Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1912-10-18
TAXATION and
ASSESSMENT ARE
MARTINS Themes
Progressive Gubernatorial
Candidate Holds Large
and Enthusiastic Meeting
at Idaho Falls.
Capital News Special service)

Progressive nominee for governor,
held large and enthusiastic meeting
here last night. which. together with
other indications plainly visible locally,
indicates that Progressive sentiment is
increasing in Bonneville county.
Mr.. Martin here again declared In
favor OF a public utilities commission
modelled along lines that he has fire.
quently outlined during the campaign.
Upon the question Of taxation he
called to the attention Of the people
OF Bonneville county that the valu-
atoms Of telephone lines had been de-
creased by the state board of equaliza-
ton $3.50; had cut down the valuation
of the Elva spur OF the Oregon Short
Line railroad company from $4,000 to
$4,000 per mile and how the total net
increase Of all the telephone and rail-
road lines in the entire county of Bon
neville was only $4,000 while the in
crease on other property had been
from 10 to 100 per cent. the aggregate
increase for these other classes of
property for the county being $1,211.-
900.
That Reform From Within.
In his speeches throughout this Sec
tion Of the state Mr. Martin pays par
ticular attention to the claims made
by many Republicans that the Repub-
lican party can be reformed from
within. He combats this position by
declaring that there Is no likelihood
that the Republican national commit
tee of 1916, a self-perpetuating COM
mittee, will be more honest than the
same committee was in 1912. Along
this line Mr.. Martin says:
The invisible government pretends
now to believe that Mr.. Roosevelt Is a
dangerous man but the American peo-
pie believe that the declarations of the
Republican platform of 1908 were true
then and are true now, and that the
greatest thing he has done Is the in
spiration to us who have yet greater
things to do. There are some good.
honest men who still cling to what is
left Of the Republican party and who
still cling to the hope that that party
can be reformed from within. In my
Judgment, it would be just as reason
able to expect that Hades might some
day be reformed from within. Go back
with me in memory to the seven years
of Roosevelt's administration and re-
view the history of those years. and II
your memory is accurate you will
realize now as you never did before
that during those seven years Roose-
welt was fighting for the rights Of CON-
mon humanity against this same in
visible government. He was fighting
to reform the party from within. You
will realize another thing, that, what
he accomplished was wrung from an
unwilling and hostile majority of tbeI
members of congress Of his own party
by the use of the big stick" and with
the assistance of certain progressive
Democrats backed up by the over
whelming sentiment of the people of
the United States.
In the pre-convention campaign OIL
1912, when II became apparent that
President Taft would be renominated
and that there was no hope that any
progressive like La Toilette or Cum
minis could win the nomination from
him, Mr.. Roosevelt at the call of the
progressive element of his party again
took up the fight for the reformation
of his party and the progressive Re-
publicans of the country in spite of the
rotten borough delegations from the
south. and i'm spite OF the hand picked
tually selected enough delegates to the
Republican national convention to|
control the nomination and write the
party platform. The Republican ma
tiOnal committee however, by actual
theft overturned the peoples victory,
denied progressive Republicans the
right to reform their party and denied
the Republican voters the right to
tl,a dot .,f
And the Republican convention con-
trolled by the invisible government
ratified and confirmed that theft. and
in the making Of its platform refused
to adopt the proposed platform plank
for presidential primaries. On the
seventeenth day of September the Re-
publican committee removed from its
membership all those members who
refused to accept the action Of the Re-
publican national convention as bind
ing upon them. In one instance, the
committee declined to accept the resig-
nation of progressive member, but
removed him for treason to the
party"
No Progressivss on Committee.
Four years from now, there will not.
therefore, be one single prog ressive on
the national committee who can raise
his voice in behalf OF the peoples rights
and protest against the theft Of another
nomination. In our state although
the members OF the Republican party
on the first day of last June were 95
per cent progressive. the reactionary
element managed to control the party |
machinery and Is today trying to force !
progressive Senator Borah to ratify
the action of the Republican national |
convention and the Republican nation |
al COMMITTEES In stealing a presidential |
nomination or 10 trying to force him |
out OF the party. On the evening fol- |
lowing the Roosevelt meeting In Boise, |
John M. Harlan. the man hired by the |
Republican NATIONAL committee, spoke
in the Pinney theater in Boise. The
meeting was under the auspices Of the
Republican state central committee |
and the speaker was introduced by the |
secretary Of that committee and In his
speech. Mr.. Harlan made direct at
tack upon Senator Borah In the fol-