The St. Louis Republic. [volume] (St. Louis, Mo.) 1888-1919, 1900-07-21
GOVERNOR STEPHENS REPLIES
Defends His Course in Signing
Street Railroad Bill.

10" u app"ase the pharsalcal and insane de-
manJ- o. the nlobs
IL has Rot surprised that the Republican
politicians an: newspapers have slsndered ana
yiIired me. officially and personally ever since
"a" good people II Missouri elected me Governor.
This expected. for I know they are true. lneai
descendants Of their prototype. who assumed %
Ios-e-s all the virtues and who daily cried oU-
IN public places. We thank thee. God. We
~: other men arr | knew they practice|i siI
the wiI-s Of the devil. and all the Will" pose.
as thu authors and creators Of all the blessings
mat come to our people. For years their stock
In trad has been IL charge that all the thoughts.
The crop failures the cold " winter and the
heat - summer the diseases and epidernics that
have sc1JrEri our land. and even the cTci neS
that destroyed our homes. were brought about
bV Democratic misrulr. while the harvests. THE
p-'ti health " the .,ecple the prosperity and
crease IN wealth. and even In .cpulatior-in
short "vrry thing that Increased health. wealth
aud hapi.nrss-was brought about by the VII
dom ani :U'e ~ the Republican party sub
tfi'Hsfisy TO r. expected. and / knew I
would - IFS target all my Democratic prede-
""ssyrs had been before nc. when was elected.
Hence. I neither surprised ror alarmed
when these political vulturs and pharis~.s
S"rgh; 70 throw the blame Of The stree: car
strike and is hiishting consequences upon me
AMI % attribute II all 70 my approval Of the
street railway bill. passed By the Forttech 9sc-
sTIi Assembly
should not have disnifrd these stacks ~
t"HtiCn has been called to statements coutrz
Fl n heretofore pu-r patriotic and enlightened
sources. which seem 10 be based upon AMI I'm
'lIre5 with f8lsest premises and malicious mis-
representations rNat have been given currency
~ -" Rr-'hlicans. which have been impr1v'
5vctiy and. believe. Unsivisvdly accepted ~
these other good people. This statement is male
:" remove such false Impressions from surh
minds and will and asiYni; the tr7;-n.
and nat with any hope that the Republican,.
even IN ttis their eleventh hour. when upon The
= I bod Ft-asrar rcd FOR hy no
Declaration Of Independence proclaimed by IRE
Democratic Convention held at Kansas CIV
July 4, ia., will repent q their unrizhr.ous-
ness. put aside their rotvs Of hypocrisy. clothe
themselves in sschclCth and ashes. admit Their
sins. -Sk =" he shrfven Of their at,n1i nation. hv
The forEiyinr people Of America and SEX soTne
Unta:n cavern where the, - funnigat- and
'isini@ct themselves before again seeking 20
ISOLATE with the body polite Of Missouri
The facts about the street railroad bin are
those: The bill passed by TIE Senate BY
Vote % q to = there being four absentee-. and
hv the House by vote Of 81 20 81. there being
eleven abssrtses. Every rle1nbSr from 81. Louis
except voted for the bill. The record shows
/, was m no sense a political measure. for it
was srEDporte-! nv Democrats and Republicans In
discriminatory. Tire Republican candidate this
y"sr for Attorney General. Honorable Samuel F.
O'Fsilcn was a member OF that General As
s-nnbly and voted for the eili. The Republican
candidate FIR Governor. Colonel Joseph FIory.
vii! not deny tha: he favoSed the bill and c:id
all he could to procure its parsag rery
large number g the most responsible business
and professional men o. st. Louis urged IFS ap-
prevail was advised nv persons whom I con-
sttNrsd Competent know. and in whom hal
confidence that the hill corferred more rights
upon the street railroads than the existing
Telephone Companies: that under the Constitution
and laws pi Missouri and the Charter Of the
city Of - Louis such thing a monopoly
az the street car service in ST Louis not
only imIs,ssibla because a competing ine ooTi.!
ts authorized and built at tine. could ever.
