Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1898-10-31
THE WAY TO RFFORM.

| lathiS StOuiu oS NhOoCh Out ENeh w Llh
an Unfriendly Legislature to Hamper
Them, the Governor, Lieutenant Governor
and Secretary of Internal Affairs Could
Estop Much Waste and Many Steals.
Chairman Garman, of the Democratic
itate committee, has given out the fol-
| owing statement to show that with
a machine governor and reform leg
lslature most of the abuses that have
| 1ourished at Harrisburg could still be
| continued as heretofore, and that an
| anti-machine governor is absolutely
necessary for any important reforms:
IF the voters of Pennsylvania desire
a full measure of reform they should
elect not only the entire Democratic
state ticket, but a Democratic legisia-
| ture as well. That they will do so
| seems at this time more than probable,
although the Republican machine will
undoubtedly resort to every means to
| prevent 1t, and the assistant machine
organs may try to prevent 1t by divert
ing Independent Republican votes to
| Swallow, who has no chance of cleo
| ton, and by deceiving the voters with
the false pretense that reform eXecu-
tive officials will be wholly useless for
| purposes of reform unless backed by n
| reform legislature. Some of them even
go so far as to contend that reform
legislature with a machine governor
would be preferable to reform gov
ernor with a machine Legislature.
| This is manifestly untrue, and if we
can have only one 1t is far better that
the executive offices be filled by the
Democratic reform nominees than that
a legislature composed of a majority
| Of more or less discordant elements
united upon nothing save opposition to
| Quayism should be elected. With a
Quayite in the gubernatorial chair,
| Quayites presiding in the senate and
a Quayite controlling that asylum for
| the support of political incapables
known as the Department of Internal
Affairs, reform legislature could do
little or nothing in the way of reform
that would not in some way or other be
rendered nugatory and void. The veto
would await all genuine reform bills,
and the scandalous methods now pre-
vailing in the score or more of bureaus,
departments and commissions by which
the state is, after all, really governed,
would continue for four years longer
without the least chance of reforming
them.
GOVERNORS IMPORTANT AP-
POINTMENTS.
"On the other hand, even the worst
machine legislature would not be likely,
with a reform governor in office, to at
tempt a repetition of the bad work of
the sessions of 1895 and 1897, and should
it do so, would unquestionably be
checkmated and most severely rebuked.
Meanwhile the governor, lieutenant
governor, secretary of internal affairs
and their appointees would, by their
own unaided efforts and under the laws
as they stand, bad as many of those
laws are, effect many very material
reforms in the way of shutting off ex-
travagance and preventing steals.
'As conveying some idea of what the
governor, lieutenant governor and sec
retary of internal affairs can do, even
If they are to be hampered by the pres
ence of an unfriendly Legislature the
following facts are given. The gov
ernor appoints, among others, the sec
retary of the commonwealth, attorney
general, adjutant general, commission
er of banking, secretary of agriculture
state librarian, superintendent of pub
lie buildings and grounds and superln-
tendent of public printing.
EXTRAVAGANCE IN DEPART
MENTS.
I'm every one of the bureaus or de-
partments headed by these officials
there has been reckless extravaganza.
In some there have been outrageous
steals. The former secretary of the
commonwealth and the attorney gen.
erals deputy were signers of the fa-
nous Indemnity bond The adjutant
general draws a salary increased dur
ing his term, which the constitution
forbids. The banking department is
one of the most expensive of all the
useless appendages to our state gov
ernmental system. Its regiment OF
subordinates do practically nothing fol
their salaries, and there have been
more and worse bank failures since il
was lifted to its present dimensions
than ever before. The state librarian
pockets large incident compensation
for needless work that is at least OF
doubtful cOnstitutionality. In the
public grounds and buildings depart
ment there has been perfect revel OF
waste and swindling, and the public
printing scandals are a stencil in the
nostrlls of every Pennsylvania, be-
sides being a heavy and inexcusable
burden upon the taxpayers. This item
of expense was $3S7292 in 1897. The
state treasurer estimates the cost fol-
1898 at 1868 900. During the entire term
Of Governor Pattison 1SS3-S6, the total
cost under this head was $64, 600 less
than the treasurers estimate for this
one year 1898. Even without a legis-
lature to help them Messrs. jerks, Sow.
den and DeLacy could and would put
into operation a radical reform all
along these lines.
A BROAD FIELD FOR REFORM.
"The board of public charities, the
port warden's department in Philadel.
phia, the state fishery commission, the
state live stock board, the dairy and
food commissioners work and that OF
the whole department of agriculture
would be rigidly examined and con.
scientously supervised. and many OF
the existing abuses discontinued. All
these bureaus and departments would
as far as possible, be made of real use