The Butler weekly times. (Butler, Mo.) 1881-1918, 1901-10-03
DOESN'T WANT ITS
CHARGES INVESTIGATED.

papers to iuggle with facts to the ad
vantage of their party has been wink
=. ed at and cOuntenanced by the pub
. lie. But even such doubtful priv
ege. distorted TO its very worst
does not warrant the Globe-DemO
crat in its persistent nisrepresenta
ton of the management of state
affairs and it's villification OF dem
ocratic state officers.
When the democratic party took
charge of state affairs away back il
the early seventies. it found a depict
ed treasury, and a magnificent a.
debt, accumulated through misman
agement, and, we speak advisedly
knavery of republican officials. Taxes
were out of sight and the credit OF
the state at very low ebb. A nucleus
only was found for the splendid
school fund Missouri now has reason
to boast of.
The first care of democratic officials
was to not only preserve and increase
this sacred fund, but to put it to its
greatest earning capacity in order
that the children of the state might
gain the very best results. The law
then was that this fund should be in
vested in government bonds. State
bonds at that time paid much larg-
er per cent and no one will have the
temerity to deny that they furnished
ample security. A democratic legis-
lature amended the law to permit of
such change. and democratic Off
Gals sold the government bonds and
with the proceeds of such sale bought
up outstanding state bonds. Now
the state bonds SO purchased belong
ed to the school fund and the rate of
interest which they bore was to be
paid by our people to the schoolfund
instead OF to alien capitalists. Isn't
that a plain business transaction, in
which the school fund is benefited to
the extent of the increased interest
and the state simply changes it's in
debtedness from one creditor to
another. The legislature then chang
ed the form of the bond to a certifi- |
cate of Indebtedness, just as binding, |
but with the advantage of running |
at the will OF the people of the state |
instead of maturing at a given date, |
when they would have to be paid and |
the interest would stop.
Now there was never any secrecy
about these transactions from begin
ming to end. The bill authorizing
the change passed the legislature af-
ter full discussion and was signed by
the governor and every step taken by
the state officials in carrying out it's
provisions was open for public inspec-
ton at all times. No one had better
than the Globe-Dem-
)crat to know of this and ex-
pose it if either the school fund or
he people were being defrauded. |
And yet that paper waits for twenty
i've years before making complaint,
md during all that time made siren
lOus efforts to find a weak link in
he democratic armor: then all at
nee, at the beginning of last cam
'aign, discovered that the school
und had been looted. The demo- 6
rats accepted the guage of battle, v
hereby admitting that if what the C
lobe Democrat charged was true a
he party had been false to its trust t
nd should be defeated. Governor Ii
cookery and every democratic speak r
r told the true story of the whole t
in every county in the b
tate and the vote of confidence re- c
lived was Il vindication of the p
larges. h
Then the Globe Democrat. smart II
g under its defeat, charged that the d
OF the democratic Off e
ais was peculiar and the state was lie
eing defrauded. Governor Dockery n
invited that paper to II
loose its own experts and examine a
le books and forever set that mat n
r at rest. This the CD. refused to
}. fearing by its own works TO be lie
of misrepresentation Then ID
oV, Dockery requested the state al
ldltor to make out statement re- Sc
ewing the work of the state depart Sc
ents from the time the Democratic )"
srty came into power. The Globe. III
demurred TO this. intimat- VI