run over n. tracks If the existing lines. tt;
that this particular tsl! did rot autnos'ze any
such Ucr"p1iy but eNINssy preciuisd such
thing by requiring a system Of transfers sIch
could not D. obtained from the lires operated
separately. amt thereby carried the passengers
d greater distance for the same price than was
formerly done or could ctheswis- be done Under
these circumstances approved tire bill. .nd [
say That l would do exactly the same
thing again. with The lights | had then tefor.
ira. cr with all that i have since seen At first
I opposed the bill and II was not Until
the matter fully understood. and saw that
the fears and doubts had were zroundi"sS. mat
| consented to s-<r it
Nothing has since rrsnspired which has shsk-
~ my opinion above expressed OF course. |
know nothing Of the merits Of the suits that
haV. been instituted agains, the street rasl-
rad company. Organized under this act The
courts Will settle all such matters and their
JUDGMENTS ought to be. and are binding apon
every officer and every citizen. and will b
chsarfnily accepted by But + might be we'll
let the courts speak for themselves and not
20 forrs;sll or anticipate what their decisions
has yet been decided a the basis FOR crit
icisr, % the acts OF other people.
Now. last and final word about the strike
IN St Louis No sane or honest man believes
tnat this bill had anything do with The strike.
such hal6erdssh euanates from Republicans. or
from tho>. who do know what they
,slkinz about. Strikes IN all kinds Of
business large and small. Many an employer
IN ~, Louis knows. x he does not openly
.'!.B.t II. that ne afraid Of a sympathetic
strike among his employees during the recent
Ef.lf.N i'm. ~ p asf Il -NS
Pc bal done nothing to deserve strike. and
was p"weriess Ia rrever, It. also
employees M one is 40 bersft Of sense and de-
cencS As t. even intimate that the strike was
In any manner. form or dasree caused by the
street railroad bill approved by NJ
only the Republicans and the ignorant speak
Of the two In the same sentence and even thew
co not poin; out any connection between the two
Everybody admits that II the railroad COMPANY
hal acc.,~i 20 tbe demands Of the strikers rh.v
would have been satisfied continue 70 work
for thu consolidated company and that IN.
strikers position was thai they would not work
for any company except upon the terms they de-
Inanded. 80 there is no connection between he
bin and the strike.
From the beginning I refused to believe ,,a.
there more hNoirYns than ,ru-abs5Ipy
people in ST Louis. and believed tina, the god
people Of that city able to restore AMI
preserve order. and hence declred To hurniliais
them by sending outsiders th.re to ragl,ist. trs
hou, affairs Of that civ. The result has fully
justified MY coarse. whatever cranks ard iR-
norant people ant Republicans seeking TO rnaks
political capita! out o. snch unfortunate serial
disturb ances. mar say to the contrary. tn 70
store order duty tina; rested primarily
upon the people Il st Louis themselves; second
~. 1; rested upon the people Il the whole STATE
Fortunately, the people Of the state not
compelled 30 leave their homes and vacations sud
go TO 80. I<nis to make the people of s.; Louis
behave Scsn- luna;ics have said tn. people ot
81. Louis pay taxes tn support n militia AMI
entitled 20 protection by the militia. in
stead ~ having to protect themselves.
This talk + the product of ignorance Or coward
iCs. There IL paid militia In Missouri. We
have standing army to overave the people
Nobody pays taxes TO support any such standing
army. The militia is purely voluntary. II ~
composed @. the young of each community.
AMI they without paw. except Thsn IN
Missouri have n.ver even imagi ned tina, II MAS
necessary 70 make appropriations to rag the
expenses Of the militia when In active service.
because til. past has proved that 10 srich q n
tingsncy liable to happen.
For political Ishnaelites and professional
slanierers l have only pity and contempt. and
do no; expect TO touch their hearts quicken
their conscience for they have neither, but 70
the interviewing. fair minded honest Democrats
and peaceabe citizens Of Missouri i want 10 say
beware Of s,ift-tearing Greeks. beware OF
90 pting the statements o: political enemies.
beware Of believing the Republican sianderers a:
your officers and Of your peope- They would
caio. your minds while they pollute your hearts.
They put lies on your tongues to destroy your
Their very touch association IL a
contamination ~ You ana an abcnination in the
sigh, of a., men LON V. STEPHENS.
CHEROKEE ENROLMENT,