The Glenwood post., 1912-10-19
DEMOCRAT PARTY
BANKRUPTS STATE
Some Examples Of BungIing
Tactics of the Present
Administration
COMPARISONS 0D|OUS

comparison of the records
of republican and democratic state
administrations for the past six
teen years abundantly demonstrates
the wisdom of putting republicans N
office, and the folly ot elccting demo-
Gratis. The recorG mas been often print
ed, and never denied or questioned. II
Shows uniformly that the democrats
la,e been eXtravaGan:. Incompetent
and wastefu', while tile republicans
lave been eff.ri-'o and economical
THE is no real TO ., ovef tha
wicc record sgIin at length, but Il
hri summary ma be useful, fer me
mo, es are shJft, and figures escape
the recollection Dur'ng The Adams and
t.humas admins f;:.ions tine state WIS
cbig9a to 30 in deli for the bare no
2rss'',e of EfH State warrant, ,r,
~ lscount. iioirrnr 7. oml. hal
to borrow $4,000 from the Denver
clearing house banks on his personal re
sponsibility in order to keep the state
institutions from shutting their doors.
Under the Orman administration there
was an orgy of extravaganza never be
fore equalled the history of tine
state. The Legislature made a special
appropriation of $25l, 800 in what was
known as the 'short appropriation
bill,'' which was intended to be used
to pay the debts of previous admins
trat:cns, including the $4,000 already
spoken of,>-whieh had been ~bor.owo 4
by Governor Thomas. In regard to this
appropriation, and the use that wiz
made of it, Governor Thomas wrote III
August, 1902:
I'm 1889 ] pledged the credit of the
state and promised that the pledge
should be redeemed. that our public in
stitntions might not suffer nor sus-
pend. I have tried and am still try
ing, vainly perhaps, to get these peo
pie their money
The general assembly promptly rec
ognized the justice not only of these
but of similar claims of previous ad
ministra.iona. Both houses concluded
to cover them in the temporary appro-
priation hi>l and its item of $25l ,1u0
was Intended for that purpose and no
other. 1t was by the act itself limited
to the executive and judicial expenses
for December, 1900, and January, Feb
ruary and March. 1901. The general
assembly emphasized this condition b.
of the final period. This was the usual
and customary appropriation, but whoi-
ly unnecessary if $25O,OOO had previous
ly been devoted to that purpose"
Instead of being used for the pur-
appropriating 100000 for the remainder
pose for which it had been intended
this huge fund of more than a quarter
of . million dollars was Jumped in with
the general incidental fund, and frit-
tered away in extravaganza, and none
of it was devoted to the specific pur
pose CT its creation. especial coun-
scl,n "axtra clerical assistance Gin
cidentals' aud the like, were suffered
dissipate this fund of more than three
times the usual amount needed for the
biennial period. In regard to this dis
sipation, Mr.. Thomas afterward wrote
in an open letter to Auditor Crouter;
" The items which constitute the
huge t.tal of Jidental expenditures
VIII either sustain or crush you. If
the former. public sentiment viii jlt
lv condemn tosc Shom you reproa'n
for nu,sticc, # the latter, you ca.
hardly hope to find refuge in denounh-
ing the agencies y. which your trans
actions have been revealed"
This was the situation when the TO-
I ulliran admin station came into pcw.
er in January Of 1903. Slipshod u,.ti
DDS prevailed in every department; in
the auditors office, there had been a
defalcation of more than $4,000; in
the auditing board no minutes had been
kept. It was next to impossible to find
out where the money had gone.
The republican administration under
Governor Peabody at once set out to
institute totally different system. Ex
tras of all kinds were absolutely cut
off. A thorough system Of auditing
WAS set in operation. The general in