The Taney County republican. (Forsyth, Mo.) 1895-1992, 1909-04-08
Special Cores pondence.

Special Cores pondence.
Jefferson City, April 5.-The most
important political development of last
week was the confirmation by the Sen
ate of appointments by the governor
which had been held up for several
weeks, including Caulfeld for excise
commissioner in St. Louis and Andrae
for warden of the penitentiary, besides
members Of several boards, and i'm
portant appointments in Kansas City.
The Democratic senators who had re-
fused to confirm these appointments
had no objection whatever to the ap-
pointees, but desired to coerce the gov
ernor into recognizing the Board of
Election Commissioners in St. Louis
before the April election.
1t was a partisan scheme, wholly
apart from any consideration of the
public service, and designed specially
to effect the St. Louis city election.
Devoid of sincerity, or even of politi-
cal honestly, this scheme could not
have moved the governor, and would
have been abandoned earlier had the
courage of the Democrats back of it
been equal to their feverish desire to
let go of it. They found a good ex-
cuse to let 60 last Tuesday.
There was no surrender on the paFt
of Governor Hadley to the Democratic
Senate when he caused the appoint
ment of the Democratic election COM
missioner for St. Louis last Monday.
It had been his intention to withhold
any change in the election and police
boards of that city until after the April
election, or even later, but Thomas K.
Skinker, the Democratic member of
the election board, asked to be re-
lieved, thus creating vacancy which
had to be filled. The governor then
decided to appoint Mr.. Jamison, not
because that eminent Democrat hap
pened to be acceptable to the Dem
ocrats in the Senate, but because he
concluded that Mr.. Jamison was the
best man among several applicants for
the office. The Senate promptly con-
frmed Jamison, and confirmed all Of
the appointments of the governor
appointments which had been held up
for several weeks because the governor
had refused to remove Skinker and ap-
point his successor. Mr.. Skinker
himself removed the excuse for the
Senate's attitude toward the governor,
by stepping aside. He had not been
asked to resign. At the instance of
Governor Hadley he came to Jefferson
City to defend himself against the crit
icisms and objections of senators of
his own party. He found that he was
being used as a stumbling block in the
way of the governor, and promptly ad-
dressed a letter to him asking to be
relieved from the office he held, say
ing, I have the public welfare too
much at heart to be willing to allow
my tenure Of this office longer to con-
stitute an excuse Con the part of the
Senate) for incompetence in failing to
deal with pressing questions of state"
This is the plain, simple truth about
the action of the Senate, and about the
attitude of the governor There never
was a time while his appointments
were being held up when the governor
was ready to make any surunder to
an obstinate partisan demand, or when
he was not ready to make any appoint
ment he may have deemed necessary
for the good of the public service. AL
though the unfair and extreme atti-
tude of the Senate is now a closed in
cident, it is well to remember that
there was no legitimate excuse for it,
and that the governor made no com
promise to secure the confirmation of
a single appointee.
PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION.
The House of Republicans stood to-
gether last week and put through sew
eral administration bills, in spite of