going to pehrm a year and then made a levy to produce that amount. Taxpayers could do nothing but pay. "The authority which demands must be curbed.'! said the executive in a message to the general assembly. That body obeyed and passed the Smith bill which limited the maximum tax rate that could oe levied by public officer in each district' to 1 per cent of tax duplicates. That was sufficient, the governor held, for an economical ad ministration, if more money were needed there was Incorporated In the Smith bill a provision for a refer dum vote on a higher rae. There' were a large Dumber ot taxing boards composed of various state offi cers with Jurisdiction over excise and other corporate taxation, but dlffereut boards were made op of different offi cers so that there could be no uniform and -consistent action. Auditors In eighty-eight Ohio counties bad nearly eighty-eight different rules of apprais ing property, with the result that no one got a square deal. . v Governor Harmon had a bill drafted to abolish all these boards end to place the entire taxing . machinery of the commonwealth In the hands of a sin gle ,-jptate . commission , or . three mem bera.' Other new" tax iaa'; ;inake "if possible to. chase out of hiding millions of dollars of property ami aio screngiii- en and broaden' the Inquisitorial pow ers of the state tax commission, . , Oblpana expected - big things from Judson Harmon when they elected blm their governor. The achievements of the Democratic general assembly sb6w the expectations of 'the people hate been realized.- He bad been a leading attorney for years, but a search of bis record disclosed Harmon, while be bad corporations among his clients, bad never given bis talents to appear In a court, suit against the people. As an attorney general of the United States he had proved to be a friend of the '. people, fighting through court eases which established the foundation of all Jurisprudence on the anti-trust sub ject In private life be was recognized . as one of the ablest lawyers In Ohio! " j In February, 1910, ten months before Ibe state election In -Ohio, when 'judsoo Harmon would go, before the people for re-election, Ohio Republicans by or fler or President Taft held a harmony I meeting In Dayton. The Republicans ' at Dayton did not talk of helping Pres i tdent Taft or of restoring the Repub lican party: they talked about the chance of defeating Governor Harmon, : and they did not talk hopefully. Do consciously they paid a patent tribute 'to the real strength of the man. It ! suddenly revealed the tremendous suc cess of Governor Harmon and his com- 'I while a single fiscal agen$ replaced the nineteen stewards. . . , The advantage of purchasing sup plies for all Institutions in bulk and the reduction la employees will save the stute $."00,000 a year. . This law makes It possible to utilize the work of prisoners and also creates a market for their manufactured products by compelling all Ohio political divisions to purchase such supplies as they neetXrom the penal Instltutlnua.. ( Emplojers imd employees locked In a struggle over a Workingmen's com pensatioft:T!ct. and wUen It seemed there would be no bill passed Gov ernor Harmon stepped in and acted as arbitrator r ?A bill was framed and drafted that has been approved ; by both employees and employers. j The comnulsorv ttruvlsions which made :the New York act uucoustitu ! 1 Pete niustery or the political situation tlonal were not Incorporated Into the! , h Ohio- The, plan or. opposition out- of a market ror prlsoo manufactured J j goods and the concentration of autbor jlty oVter -nineteen state Institutions la.! expectedto add. .another $500.000 to the state reyeuuea. .TUus' was the sit- nation met and the state restored to a 1 sound financial basis .without any ad ditlonal burdens belug Imposed on the people who are least able to be further taxed. Voters Ilk to support clean and able men, as has been demonstrated in . many locality where the electors dis played remarkable discrimination in honoring exceptional men with an ex ceptional vote. This explains why In a strongly ' Republican ' state' ' Judson Harmon was elected governor, of Ohio two jeara ago by a plurality of 19,372 In the face of a Republican plurality of J39.591 in the vote for president On bl8 recor4 as governor of the state Judson. Harmon was prepared to, go before 'the' people and ask re-electlda,' With" precedent against,, blow, the election machinery against him,- wita the president or the United States, a clttzeu-ot thd same state, fighting him for flection and Iff theface of a strong Republican sentiment ' fo coi3 bau' JjQVernor , Harmon- -nevertheless was given, a majority .of Jdi.000; : . I Ohio -"repudiated - her .favorite aon," WlUlmtf' at Taft. JtfefddebtrftC fhei United- States. Governor', UarnwnJ won the Mtests,Dem,ocratlc:"'Vktorj Ja the tiUyjfj of;t)hlo: or of thf mid- ,tile went. - It was a crushing blow- to the president There ore some things In Ohio more popular than' the taft smile.1 1)ne of them la the Hon. 'Judson Harmon. who wIU' countenance no trtlia and wu7 vu yumi MK,'it a .vim -wtu. that .occupies the, center of the gov-. ernor's reception room and chats with visitors.. ."Common as an old .iuoe: is the way Ohio. farmers alze up'tbelr governor after they see blm 'perched on that ubie,L swinglug bis feet; and V XT., i ' - ...