The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1912-02-21

street Columbus, Ohio.
TIe glegaAnd P34iplD Her3 ibl!sh-
ed the fohtwins fEbriaq srlgsrt pg
Governor Harmon's Speech before the
sdpsttpeonaE ieonythdqSl;Ei
! i"Enendes of Coy. ( Hhfn1on have
sdlzed upon : DIS address before the
! constitutional convention the other
day as further evidence OF his unit.
mess 10 lead his party indhe hpproatSh- /
ing presidential campaign., That was
TO be expected IA oighf to be i'm
sisted upon that tbe governor, how
ever criticised, should not be misrcp-
resented
ION the subject of the initiative and
/ referendum. for instance, Mr.. Har.
mon did what few men In his posi- ion
Woud have done-uttered a word OF
caution against too has.y adoption
of an inevitable program
] "Ile did not condemn direct legls-
lation. Much less did he declare the
pecfae Of Ohio unfit for seM-govern-
ment.
! THE governor signed the Crossor
act providing for the initiative and
referendum for cities. He believed
1 that the principle contained in this
law should be given the test of actual
experience under Ohio conditions be-
fore II applied generally to the en-
tire state. In this, of course, he dr.
I fers with a majority Of the voters of
Ohio. His attitude will not change
the course of the constitutional con-
ventlon.
I'm his position on the liquor ques-
I tion. Mr.. Harmon has been similarly
misrepreser.ed. and by the same hos
tile agencies. In brief, the governors s
starll Is this: that the liquor traffic.
where the present laws permit II to
| be carried on. should be licensed in
stead of merely regulated as now.
"A license provision, as desired by
The governor, would not affect terri
tory now protected under local option
laws or territory which may come un-
der their protection in the future.
such a provision would have effect
only in those places which permit
liquor selling. Every local option law
now in existence or to be enacted in
the future would continue to have
fun force.
Something like the Massachusetts
plan is apparently what the governor
has In mind. lie wouAl regulate the
number OF saloons, put the control OF
licenses In the hands of a commis-
sion which would have authority to
revoke the license OF disorderly sa-
| loon. II is his belief that such sys-
TEN would bring the traffic under bet
ter public control than the system now
in force. He would, however. submit,
, the question to the voters Of the state
separately from the body Of the con-
stltution.
Whatever one thinks of the gov
ernors stand on these various issues,
1t is at least worth while to understand
| exactly what his stand Is"
Secretary OF State Graves, whose
keen business instinct has improyed d
the conduct OF affairs in the iispart-
ment of state, inaugurated "a new pol
icy when he deposited daily receipts
OF the automobile registry department
az. good rate of interest
In the first month OF the present
year such money deposited by Mr.
Graves earned 1856 INTEREST. That with
the principle, S94,219.77 has been
paid into the state treasury by Mr..
Graves. IL is the largest inonjh's
revenues 10 the state from that de-
partment since Vt was established. The
interest earnings on money which the
automobile department WIN deposit