El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1896-12-12

OF Michigan, will be watched more
closely during the next two years than
that OF any other state executive. Ills
career in the mayoralty of Detroit, to
which office he has been elected four
times, and the schemes he has set or
| foot and the reforms he has tried to
| carry out have arrested the attention
OF the whole country. The best known
of these schemes are the plan to permit
| the worthy poor to cultivate vacant
| lots, plan which has met with graft
| tying success and then adopted by other
cities, and his fight with the street
railroad companies of Detroit for
a three cent car fare. The schemes
have attracted the attention Of the
whole country and naturally created
an interest in what Mr.. Pingree may
do now that he has been given
broader field in which to carry out his
ideas.
A close friend of Mr.. Pingree has
tried to enlighten the public by outlin-
ing some OF the schemes which the
governor-elect will try and put into
practice. They are as follows:
!. Doing away, so far as possible,
with conventions for local officers. and
giving the people themselves a direct
vote in primary elections for the nomi
nation of candidates.
,. Two cent fares on all the railroads
of the lower peninsula.
3. Taxation of railroad property the
same as other property.
The application of the principles
of the interstate commerce law to
commerce within the state, to
secure to farmers and shippers the
advantages of the competition in
places not having several lines of rail
road.
.. Submit to popular vote the grant
ing of street railroad and other quasi
public franchises as a check upon the
corruption of aldermen and other city
officials.
nopolies as far as the state can go in
that direction.
s. Laws against overcapjtalization
of corporations and swindles committed
by promoters.
s. Laws against the coercion of
voters, and particularly to prevent
corporations of public character, like
railroads and banks. eXerting undue
influence in elections.
This Is a com prehensive list of re-
forms for a governor of Il state to at
tempt to carry into effect. The estab-
lishment of primary elections, making
twO-cent fare on steam railroads gen
eral. the submission OF street railway
grants to q popular vote and laws to
prevent the coercion of voters have
been popular reforms for years and
much has been done to carry them out
Some of the other schemes outlined are
not so well known and Mr.. Pingree
Will doubtless find many obstacles in
his path when be attempts to put them
in prac ice. A majority in both houses
of the legislature Is believed to be OPP
posed to him and public sentiment may
not sustain him in every instance
But as Mr.. Pingree is in his element
when he has n fight on his hands and
as a contest with the legislature would
prObab bly, increase his popularity with
the people he is not likely to be deter
red by opposition.
Whether Governor elect Pingree's
ideas are feasible or not they are
certainly not revolutionary. They may
not all be expedlent, bat they cannot
unsettle values or cause social
up1eaval The attempt to embody
them in laws, however, is likely to make
the next session of the Michiga legis-
lature particularly lively. MIR. Pin
or e i not likely to shrink from the
contest. His majority In the recent
election was about 20 900 larger than
that given the republican electoral
ticket and a contest, in which he would
figure as d friend of the people. would
increase his popularity and enlarge his
ma jority if he ran again, as a similar
contest with the Detroit city council
increased his vote in that city On the
whole the politics of MichiDan promise
10 be more than ordinarily interesting
during the next few years -Philadel-
phia Press.