Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1900-09-28


liticnl Duty Is to Repudate all Forms O
Fraud in Partisan Organization.
Occasionally we hear it said tina
"the administration OF Gov. Roger
has been exceedingly good" and alst
that "John r. Rogers has made tn,
best Governor that Washington ha,
ever had" The first statement is mis-
leading and the second is emphati
cally untrue. For the successful ad
ministration of State affairs the entire
credit is due to State oificers-Jen
kins, Cheetham, Bridges, Young and
Vance, and the Governor had practi
cally nothing to do with it. So much
for the first proposition, and as re-
CARDS the second, viz: that "Rogers
has made the best Governor" we EN-.
phatically deny the truth of the state
ment and will give abundant facts tc
substantiate the denial. 1t is we'll fol
people who follow the promptings oil
patriotism in shaping the destiny ol
free government to study we'll the per-
sonal characteristics of their so-called
rulers, and when they ask for re.elec.
ton. to verify by crucial facts their
adaptability, or unfitness for an exten.
sion of official terms, based upon the
best possible test, their own acts
There is no better way of judging o.
the future than by the past, and in
judging of the past official acts of John
r. Rogers. what anybody can see to
approve aside from the bare perform
ance of routine work, is beyond the
power of mortal man to discover. On
the other hand there is much connect.
ed with his official conduct that, like
Vice, presents 60 frightful a mien.
"As to be hated needs butts to be seen,"
and it is to state few of those
facts and prove them by indisputable
evidence, if required, that this article
is written. We charge:
l. That John r. Rogers has grossly
abused the veto power. Several in.
stances could be cited, but it is suffici-
ent to call attention to his veto OF the
appropriations for the State
Normal Schools at Cheney and New
Whatcom, thereby setting up his indi.
vidual judgment against that OF the
representatives of the people as TO
what was wise public policy. His We.
toes, it will be observed we're not upon
constitutional grounds. and we're in
with his declarations, on
the stump, against the exercise of the
veto power.
2. He has also abused the pardoning
power. He refused to extend pardon
in many instances notwithstanding
the recommendation of the Board of
Pardons. Let us, on the other hand,
look at a case where he extended par
don. Without taking space for de-
tails and reproducing all the facts in
the case of George 7. Stevens, con-
victed Of grand larceny and sentenced
to ten years in the State Penitentiary,
the action of the parties interested in
obtaining the pardon of Stevens, and
what transpired subsequently is not
only suggestive and suspicious, but re-
fleets very unfavorably upon the mo-
tives and purposes in granting the
pardon. The successful efforts of But.
terfield, Addleman and Holmes-em.
ployes at the Penitentiary-to secure
Stevens pardon, supposing him to
have knowledge OF rich gold deposit,
as he represented, and Immediately
after the pardon, organization of the
Loyal Mining Co. by Holmes, Butter
field and Addleman (who were at once
granted eight months leave of ab-
sence) and their departure with Ste-
vens, on the schooner Loyal, in search
of the gold deposit that Stevens
claimed to know the location of, looks
more than shady for Rogers.
8. Curing the session of the Legis'
lature, John r. Rogers "held up" bills
to influence legislation. 1t can be
shown that his henchmen, the con.
cluding days of the last session, be-
came so bold as to claim that they
spoke by executive authority, that
certain appropriations would not meet
with the executive approval necessary
to their validity, unless Rogers "spite
work" should be advanced by making
effective the official veto on Other
measures. Hon. John McReavey
Senator from Mason county, stated
this to be the case and voted to please
the executive, and Immediately after
wards the Skokomish fishery appro
priation became law. This shows
Rogers to be dangerous man fol
Governor, and these facts shonld bt
sufficient to prevent any honest per
son from voting for him for a secon(
term.
4. He is notoriously untruthfu
and unreliable, and has proven utter
ly false to his public and private
pledges. Among the many pledges
he has been false to, it is sufficient t.
cite one or two. When he was frs
nominated at Ellensburg, he declared