Mexico weekly ledger., 1908-04-30
Opens Campaign at St. Joseph---Ren-
ders Account of Stewardship
Laws Passed and Work
Accomplished.
DEMOCRATIC PRINCIPLES ADVOCATED
At the Tootle Opera House i'm st. Joseph,
Where lie Opened the Gubernatorial
Campaign, Governor Folk Makes
Notable Speech Reviewing
Administration.

II dared in 1904 to denounce corrup-
tion, even In its own ranks and to de.
clare that there Is no Dom in the dem
ocratic party OF this state for -corrup
tionists and law-breakers; / am proud
of the democratic party Of Missouri
because 1t consists of more than three
hundred thousand voters who think for
themselves and act for themselves,
and who will not bend the knee to a
few self-appointed ringmasters who
sometimes imagine that they consti-
tute the party.
Democratic Party Given Credit.
Democrats justly take pride in the
management of the states affairs by
the democratic party during the past
thirty years. In that time the bonded
Indebtedness of the state has been re-
duced from s21.7 6S. 900 to $4.39s, 1898,
represented by the school certificates.
These certificates constitute the only
indebtedness of the state and these are
in the nature of an endowment for ed
ucational purposes, as the interest paid
by the state goes to the public schools
and the State University. When the
democratic party came into power in
Missouri the tax rate was fifty cents
on the 500, while under Democratic
management this has been reduced to
seventeen cents, seven cents Of which
goes to the school fund. This is the
lowest tax rate of any Western state.
Today Missouri is the fifth state in
the Union. For all this marvellous de-
velopment the Dewocratic party is en-
titled to credit.
Now | come to the conditions out of
which arose the main issues OF the
compaign Of 1904. AS is well known,
at that time bribery had been the COM
mon and accepted thing all over the
land, Not that all men gave brides or
that a majority of officials took brides,
but the offense was generally regarded
either with indifference or despair.
The conditions in Missouri were not
different from some ether states; laws
were bought and sold like merchan-
disc; senators chasing thousand dol
lar bills we're not uncommon; the lieu.
tenaht-governor confessed to taking
brides, TO distributing bride money,
and resigned; the trail of the uncIean
dollar was everywhere apparent: gam.
bling houses ran wide open in the
cities; saloons made no pretense OF
obeying the law, and defied the author
tiles OF city and state; wine-rooms op-
Grated with wanton holiness; the state
was In partnership with race-track
gambling; a powerful lobby prevented
the passage of laws in the interest OF
the people; elections In the cities were
often the scenes of thuggery and ruff
fianism; the police departments of the
cities were political machines. The
democratic party was not responsible
for these conditions, for no party is re-
sponsible for evil unless 1t does some
thing to condone that evil. The APP
palling conditions I have described
we're not peculiar to Missouri; other
states were similarly afflicted, while
} the public conscience was asleep.
! Finally the people were aroused by the
light of the revelations to the fact that
/ bribery is treason; they came to see
: that laws are made to be enforced, not
to be ignored; that, an official has no
{ more right to embezzle the peoples
: power than to embezzle the peoples
} money; that the people must either
/ control special interests or be gov
, erned by special interests. Then came
a stern demand to stamp out the of
tense that strikes at the heart of free
government and to make the govern
ment a government of the people. for
, the people and by the people, in fact
: as well as in name. 1t was Missouri,
through the democratic party, that
took the lead In the battle for civic
betterment that has since been waged
, from one end of the country to the
other. While the democratic party
) was not responsible for the existence
: of these evils 1t coirageously assumed
the responsibility for stamping them
out, and to the democratic party be
. longs the credit of correcting these
conditions. In the campaign of 1904
o, the democratic party was appealed tc
! to take up the fight against the enc
|, mics of the people and a large major
ity of the party responded. The re
. suits are before you. There have beer
three sessions of the general assem-
bly, during this administration without
scandal or the slightest evidence oil
corruption. Corruption has been
: eliminated from legislative affairs
! No bill was passed or defeated by tht
! use Of money. II there had been ever
1 a rumor of corrupt influences | assure
a you you would have heard of 1t, for 4
' would have been investigated, no mat
! ter whom 1t hurt. Is not this reform
worth while?
e Reform Record Democratic.
S The reform laws that | shall speal
of were practically all urged by me II
the cimpaign for the g~overnorship ant
C were a part Of the democratic platform
1t of 1904. Such as were not enacted a
the legislative session of 1905 ver'
again in the depocratic platform 0