The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1908-07-03

other governor in recent years ant
from this meeting with the people ht
| had learned their ideas and wishes
|, and been better prepared to serve
them.
Formerly we had two primaries
in this state-one in June to vote on
governor and lieutenant-governor
| and one in September to nominate
the other officers. There is now one
| primary day only, with less expense
| to the state. To get on the ballot as
| a candidate for governor before this
primary day, must have from two to
four percent of the voters of the
state on my nomination papers, or at
least 4,500 names.
''The new primary law is not per-
feet, but it is better than the old.
OF all the officers you vote to NOM
mate, only the governor and lieu
tenant-governor are required not
| only to have majority, but also
| forty per cent. of the vote cast. Six
| teen senators, one of them from this
/ district, voted to keep that forty
per cent. provision in the bill, al
though it is in no other similar law in
| the country, and railroad attorneys
lobbied for it so that the result at
the primaries would be indecisive and
it would again be left to a conven-
tion to choose the candidates.
'If / am reelected, it will make
six years in the Office. am we'll
aware / am breaking a precedent in
again seeking the nomination, but
it is a precedent that has been brok-
en- in more than a score of states.
believe that under the primary sys-
TEN, if a man does not show you that
he is doing a good work, he will not
be renominated even for a second
term, and if on the other hand, at
the end of the second term it is seen
that he can finish the job better than
anybody else, he will be sent back to
finish the work he has started.
"The claim has been made that the
d. T. G I. railway went into the
hands of a receiver because. we re-
duced the fare to two cents a mile
This is not true. That road is bond
ed for $129,000 per mile. 1t is lit
tie system with one train day each
way, and the great double-track
Grand Trunk is only bonded for $70,-
600 per mile. The difference be-
tween these figures did not go into
repairs, but into the pockets of the
owners of the d. T. e I. l want to
see the railroad commissioners given
power by a bill to stop such stock
watering in the future
"One of the reforms we advocated
and secured was the passage of a two
cent railroad fare bill. (Here a pass
ing Michigan Central freight drowned
the governors speech with a long
drawn and piercing whistle. He ac-
knowledged the patness of the inter-
ruption by a grim smile and waited
until the train had passed by.)
This did not hurt the railroads.
for it is proven in other states that
wherever such bill is passed, the
passenger earnings actually increase.
We should have bill on the statute
books providing for the taxation of
telephone systems precisely as you
are taxed on your farms and homes.
Call the roll of the men who have
arrayed themselves against my cam
didacy, and you will find that the
men who opposed the two-cent fare
bill. the watered stock bill, and the
primary bill are the same men now
opposing me.
81 am not here to tell you how
you should vote on primary day,
which is September /. / am simply
here to urge you to at any rate get
out and vote, for that it your duty,
no matter whom you vote for. See that
the men you choose for senator and
representative are right on these
great public questions. That is i'm
portant, too.
when / retire from the office of
governor, whether it be next jan
uary, or two years hence, / want to
feel that / have the confidence and
respect not of one class or party, or
one section of the state, but of all
parties, classes and sections" APP
plause.
Mr.. Kelley declared that the gov
ernor had crossed more thresholds
and entered more dooryards than
any governor who had preceded him.
people like to see their chief eXecu-
tive, and it also enables the latter to
get irst-hand information which he
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