The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1911-02-10
RECALL is BEATEN
Senate Defeats Another Reform
Measure DecisiVely.
Vote After Long Discussion Was
% to 10.
Use THE HEAVY GUNS
Bill BOmbarded From All Sides
Of the Room.
Senator Price Points Out Pop
uIistic Tendencies.
USE THE HEAVY GUNS


ing in the band wagon, the stand pat
forces this afternoon again overrode
the administration and minority com
bination and shattered the hopes of
recall by a decisive vote of % to 15-
AS was evidenced in the I. and r.
fight, the reform crowd vas poorly or
ganized and the reactionary orators
bombarded from every position with
their heavy artillery.
Hamilton of Shawnee led the fight
for the reform measure. His speech
for the resolution brought applause,
but Price of Clark attacked the To-
peka member with a flood of questions
that caused the discussion to border on
the edge of personal expression. Brew
ster criticised tn eadvanced govern
ment theories and pointed to the fact
that he had twice been called upon
to appeal from the oppression of the
chair.
No sooner had the clerk finished the
reading of the resolution than the
well oiled machinery of the opposition
was set in motion and Brewster, Stew
art and Price bombarded the bill from
every conceivable source. They de-
clared that the bill was an echo of the
Vagaries of an unscruplous adminlstra-
tion which hoped to inflame the public
mind and ride into office on false is
effort to make puppets of real men
who bore convictions and endeaVored
to administer the affairs of their OF
flee with the best ultimate results:
Every amendment offered to the bill
was voted down and for two hours
the statesmen of the upper house shed
oratory as a duck sheds water. AT
noon motion to adjourn was voted
down With bitter determination the
two factions went into the fight to win.
hai p,xnT the
individual members and stubbornly
stayed on the job until the final roll
call a few minutes before 1 o'clock
Price sarcastically pointed to the
Populistic tendencies of the reformers
and declared that as usual the bill oc-
cupied too much space He wanted
large slice removed from several sec
.tions. but it did not take. Then, aided
by Stewart of SedgWick he offered to
increase the size of the resolution. No
results.
With another amendment in his
hand, the Clark county senator heaped
denunciations on the men who had
framed the bill. He declared that
every man was entitled to day in
court; that q man charged of an Of
fense should receive due notice and be
given a proper hearing. He said that
the crowd which wore the cloak OF
true reform came to the senate with
a well defined purpose of removing
from a nhonest official every convic-
ton they possessed. He said the ad-
ministration's desire WAS not to make
good officials, but to make towards of
the men who held the offices of public
trust, that they behind the scenes
might build up a powerful machine.
Stewart was equally incensed. He
wanted the district in which the recall
was presented, to guarantee to the Of
ficial his expense in case the recall
failed. He criticised the bill generally
Il history q show wa
a bad thing
"If this act had been on our statute
books the last so years" declared
Stewart. I'VE would have recalled
Lewellyn. Leedy, and Morrill,. We
would have not only recalled Edmund
G. Ross for his vote in the United
States senate but we would have
hanged him because of his vote for
Andrew -Jhnston. Honest. fearless
public officials should be protected and
this bill removes from them every de-
fense. For these reasons I am against
the bill in its entirety
Robertson replied. He said the Stew
art amendment would wave the red
flag in the state and make the en-
forcement of law a laughing stock He
pleaded to give the people a chance u
express their sentiments and argued
for the passage of the bill and the
slaughter of the Stewart amendment
The amendment was defeated.
Senator Hamilton declared that the
fear of recall existed in the minds of
the men who opposed the bill. He
pointed to the situation in Topeka and
declared that no recall was attempted.
although the commission gave to the
people the chance to remove Mayor
Billiard If they so desired. Hamilton
then showed the workings of the law
in Seattle, where the mayor of the
city wa removed by more than 1000
majority. Hamilton believed that the
mayor of Seattle was naturally op-
posed to the law, and nkened the
gtandpat members to the Washington
condition.
''If this bill had been in force at the
time of the battle of Bull Run" said
Brewster, president Lincoln woul3
have been recalled and our country
would have fallen. I want these men
to tell me where we are drifting. Here
is a party platform measure in which
no man in this senate had a word in
the making. 1t was built in advance
and showed down the throats of fba
men who attended the meeting. regard
less of the opposition to MANY of the
platform policies"
Brewster declared that he raised an
objection on the floor of the council
but Overruled and told he should ba1re
made his protests the previous day and
before the resolutions We're read Ia
appealed to the insurgents to tell him
if this was the policy of good govern
ment by and for the people. Then RreN-
ster referred to the gag rule of the
senate and asked if the administration
endorsed it.
1t was at this stage of the proceed
ings that Price tapped the big vein of
Cratory of the session and sent the
reformers to the repair shop. The Ash
land lawyer Waded into the enemy witt,
a load of argument that brought heat
ed retaliations from Hamilton and il
required the attention of Richard Hon