Twice-a-week plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1895-1913, 1897-10-05
HOW IT WAS DONE.
Schemes Of Iowa Republicans for
Robbing the State.
Corruption of the Executive Council
in Elections-Some Shady Tram
sactions with Railway
Companies.

in ElectiOns-SOme Shady Tram
sactions with Railway
Companies.
Attention has hitherto been called to
some of the high-handed proceedings
of the executive council Of Iowa. Re-
gardless of theory, the executive coun-
Gil is in effect the real government of
the state. There is an oldfashioned
notion prevalent among some people
that the legislature has something to
do with the government of the state,
but this is an entirely mistaken idea.
Finding that the legislature was so
large and unwieldy body that it
could not be conveniently managed
for partisan purposes, the republican
machine few years ago determined
to establish another order of things.
A special inducement to this end was
the fact that few honest republicans
would break into almost every legisla-
ture who declined to submit themselves
to the demands of the machine. These
things made 1t necessary for the
scheming politicians to adopt a plan
that would virtually abolish the leg
islature with respect to many matters
of state government, and government
by the executive council, composed of
the governor, auditor, treasurer and
secretary of state, has been developed
and established.
Through the executive council, as
{1o now ,opooa6 tho r,,pnpv
raised by taxation is expended. The
power of the executive council in law
ishly doling out to the state institu-
tions and to various other handy re-
ceptacles the money derived through
taxation is practically unlimited. AS
an illustration of the supremacy of the
council over the legislature it may be
twenty-sixth general assembly law
was enacted reducing by about $4,000
year the amount to be expended in
the employment of janitors for the
capitol building. The executive coun-
Gil did not approve of this attempted
economy, and it deliberately refused
to enforce the new statute. Instead
of discharging great many super
fuous janitors, us the legislature in
tended should be done, the council
simply transferred those gentlemanly
upernumeraries from one pay roll to
another. When questioned about the
proceeding, members of the council
claimed that this transfer "got around
the laws" that is, it was a subterfuge
- L.,
But even the astute and resourceful
members of the council were not pre-
pared to claim that the transfer made
the cost of janitors any less, or that
any different set of taxpayers paid the
bill than If the transfer had not been
| made.
But this is only one illustration of
the supreme power usurped and welded
by this body of political autocrats,
and it is not the main point to be con-
sidered. The council is guilty of a
recent proceeding which is branded
by all fair-minded people, republicans,
democrats, populists and prohibitions
lists alike, as the most high-handed,
not to say corrupt, piece of arbitrary
partisanship that has ever been per-
petrated in Iowa. 1t relates to the ac-
ton of the state election board in turn
ing over to the boiling populists or
middle of the readers" the exclusive
authority to use the name peoples
party" in the state.
The peoples party met in regular
convention in Des Moines June 20 and
formally placed in nomination state
ticket. The convention was regularly
called by the recognized officers of the
| party in this state and all of the pro-
ceedings of the convention were reg
ular and formal These facts are not
disputed. The peoples party nomi.
| mated the same candidates that were
nominated by the democratic state con-
vention and by the free silver repub.
lican state convention. The middle OF
| the roaders," headed by one Weeks, a
bombastic and ambitious gentleman
of Madison county, objected to the PEG.
pies party nominating the same candi.
dates that were nominated by the dem
ocratic convention and the free silver
republican convention. Mr.. Weeks had
about 35 followers in the convention
which was composed of some 800 dele.
| gates. He himself claims that he had
AZ followers. However that may be,
he and his small number of followers
had no ground of complaint.
1t is not claimed by anyone that the
Weeks crowd had the peoples party
organization back of it. They were
not supported by the chairman, secre.
tary, treasurer or state committeeman
of the peoples party organization. The
law of Iowa does not recognize them as
a party at all. But they were undoubt.
edly operating under instructions from
the political schemers of the republic.
an-railroad persuasion, who have been
running the affairs of this state for
some time. They undoubtedly knew
that the republican election board
would recognize their ticket as the reg
ular peoples party ticket, and that the
regular peoples party nominations
would be ignored by that board; and
that is just exactly what has been done
by coterie of unprincipled politicians
who have no regard for free govern.
ment, integrity in public affairs or com
mon decency in matters of American
citizenship.
The Iowa voter who remembers his
blanket ballot of last fall will recall
the fact that the democratic and peo
| ,,1e,c par{r 10 ,,,,,,