The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-01-21

Who Led the Fight for the Investi-
CATION of Attorney General jackson.
The administration leaders in the
house sought to substitute the Barrier
resolution for the Orr document and
lost their point on a roll call vote 80
to "a. The Barrier resolution called for
a general investigation of all the public
departments, and was prompted by the
governors message in reply to the SEN
ate resolution respecting his contingent
fund. The house minority, however
knew full well that there was no profit
to be gained from "monkeying" with
the gubernatorial buzz saw, and turned
their exclusive attention to the attor-
ney generals office and the fee system
OF the prohibitory law.
The administration campaign was
badly conducted at Friday afternoons 8
session. The leaders would better have
urged the adoption of both resolutions.
Then the governors contingent fund
investigation could have been had and
the minority investigators would have
seen the ghosts Of misspent efforts come
to show them how foolish they had
been 1t is a well known fact that the
governor has spent hundreds. If not
thousands of dollars of his own money
while travelling on state business.
After the defeat of the Barrier sub
stitute in the house Friday afternoon
mously 1t only remains for the senate
to pass a similar resolution and for
both houses to appoint their committees
and then the investigation will begin.
What will come of it is hard to predict.
The political opponents of ex-Attorney
General Jackson claim that his office
has collected from 900 to 500, 900 in
fees IN enforcement of the prohibitory
law the past four years, while his po-
litical friends claim that he has COL
mn
resolutions was right off the bat and
the pitchers were putting plenty of
English on the ball That debate was
acrimonious. Orr supported his resolu-
ton in speech in which he made SEN
SatiOnal charges in regard to what he
called THE prostitution of the office
to the business of collecting fees. Wat
son of Allen and Mercer of Chase and
Matson of Sedgwick all went after the
gentleman from Atchison in most
personal fashion. Orr returned the at
tack with usury. The prohibition ques-
tton was brought bodily into the debate
and made a part thereof. DonCarIos
of Douglas accused Kelley of Shawnee,
another Democratic orator, who was
supporting the Orr resolution, of being
a member of the Merchants and Man
ufacturers' National association and ad-
ded further that he had been support
ed in the campaign by that organiza-
tion. Kelley was not hard to f1n6 when
this accusation was made. He denied
both charges emphatically.
The Democratic speakers called the
Barrier resolution an attempt 70 white
wash the attorney generals Office and
added a lot of other unkind things for
trimmings and spangles to go with the
garment.
But it remained for Cassin of Craw-
ford county to make the oration of
the afternoon. Cassin Is a little man
with a bald head and is past the
prime of life; he has the appearance
of a mild hammered gentleman who
would dodge trouble if he could. But
1t is not so. His appearance is decep-
tive. He entered the debate like q
man who loves fighting for its own
sake and hunted up the center of the
trouble zone at once. He called on the
gods to witness that his county had
been preyed upon by the law violators
on the one hand and the law enforce.
ment element on the other and he die
not know which had made the mos
out of it. He told about men lean NJ
purse who had become fat and pros.
porous while upholding the prohibi.
tory law in his part of the state. He
declared that the law was enforced
from a strictly commercial stand.
point in his bailiwick. The fact is
Cassin emptied the sack before he sa'
down and he had such an earnest anc
simple style about him that the house
gave him a liberal hand when he sal
down.
The following is the roll call vote or
the motion to substitute the Barrie1
resolution for that by Orr of Atchison
Yeas-Barrier, Burtis Case, Cones
Daily. Davis of Ottawa, Davis of Sedg
wick, DeCamp. Don Carlos Ellis
Emerson. Ewing, Johnson, Kerr. KYLE
Iaing, Manchester, Martin, Matson
McComb, Miller, Moore, Newlin, No
bla Ostiind Parker. Turner. Watson