The Lexington advertiser. [volume] (Lexington, Miss.) 1904-1985, 1907-05-03
To Mississippians:

for the Democratic nomination for gov.
ernship of Mississippi, the highest place
within the gift of the people, place far
too exalted to be used as an appendags
or perquisite of any faction, ask your
attention to q summary of some of tht
questions which will confront the next
state administration. These and other
questions l will discuss when the can.
vass opens. Discussion of matters about
which all are agreed would be mere
word'play.
Elective Judiciary Again.
Our government should be brought
nearer the people, with whom it should
be kept in living touch, by making all
members of each department directly re.
sponsible to those whom they serve.
With us, the whites exercise all political
power; taxdelinquents, illiterates, Grim
inals and negroes being excluded, giving
control Of our state to the highest class
of electorate, Suffrage, when applied to
judges, neither requires more, nor less,
sense or virtue, than when applied to
other officials The centralizing ten.
dency of taking the choice of officers
away from those whose interests are
most vitality affected ia undemocratic,
fostering rings and factions which seek,
for the purposes of graft, to dominate
the selection of officers controlling i'm.
portant patronage. Judges and levee
commissioners should be made elective,
and the patronage of the chief execu.
tive reduced to the smallest practicable
limit.
Equitable Distribution of School Funds.
Self-governing people should do their
own thinking and choose representatives
to carry out their own ideas. A govern
ment should embody and reflect the hon
esty, patriotism and intelligence of its
citizenship. Education, therefore, is es-
sential to intelligent exercise of suf-
frage, as well as to spiritual and indus.
trial development. An efficient system
OF public free schools and colleges is q
prime necessity. Management of these
institutions should be so altered as to
minimize political influences.
Three -fourths of our states funds 30
to education, Upon the white children
the burdens and responsibilities of our
state will soon be devolved. Preparation
for that task is of vital concern. Ex.
listing methods of distributing school
funds give some counties more than they
can well use, and to Others hardly a
meager salary for the shortest term. A
method, fairly equitable for its results
to all white children, can and should be
provided That our children may re-
eeive the benefit of the most advanced
methods of instruction, the greatest re.
turn for the money expended, we'll
equipped training school for teachers
should be established. Rural schools
should be maintained in sufficient mum.
bers to be conveniently accessible to all
white children, and by longer terms and
better salaries increased efficiency
Equal Rates of Assessment.
The state should live within its in
come. All taxable property within it's
borders should bear it's proportionate
burden. Only such taxes should be col
lected as are absolutely required for hon
est, economical and efficient public serv-
ice; and the people should receive full
value for the expenditure of every dol
lar. Under our defective assessment
Flaws wholly different rates of assessment
prevail in different counties, rendering
the state levy twice as burdensome In
some counties as in others. A system
can, and ought to be instituted, which
will gradually relieve land and person.
atty from all ad valorem taxes other
than those imposed for county and mu-
nicipal purposes, collecting, as in some
other states, the required state revenue
from other sources. Until this method
becomes operative, q state board of
equalization of assessments should be
created.
Merit, not Money, Should Determine.
Contests for office should turn on
merit, and not money. The uses to
which money can be legally put in ef-
fecting a nomination--our real election
Ought to be defined and the amount
limited. Laws of this kind have been
recently enacted In about dozen states.
Their effect has been exceedingly bene-
ficial, the nomination and election of
Governor Folk, in Missouri, being strik-
! ing instance. To send letter to each
white voter on our registration books
costs 100000, the postage alone be-
ing $3,200.00. A state canvass ON that
plane would cost the salary of Gov
ernor for four years, and debar from
uluce, III requirement. LOT success, Ill
who did not have the command of great
wealth, making the selection of Gov
ernor question of money. To avoid
such dangers legislation of the character
mentioned shoula be enacted.
Protection Against Unfair Freight Rates.
Railroads and other common carriers
are essential to modern life, Our con-
tinued development demands their IN
crease. They are entitled to fair and
reasonable return for their capital and
cost of operation. No general disposi-
tion exists to oppress them, nor to check
their development, but it is the solemn
duty of the state to protect its citi-
zens, to the extent of its power, against
unfair and discriminating rates; to pro
vide equal opportunities to every ship
per, and to give to every industry in the
state every advantage of our states
markets to which, on account of prox-
unity, ii is Justly entitled.
Candidate Of Faction not Independent.
To those who know me It win be
needless to state that, into my canass.
no trade, combination or promise of ap-
pointment shall enter. MY name has
never been, and viii never be, associated