The Taney County republican. (Forsyth, Mo.) 1895-1992, 1909-08-19
Special Correspoc dence.

Jefferson City, August II 1909
Early in July Governor Hadley for
mally took up the matter of purifying
elections in Kansas City by addressing
letter to the Board of Election Com
missioners in that city in which he
pointed out the necessity of purifying
the registration books and dropping
from the lists of clerks and judges o
election the names of men known to
be dishonest or under just suspicion
He made it plain that provision must
be made in advance by the commits
sioners for honest elections in the fu-
ture and cited facts in his possession
about elections heretofore held under
their authority.
The Kansas City board is composed
of two Democrats and one Republican,
all appointees Of former Governor
Folk. They are prominent citizens.
Governor Hadley did not charge them
with dishonest intent or with purpose
full proceedings under which frauds
were made possible heretofore, but he
did show them that they must be ac-
lively aggressive now if they would
prevent such frauds in the future as
have characterized Kansas City cleo
tions in the past. He said that he
could not recall single instance in
which a dishonesty registered name
has ever been discovered or sticken
from the registration lists since the
board was created, though it is. gener-
ally known that hundreds Of such
names have been and are yet on the
lists. He said that "a condition of
mere passive honesty, while COM
mendable in itself, fails to secure an
honest election when active efforts are
being made to secure the opposite re-
suits
This and other things he said made
the members of the board sit up and
take notice and some interesting cor
respondence resulted. A few days be-
fore the governor departed for Colo
RADIO, to spend a we'll earned vacation
in the mountains, he formally and Wig
orously demanded of the board of cleo
ton commissioners that they proceed
to purge the registration lists and to
purify the roll of judges and clerks.
In his letters he had mentioned facts
and given names, and in an interview
had reiterated what be said in writing
to the board. He tarried few days
in Kansas City before departing for
Colorado that he might take care of
anything that the alleged contro-
versy'' should provoke and then went
his way, having made it plain that the
commissioners must either proceed to
do what he suggested or resign or be
removed. He hardly landed in Colo
RADIO before the Democratic newspa-
pers of Kansas City and St. Louis ac-
cused him of running away from a
controversy he had created, through
these same newspapers knew that his
trip to Colorado had been planned for
months and that he had delayed his
departure to meet any exlgencles
which might have arisen. The Kan
sas City Post and St. Louis Republic
printed sensational stories concocted
for political effect, to which the gov
ernor promptly responded from the
place of his sojouln in Colorado. He
wrote replies as hot as the weather.
Notwithstanding all the Democratic
have said everybody in
Kansas City knows that the governor
has struck oil,' and that he has
started a movement for honest cleo
tions which cannot be successfully re-
sisted. Kansas City people laugh at
the fantastic capers of the Democratic
editors and politicians, while at the
capital the well informed public men
realized that the Kansas City crowd is
only opening the way for the governor
to accomplish what he promised dur
ing the state campaign and that. the
Democratic editors are advertising the
movement very much to the governors
advantage.