Ripley County democrat. (Doniphan, Mo.) 1905-1920, 1911-06-02

there would be- no bill passed Gov
ernor Harmon stepped in aud acted a.
arbitrator. A bill was framed aud
drafted that has been approved by
both employees and employers
The compulsory provisions which
made the New York act unconstitu-
tional were not incorporated into the
Ohio act. Instead the employer couid
elect either to pay into the compensa
ton fund or not to pay. II be should
not avail himself Of the law. however.
the employee may sue for damages for
injuries, OF his legal representative I'm
case of death may maintain the action.
And in such suits the employer IL de
prlved OF the common law defenses Of
fellow servnnt rule. assumed risk and
contribut0ry negligence.
The employee cannot resort to the
courts for damages when injured In
the factory of corporation which
pays into the state compensation fund
except when the injury IL caused By
the disregard Of law, ordinance or
order issued by an authorized public
officer providing for the protection of
employees or by the willful wrong OF
an employer. his officer or agents.
The employer contributes 90 per cent
Of the compensation fund and the eu-
ployees 10 per cent Awards range
| from So, 400 to 81 800 and are graded
on the scale Of wages paid employees.
The taxing lnws OF the state were a
Joke when Mr. Harmon WAS Inducted
into Office ana the taxpayers had
no means 10 check extravaganza Of
their public officers. These men decid
ed on the amount OF money they were
going 10 spend In year and then
made levy 10 produce that amount
Taxpayers could do NOT thing but pay.
"The authority which demands must
be curbed." said the executive In a
message to the general assembly, That
body obeyed and passed the Smith bill
which limited the maximum tax rate
that could be levied by public officers
In each district to ] per cent Of tax
duplicates, chat was sufficient. the
governor held. for an economical ad'
mlnistration. II more money were
needed there WIS Incorporated In the
Smith bill u provision for O. referen-
dunn vote on higher rnie, a
There were lnrge number of tn King
hoe ID, ,,,,u,nno..I 40 yaRiAfto .aofa .atA
GERS with jurisdiction over excise and
other corporate taxation. bun different
boards we're made up ak .dliferent oil,
GERS so that there could be 10 uniform
and consistent action Auditors In
eighty eight ohio cOuuties had nearly
eighty eight different rules vf appraisl
ing property, with the result that no
one got square deal t
Governor Harmon mad bill drafted
to abolish all these boards aud to place
the entire taxing machinery OF the
common wealth In the hands of a sin-
gle state commission Of three mem
bers. Other new tax laws make II
possible to chase out of hiding millions
Of dollars Of property and also strength
en- and broaden the inquisltorial pow
ers OF the state tax commission.
Ohionns expected big things from
Judson Harmon when they elected him
their governor The achievements OF
the Democratic general assembly show
the expectations of the people have
been realized. He had been u leading
attorney for yenrs, but a search of his
record disclosed Harmon, while he had
corporations among his clients. had
never given his talents to appear in
court suit against the people. As an
attorney general Of the United States
he had proved TO be friend of the
people, lighting through court cases
which established the foundation of all
Jurisprudence on the antitrust sub
ject. In private life he was recognized
as one of the ablest lawyers In Ohio.
In February, 1910, ten months before
the state election In Ohio. when Judson
Harmon would go before the people
for reelection. Ohio Republicans by or.
der OF President Taft held n harmony
meeting in Dayton. The Republicans
at Dayton did not talk Of helping Pres
ident Taft or Of restoring the Repub-
lican party; they talked about the
chance OF defeating Governor Harmon.
and they did not talk hopefully. Une
consciously they paid patent tribute
10 the real strength Of the man. III
suddenly revealed the tremendous sues|
cess of Governor Harmon and his CON
plete mastery Of the political sitnstion|
In Ohio The plan Of opposition out
lined In. Dayton has never ceased No
governor has ever been opposed by 50
strong force as Governor Harmon.
During bis first term Of two years a
Republican general assembly to dis
credit him. reduced the treasury bal
ance s2.652.s5s6s By making approprt
atlons exceed revenues and also Great
cd obligations amounting TO s2.00o.0oo
more By deciding TO build new strne
lures for state institutions. When the
revenues were reduced s5o0.O0 = yesr
BY voting out saloons and several hup
dred Thousands OF dollsrs were added |
10 the wrong column by the abolish
nent OF prison labor contracts Har
mons arms were apparently tied aud
his enemies laughed at his discomfort
The governor promptly reduced pubic