The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1884-08-16

workincmen, backed by solid democranc
press of the state, insisted that the over
whelming expression of the people, rs pro,
noupced through the ballot box, was to all
intent and purposes just as binding and final
os If given for an amendment to the constitu-
ton.
Public sentiment, however, became 80
strong by the time the legislature met-Jah-
uary lst lss4-tha, the republican majority
found themselves unable TO Withstand the
pressure, and il was with the greatest reiuc-
lance that they finally passed the "oom-
stock" bill abolishing the contract systems
in the state prisons.
The bill went TO the Governor for hls sig
nature but, before attaching the same, he
nave the measure that scrupulGus examina-
lion il has always been his habit to give all
legislation and discovered what to his mind
was a fatal error. lie at once sent for the
Attorney General and myself and to the for
mcr he said:
"Nr. O. Rrien, can the term state prisons
he construed. under the laws Of the state, rs
appving to the County Penitentiaries and
Houses Of Refuge
The Attorney. General at once replied:
y
inc clearly county institutions, supported by
the taxpayers Of the county in which they
are located and under the sole management
Of the board Of County Supervisors,
The Governor then asked me "What pro-
portion Of all the convict contract labor IN
the state having made an investigation
of the subject in lSS3--"was performed in
the pententiares and two Houses Of Re
fuge?"
"Fully one-half,' replied.
AS thought continued the Governor,
"this bill is a subterfuge and cheat 1t
don't accomplish what it purports tot a
fraud on the wOrkngmen in It's present
shape! They must recall the bill and amend
il by inserting the words and county peni
teniaries.
Here was a grand opportunity for the
Governor to make n great point for himself .
| happen to know that he was strongly urged
by many of the leading men of his party to
veto the bill aud in "A ringing message to
arraign the republican majority for their at
tempt to cheat and defraud the laboring
classes
But no. True to his instincts for honest
fair dealing and abhorrng anything that, in
the slightest, smacked of demagoglsm, he
refused to follow the advice of these party
leaders and adhered to his determination
to force the republican majority to recall the
bill for amendment The bill was recalled,
amended as he suggested, repassed, returned
to him and he signed il within an hour after
its receval.
For his prompt and courageous action in
IL: L.. Of n
mems Trade Assembly of the State, accom-
panied by several Of the most prominent
representatives of the organization, called
upon the Governor and thanked him for the
same.
5th.-.He slgned promptly the bill forbid
ding the employment of children on contract
work in the reformatories. This bill was
vetoed by Gov. Cornell, his republican pre-
decessor in Office.
9th. He signed the bill making the labor
er and mechanic preferred creditors in all
cases Of assignments of persons, firms, cor
porations or banks, 10 the full amount of
their claims. This bill, as any one can read
iy see, is one of the most important ever
passed, and secures to the workingmen
greater benefits than ever before bestowed
by any one single measure.
7th.-He signed bill creating a commits
sion to investigate the different prison sys-
tens and to provide n substitute for the con
tract system, appointing as one of the mem
bers of that board, Walter NJ. Thayer, Presi-
dent of the Workingmen's Trades Assembly
OF the state.
BY the provisions of this bill the commits
sion were given until March LIST, 1884, to
report, but the delay in passing the measure
rendered such a report physical impossi-
bility and the commissioners asked for an
extension of time The republican majority
then offered bill making the date February
lSS5-in other words, putting il off to a
time 50 remote rs to carry il over the presi-
dental election.
But in this they were in part thwarted, AZ
the democratic minority offered bill in both
houses simultaneously, extending the time
to May lst 1884, and obliging the commits
sion to report some system, either than the
contract This bill they called up almost
daily through the remaining weeks of the
session and compelled their republican
friends to 90 on record against go fair, so
honest and so practical a measure!
That the republican ma ority never in
tended to obey the voice of the workingmen
and the people in general is too clear to need
any explanation. They attempted to cheat
and defraud the laboring classes through the
Comstock bill as originally passed; they re-
tused to pass n commission bill to provide a
system other than the contract and AS the re-
suit of their action, as fast as the present
contracts expire, our convicts both in pris
Dns and penitentiaries, will be kept in idle
ness and become u source Of great burden
On the taxpayers of the state.
If anything further was required t dem
Dnstrate the fact that the republican party !
attempted and meant to deceive and detraud
The workingmen, it is found in the remarks
of Senator Gilbert while discussing the com
mission bill when he deliberately proclaimed
hat 'conuict contract tabor had nat besn aJoi-
shed through the enactment Of the Comstock bill
and therefore, he was in favor of giving the
the liberty to report the contract
system, if in their judgment they thought it
the best" And yet in the face of this declar-
alton, the republican state convention of
New York elected Senator Gilbert as one of
the four delegates at large to its National
Convention,
And right here let me state these further