-.. . ". I .... , hear, him talk straight from the shoul der. " ' .i1' ,;: M,i''f;!! ii. :;r When be was attorney general be ar gued many cases before the supreme ctfort argned them wellso well, that be earned many deserving compliments froiu beucu and , bat. ; Ainoug -.tlietn. and perhaps tlie, most 'noted.-Was fnut of the. United States against the Trans missourl Krelght association, It was theJlrst Jest us to the etficlenoy of the Sherman anti-trust law'wheira'pplled tcaareyent illegal combination of railroads, Mr. Harmon won," and the combination went by the toards, (Of a similar character were the suits against the Freight Traffic association and tb4 Addystoa Plpfif company. Gar mnrwrn aiipraafiil In inthi art A thnm was, established the law as It stands Ohio act Instead the employer could elect either to pay Into the oompensa ; tlon fund or not to pay. If be should not avail himself of the law.- however, the employee may sue for damages for Injuries, or, his legal representative in case of death may maintain the action. And in such suits the employer la de prived of the common law defenses of lined In Dayton has never ceased. ,No governor has ever been opposed by so strong a force as Goveruor Harmon. During his first term of two years a Republican general assembly to dis credit him reduced the treasury bal ance $2,052,858.03 by making appropri ations exceed revenues and also creat ed obligations amounting to $2,000,000 C2. )WMe.x-:tTvf--w 1 i . V1 ,4 i i ( v t jit, - o . 1'' ' " la ; t 1 GOVERNOR AND MRS. HARMON -"WITH TWO OF THEIR GRAND- ....... 1 . CHILDREN. fellow servant rule, nssumed risk ai ' coDtributory n"gilg'nce. The employee caunot resort to tile courts for dnninges when Injured in the factory of a corporation! whkb pays into the state compensation fund excepr when die injury Is eaused by 1 la- llsngnrU if n luw. ordiniune or ntflei Issued by nn .uuilnirl7.ed puhlic .HIT prnvl'llng Tor the pr"tecft"H if employed nt by the willful .wrong of 1111 enij'ioyei. Ins ntHrer or agents ' ' The euiioer -iiiiirilMites SMI per cent of the i4iiipeiisntiiir fund and the em jjiKjeer. U, tt cent. Awards rauge more by deciding to build new struc tures for state Institutions. When the revenues were reduced $500,000 a year by voting put saloons and several hun dred thodtabds of dollar! 'were added to toe wrong column by the abolish ment of prison labor contracts Har mon's arms were apparently tied, and his enemies laughed at his discomfort The governor promptly reduced public expenditures. Then, instead of a gen eral levy, the proper enforcement ot the excise laws provided $500,000 addi tional every year. The establishment le ou I a nmi' deuces In t$4 careers ol Governor Bar mon ana iTesiuenr iarc -Ajways uar-is mon has followed Taft or Taft hast' as Judge In Ohio, and Taft took hla place. Then Mr. Taft became solicitor general of the United States. . Harmon -11 kM fc LI 1.1 luuvneu uiui iu m ubulu,i.uu no q cuui net member. Will he follow Taft Washington again? t' C.tw nnrninn warn hftra In' Maw town, Hamilton county, o.; Feb. a, 1846, and he therefore Is In his sixty fifth year. One not acquainted wttt) this fact wou'- take blm to be no morM Jb&a fifty-five. He is Just as vigorous bs a man of muny years, under' fifty;' live and as fond of sports and of the put of doors as. a schoolboy. He ride? jrlth the grace of a regular army cafli alryman, plays golf, competes with the crack rifle shots of the (). N. G. annuafi Dr. und makes good scores, goes lllcblgan every summer for bis vac ilou and fishes and fishes, and be Is vaseball fan of the species tnntjecoruM pach play made during a game score card. ' ' 1 . He was for years pitcher In Composed of business men Who mtm every Saturday afternoon out In tli euburbs of the Queen City to try did taond conclusions with teams from iMher localities. Judsou Hariuou oeii er missed a game while' be' was in town.' He' would go to the "ba ft' field; shed his coat and collar and wade in and pitch ' nine straight innings with all the vigor of a big leaguer. J Mr.. Harmon's father was a Baptist minister, and from him be received bft .early. education. la (SO? be graduated from ' the Baptlstl college at Denlson. licking county; and in 1892 the scboql honored blm with the degree of LL. O. He attended the Cincinnati Law school and graduated in 1809. Mr. Harmon's Idea of what Democ racy should du can be summed up n the closing " words of an lntervleer which he gave, as follows: $ "I take It that the .true platform cf the Democracy la the preservation o the utmost of tne rights of the com mon man the man who has not might or wealth to twist the current ft events to suit himself, to observe o the strictest possible degree the limits of authority Imposed by the constiui- tlon, to administer tlft government eco nomically and In doing (hat to let only the amount of 'ttttes, direct r through a tariff, which will meet ta -expenses of the government t "Am I a believer In the Income taxV said the' governor in response to a quSV tlon. "Most assuredly," be continued. Without such a tax the expenses ft (Continued on pag 6.) ... -' " 1