Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1890-05-15
Especial Dispatch to the EnquIrer.I

Especial Dispatch 70 the Enquirer.J
e. COLUMBUS, o., April Ex-Governor
Campbell is in an unusually happy
frame of mind over some of the
good things done by the Legislature
and the record it has made on which to
60 before the people. Now that the as
sembly has adjourned, for there re-
mains but half days session, it must
be conceded that the boys have been
a.little tempestuous and lively at,times,
but their hearts have been good, and
they have not been the instruments
through which vicious and unwhole-
some laws have been foisted on the peo-
pie.
The cry that home rule has been
killed is most readily disposed of by the
Governor, who in an interview with
The Enquirer correspondent this after
noon, which is appended, shows con-
clusively that in nearly all instances
the right Of local self-government has
been absolutely restored, and that the
Governor, in conformity to the pledge
of the campaign. has been entirely
shorn of power as far as intermeddling
in the affairs of our cities is concerned.
1t is also worthy of note that in the dy-
ing hours Of the session the utmost
good-feeling prevails between the Gov
ernor and Legislature. 2
THE MOST AMIABLE RELATIONS EXIST
Between the Chief Executive and every
Democratic Senator aud Representa-
tive. tits true, some of the boys have
been sore at times because they could
not get all the appointments they want
ed, or because some were made they
did not like, but when they stopped to
think that the Governor had eighty
eight counties to please, ard has bad to
listen patiently to stories of thousands,
they have repented and wondered how
he was able to pull through it all and
maintain his own equilibrium. AS one
Representative who has been little
disgruntled, remarked to-day: "Jim
Campbell is devilish good fellow after
all." yTt:, :t-
Governor Campbell received The En-
qIirer pleasantly this afternoon, and
when he got started on the sensible
things this much reviled Legislature
had done, he seemed surprised himself
at the length of time 1t took to tell 1t
all. ,st.k II ~ lG.4f. IL 4 ..l
."Upon the whole, what do you think
of the record made by the last General
Assembly?" ..-. =,
"While there are some things, as in
all cases, little disappointing to my
self, and possibly to the public, the
General Assembly which has just ad-
journed has in the main made remark
ably good record. It's legislation has
been notably in the interests of the peo-
pie, the farming and labOring classes in
particular. 1t has also
b. DIvEsTED THE GOVERNOR
OF the extraordinary power with which
he was clothed by the last General AS
sembly. 1t has restored to the seven
teen great cities of Ohio non-interfer-
ence in their elections. No officer of
any Board of Elections will be appoint
ed by the Governor after the 1st of next
July. The Mayors of the cities will ap.
point the Boards and they themselves
will appoint their Secretaries. 1 con.
slider that this legislation alone entities
the present General Assembly to the
credit of being one of the best bodies
that ever assembled in Ohio. No more
dangerous power could be lodged in any
hands than the concentrated right to
appoint the seventeen Election Boards
which was vested in the Governor until
the Hysell bill passed to-day. .....
"This General Assembly has also en-.
acted other laws in the interest of local
self-government which entities it TO the
lasting gratitude of the people in Gin
cinnati. The late
BOARD OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS,
Which became so unpopular, extrava.
CANT. and inefficient, but which, much
worse yet, could not be reached by the
people at the elections, was legislated
out, and the Board of Public Improve
ments, every member of which will an
swer to the people of Cincinnati for his
stewardship, was substituted in its
place. This is the very essence of home
rule. q
"From the city of Hamilton; over
which worthless Board of Public At
fairs, appointed by the Governor, held
despotic sway, an incubus has been re-
moved entirely, and as yet no citizen
has been heard to mourn. In this case
no other Board was substituted, but the
right to appoint the Police and Fire
Departments, etc.. was restored to a
Mayor chosen by the people. Tt is true
that some of the cities of the State, at
the earnest request of the people, were
made the beneficiaries of legislation
which has enormously been classed as
ripper legislation.
1.-THE word ripper was invented dur
ing the last General Assembly as the
name for such bills as those which
placed the city of Hamilton and others
under the control of the Governor. In
every instance where any change has
been made by the present General AS
sembly in the government of any city
In the State it has been to return or to
restore to the people or to officers elect
ed solely by the people of those cities
the powers of self-government. This
was so in Columbus and Dayton, while
in Springfield the so-called ripper was
simply to prevent the City Council of
that city from villainously gerryman-
dering the division of that city into
wards for partisan purposes. In each
of these cities the people at the April
election overwhelmingly endorsed the
changes thus made. The only Board
remaining in the city of Cincinnati
which is appointed by the Governor is
THE NoN-PARTIzAN POLICE BOARD,
And I have no doubt that the next ses-
sion of the General Assembly some sat-
isfactory arrangement will be arrived