Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1894-10-03

Our distinguished senior senator deFot-
ed a couple of hours before the Demo !
cratic state convention the other day III
telling what his party had promised to do
and had not done, and arguing that there
fore it should be continued in power to
give it a chance to redeem its broken
pledges. 1t is the first time that L ever
heard the theory advanced that party
ought to be trusted in the future because
it had proven false to its promises III the
past.
No. the Democrats of Wisconsin do not
want to discuss national politics; they pro-
pose to make the campaign solely on
state issues The Republicans, while they
will not ignore national questions, the So
buttons of which affect the business, IN
vestmentS and wages of every man, are
yet quite willing and anxious to discuss
state affairs as well.
The Democrats are seeking to establish
the fact that this admlnlStra ton mas
been an economical one, more saving OF
the peoples money than the RepuDllcan
administra tons that preceded it. In the
effort to accomplish this they are reck-
lessly resorting to the most unWarranted
and deceptive methods.
1t is said that 1.-The most dangerous
faIsehood is to tell half the truth" This
is the Democratic plan of discussion. AT
the dictation of Chairman Wall and that
cier the editor of the Milwaukee Jour
nal. both of whom visited Madison for
that purpose, secret conference was
held with the governor, secretary OF state
and state treasurer, at which the tax
levy of 1894 was agreed upon, and
manifesto issued forthwith and distrib-
uted throughout the state. l leave you
to judge of the propriety of allowing
political managers, in secret conferences
with state officers, to have Il voice
in fixing the rates Of taxes for cam
paign purposes. The amount agreed
upon was extremely low, S24O,OOO, or
about One-fOurth the usual levy. 1t is
claimed. and a more false claim was
never made by any party or to any peO-
pie, that this reduction in taxes is the
result of Democratic economy. 1t IS de-
clared with a braZenness of assurance
never surpassed in political desperation,
that the administration, by prudent
management and good business meth
DDS, had accumulated SO much money
in the treasury that it was only neces-
sary to levy about one-fourth the usual
tax Nothing could be further from
the truth [ stand here to say to you,
Mr.. Chairman and gentlemen, and to
the taxpayers of the state, that this
administration has never saved the peO-
pie a single dollar. On the contrary,
the undisputed figures of the public
record show that it has been character
lied by extravaganza and waste rather
than by care and economy. Every de-
partment of the state government, barring
the secretary of states Office, has eX-
pended more money under three years of
! Democratic rule than was ever expended
! by the same departments under three
years of Republican rule. All Of the state
| penal and charitable institutions, such as
the hospitals for the insane, the schools
| for the deaf and blind, ETC., have cost
| Nnmncpatin fhpU
cost under Republican rule. The mem
| bers of the board OF control and regents
| of normal schools and other officers have
been allowed larger expense accounts
| under Democratic than under Repub-
| lican rule. 1t has been the same story
| everywhere, in every branch of the state
| government
Now, before [ present to you the Off
cial figures of expenses incurred respect
lively by the Republican and Democratic
administrations to substantiate the state
ments which have made, / wish to call
attention to the unfairness and matbemat-
zeal jugglery employed by the Democrats
| to deceive the people. In the first place
| they compare the state tax levy of this
year, when owing to a large and unusual
| income there is q great amount of money
on hand and so only a small tax is re-
quired, with the tax levy of 1890, when
there was no money on hand, and the
usual tax levy was necessary. This is
simple trickery. If they were disposed
to be honest they would have compared
the taxes of the four years of Democratic
rule with the last four years Of Repub-
! lican rule.
This comparison they make is a very
transparent fraud. But the most mon
| strous effrontery is the pretensiOn that
the money in the treasury has accumulate
ed there as the result of Democratic econ
omy 1t has come, not a dollar of it from
| reducing expenses, bat from an eXtraor-
binary income. The Democrats have
not, by exercising economy, paid out less
| money than did the Republicans, but
from unusual sources they have received
more. This extra money came from the
ex-treasurers, 1927 .902.55: the refund
| ing of the direct war tax, 500, 1870; the
interest on deposits, $40, 644.7S; and in
creased receipts from the railroads and
other corporations, $4,000. The total
of these unusual amounts received in the
| last two years is largely in excess of the
money now IN the treasury, Sl42,3l0.OO
Had not these extra amounts been re
ceiVed, the tax levy for this year would
have been fully up to the average for the
past three years of Democratic control
and much larger than the average under
the last years of Republican rule.
The Democrats are not entitled to any
credit for this unusual income, except fol
that received from the eX-treasurers Bu