The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1912-10-19
Joe Mercer Will Run for Fourth
Term From Chase.
Has Made a Good Record in
State Legislature.
COLORED Men ARE FOR TAFT
Third Party Leaders De-
nOunced at State Convention.
Other Items of News in State
Politics.

Toe Mercer. state live stock commits
/ sioner. is making the race for a
fourth consecutive term as member
i of the legislature from Chase county.
/ Mercer has already served three terms
in the house and he made a record
/ for good, hard, honest endeaVOr. And
in his work as a law-maker, Mercer
has probably reflected more credit on
his home county than any man whom
/ Chase county ha- selected to protect
its interests since the county was
! founded.
( II was in 1907 when Mercer first
came to Topeka to help read just
] few laws which the Square Dealers
/ declared were out of harmony with
I Kansas Mercer had a card showing
/ that he vas a charter member OF the
! Square Deal movement. He had help
! ed to spread the gospel among the
boys on the COW plains of Chase coun-
/ ~ and when Mercer went to town
with a drove of cattle, he preached
the new gospel on the street corners
and in the postoftice. So, when the
Square Dealers needed a representa-
tive from Chase county, they picked
Joe Mercer as the man most likely to
go to the last ditch with their ngnt-
Mercer served his first term. 1t was
a rather uneventfui term. he dldn'
make many speeches, but he formed
habit of asking questions about pend
ing legislation and some of the ques-
, tions were quite annoying to the OPP
position. He possessed a pleasant smile
and made a good many friends. He
voted consistently and made an aver
age good first term legislator.
In 1909, Mercer came back. This time
it was by a larger majority. And In
the 1909 session. Mercer took place
on the fighting line. He made more
speeches, asked more questions ana
introduced a few bills of his own. he
was a stickler for the rights of the
Chase county cattle men and he COM
planned often and grievOusly because OF
The freight rates and the heel of OPP
preston that seemed always to rest on
the neck of his friends in the live
stock belt.
1t was in the course of the 1909
session that Governor Stubs gave
Mercer an appointment as live stock
sanitary commissioner. Mercer went
to work in his little office on the thlro
floor of the state house after serving
his second term in the legislature. ne
made a record for economy and active
interest in his work. He has been on
the Job all the time, only leaving To-
peka for his Chase county home Tor
an occasional Sunday visit That's the
fine thing about Mercer-hlS noneSl
sincerity and his pride in his work.
He was elected for third term TO
the legislature in 1910 and won his
highest honors in the 1911 session as
chairman of the ways and means COM
mittee, the most important commit
tee appointment in the house OF rep
resentatives. Hard work, hard sense
and fearlessness in council and debate
characterized the Chase county man
in that session.
Mercer is a square out Progressive,
bur it is a safe bet that he has more
warm friends among Topeka Regulars
than any Progressive from Wyandotte
to Syracuse. without regard to party
or faction, Topeka people who know
Mercer are hoping he'll come back to
the next session. Men of his type ana
disposition help their party, their
country and their state in places OF re-
sponsibility.
It was in the summer just CLOSED
that the horse plague came to Kan
sas Mercer stayed in the state house
during the hot months of July and
August and directed the fight to put
down the epidemic. He worked ABOUT
90 hours a day while the plague was
causing the death of hundreds OF
horses in western Kansas. And Mer-
Ger never stopped until the disease was
blocked.
Now Mercer is candidate for a
fourth term. He may go home Tor
week to look after his campaign. And
he may not. The voters in chase
county are quite we'll acquainted with
Mercer and his way of doing Things
and Mercer may l6dNe the IleblINA ~
tireIy in their own hands
At the state wide conference of COL
ore6 men held this week in Lawrence
endorsing the adm1n13tra-
tiou of President Taft were adopted
No mention is made in the resolution
concerning the issues in Kansas furth-
er than to denounce the Third party
leaders. and colored men attending the
Lawrence conference made clear their
Civilization to the Taft administration
81 j endorsed his candidacy for re-
election.
II their resolutions, the conference
viewed the political situation in this
language
Whereas. there is prevalent in the
iand a spirit of unrest and a desire to
Overturn a long established custom OF
government and the manner of obtain
ing the same and
whereas the spirit is but the re
v'vaI of the doctrine of states rights
V hich must ever be determined to the
best interests of this country and
Whereas, the present attempt ["
fo:st upon the Republican party the
ideas as advocated by agitators
throughout the land is but another at
tempt to resurrect the spirit of state :
risF is therefore be it
Resolved by this conference assem-
+ ed that we condemn The efforts of
men who have been highly honored by
The Republican party to disrupt IFS
examination by the organization of =
new party within it's ranks and white
We condemn the efforts. we pledge our
support to the party of Lincoln, Grant
and Mckinley and endorse the action
cf the Republican nationa' convention
in Chicago and its platform. And be
1t further
Resolved. that we endorse the posi-
ton of President Taft with reference
10 law enforcement in this country and
fray that the ideas as expressed by
h'm live and grow until a proper re-
spect for the law shall be moulded in