Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1899-01-05
SCOFIELD TAKES. Oath
Other State Officers Sworn in by
Chief Justice Cassoday.
CEREMONY IN MADISON MONDAY.


of Cosby Reading.
Madison, Jan. S.-Yesterday was in
augural day in this city, 1t was the
day when the state officers (all of them
new except Governor Scofield) took the
oath of office. 1t was a quiet affair.
with a heavily Madison flavor and
should be distinguished in the popular
mind from Jan. IL when the legislature
convenes. and the inaugural messs sc
state dimensions.
For some reason the cuStom has
sprung up of starting an inaugural
train from milwaukee,, with all the
state officers on board, and the meet
ing of the train at Madison is the sig
nal for the band to play and the pro-
cession to start for the big white dome.
If the state officers very naturally hap
pen to be in Madison making arrange
ments for their future home. they must
run over to Milwaukee in time to come
to Madison in triumphal style on this
inaugural train. When the train ar
rives band of music and the newly
organized Company G of the state mil
tia (most of whom saw duty at Jack
sonville and some individuals of whom
were in Porto Rico) escorted the state
officers to the capitol in carriages.
Their families came along, too. The
train got in about noon.
The Women Share the Glory.
In the first carriage We're Governor
Scofeld, President Adams of the uni
versity; Mayor Whelan and General
E. Il. Bryant. In the second were the
retiring and incoming lieutenant GOV
errors, with their wives; and so on
through the eight carriages. After a
rally in the governors executive offices,
General Bryant escorted the supreme
court judges to the assembly chamber
and everybody trooped into the big
room after them. Then President Ad-
ans called the assemblage to order and
Chief Justice Cassoday administered
the oath of office. Following that were
receptions in the offices of the various
state officers, a good deal OF handshak-
ing and good deal of quiet work look
ing to an equitable distribution of any
official pie that might yet be in cold
storage. Withal it was an informal
and unpretentious occasion, solemn and
DeIltlHS great Slale.
Working Hard on His Message.
Governor Scofield Is putting in his
best ticks on his message, which will
be read when the legislature meets
"wednesday, Jan. lD, but probably on
the day following, 1t will be a long one
and the governor intends to make it a
ten-strike. He realizes that with the
I4aFollette reforms in the platform and
in the air the state Is on the threshold
of new era. The abolition of the pass,
the subject of tax reform and the sub
jugation of corporations are in them
selves enough to make the session Of
the legislature critical, and may make
his administration historic The gov
ernor has nailed up little room down
stairs underneath the executive offices,
and here he and Private Secretary An
derson are putting in as good work as
they can with the frequent Interrupt
tions. Anderson was formerly a sue
cessful Milwaukee newspaper man, and
is a conservative and accurate writer,
though he tells me that when he wrote
for the newspapers he was painfully
slow. An average newspaper man is
supposed to toss off column an hour
on a subject with which he is familiar
but Anderson says he has to elaborate
every sentence word by word. But 1t
is good reading when 1t is finished. He
is presumably a great help to Governor
Scofield, who makes no claims to schol-
arship. Governor Upham was a West
Point graduate, and his literary wife
was an invaluable censor. But Gov
ali ie, . Il p,,I l., fey
vigorous speeches prove that he can
find words enough where his interest is
aroused. No doubt Private Secretary
Anderson and others expert In particu
lar phases of the questions discussed
are called on for suggestions. But
Scofield is not man to require any one
to do his thinking for him. The mes
sage will be his. 1t will be a long one
1t will be available in book form, and
unless | am in error, put the executive
in the attitude OF a champion of the
peoples interests-and that without
demagogy-in a way to surprise the
state
At the Expense OF Beaver Dam.
The regent deaths of ex-Speaker Ed
Keogh. the veteran Milwaukee printer,
and Edward Beeson OF Fond du Lac
one Of the Nestors of Wisconsin Jour-
nalsm, has set many of the old news
paper men Of the state reminiscng
upon editors and printers OF former
days. The Lone Fisherman" of the La
Crosse Chronicle not long ago contrib
uted some interesting letters on Brick"
Pomeroy and other worthless OF his
time that were most entertaining. The
linotype machine has almost extermin-
ated the picturesque Journeyman print
err, while patent insides, the shears and
paste pot have made II possible for
almost any one to now be an editor.
One is often surprised at the geniuses
he finds cooped up In country sane
tums. Brick Pomeroy was able to
break the letters Of his environment
and build up a sheet at Lacrosse with
a national fame and a circulation OF
1o0o COO before he went to New York TO
eventually go broke. But the tragedy
OF Pegasus at the plow finds Its enact
ment most often in the rural print
shop. The larger provinces denied
them. the editors must expend their en-
ergies In the monotonous round OF ef-
fecting small economies. and their tall
ents too often in Improbable and aeri-
nonious warfare upon their segregated