The Taney County republican. (Forsyth, Mo.) 1895-1992, 1909-05-27
JEFFERSON CITY NOTES.
The Facts about the Home Rule Bills Before the
Late Legislature.
Special Correspondence.

has cleared away from the Legislative
battlefield. The dead are ali Demo
Gratis. So are the wounded. The Re
pubhcans came out of the battle un,
hurt. There were a few in the Re-
publican army who did not fight the
enemy as vigorously or as persistently
as they might have fought, but the
victory. from the partisan standpoint,
is with the Republican hosts. And
their victory is pre-eminently a victory
for the State. In spite of the intense
hatred which the virile Democrats dis
played toward everything that was
proposed by the Republican governor
or enacted by the Republican House
some very good measures got through.
The Democrats over-reached in their
efforts to prevent legislation desired by
the governor and ruthlessly killed
many good measures desired by q
majority of the people OF the State
some of them most earnestly desired.
Really. the only bills which were in
any sense partisan were the so-called
home rule bills which reflected the pol
icy OF the Republicans toward munici-
pal governments. In the campaign Of
last year the Republicans earnestly ad-
vocated home rule for the cities in
conradistinction to the board rule to
which they have been subjected for
many years by the Democrats. The
Republican idea was and is to permit
the cities to select their own police
and excise officials, reseving to the
State only the power to compel the en-
forcement of State laws within the
cities when the locally selected Of
fcials fail or refuse to do their sworn
duty. Any other policy would be dan
gerous in the extreme.
Under existing laws, enacted by
Democratic legislatures, the governor
appoints the election, police and ex-
else officials and has arbitrary power
over them. He virtually controls the
elections. the police administration and
the operation of saloons. II so dis
posed partisan governor can build up
an invincible machine in each of the
three big cities. In late years this has
been done. Kansas City and S..
Louis have been subjected to the
direct control of the governor without
remedy. Under a Democratic law it
is a misdemeanor for member of the
municipal assembly Of St. Louis to
vote against ordinances appropriating
money for the support of the police de-
partment, though the city has no voice
in the selection Of policemen or in the
management of the police depart
ment. The excise commissioner can
enfoce the dramshop laws or let them
be violated if the governor so ;nstruc,s.
! He has no one but the governor TO di-
rect lSm. U.til Folk gave the order
to Mulvihill &c close the saloons in St.
Louis on Sunday they had not been
closed during the twelve years sue
ceeding the adoption Of the excise
commissioner law, which was enacted
especially TO put the sslcoLs under
control and make them keep the law.
In s.. Louis and Kansas City elections
had been controlled for party purposes
by partisan boards elected by Demo
cratic governors.
| Against ali this the Republicans,
and their candidate for governor parti-
cularly, protested last year as they had
protested for many years. They pro-
posed that the people of the cities
shall select the officials who are to be
charged with organizing and maintain
!. ing the police systems, and licensing
and controlling saloons, but they did
not propose that the State should stand
| by and permit officials thus selected te
: neglect their duties or to use theil
. official authority for partisan purposes
! When the home rule proposition:
| came before the Legislature the Sen
ate proposed to divorce the cities from
State control absolutely. The first bill