The Detroit times. [volume] (Detroit, Mich.) 1903-1920, 1914-10-27
PROMINENT DEMOCRAT
WRITES WHY He WILL
NOT VOTE FOR FERRIS
tcon,inusd iron. Page Oas)

are 10 keep their opinions TO them
selves. ought TO join with you In con-
demnihg the men who are gold-brick-
ing the voters or Michigan.
have no selfish Interest I'm the re-
suit OF the election. And i sincerely
believe that no honest citizen. opposed
TO graft and machine rule-no clean
citizen. opposed 10 saloon domination
no democratic democrat OF the wilson
or Bryan type. ought TO vote for the
reelection of Gov. Ferris.
In taking this position i am not In.
nuenced by any personal prejudice.
have been personal friend OF all three
OF the nominees for governor Tor more
than n quarter OF century 1 nave
no personal quarrel with GOV. Ferris,
recollect. asked favor OF him. and 1
have had no personal interest what
ever In any office or appointment;
President Wilson were elected. / have
Loyalty and enthusiastically supported
Gov. Ferris every time he has been a
candidate. and had he remained true TO
the principles he formerly advocated,
would be supporting him now.
The reason i shall vote against Gov.
Ferris next week Is because he mas
repudiated the high ideals for which
he used TO stand-has suddenly become
acceptable TO the most dangerous ana
disreputible Influences In our state
, has betrayed and abused the confidence
OF the men who have for years honored
and trusted him. and has made an Alb
ject surrender to corrupt and con-
: scienceiess machine politicians.
III any sincere man wishes to Know
why progressive Democrats who Tor
years respected and supported Gov.
/ Ferris. are opposing him now, he has
which the governor delivered in pre-
vious campaigns, and contrast the
promises and professions which he then
made with the speeches which he Is
making in this campaign, or with what
/ he actually did after his election. For
instance. let him read the stirring and
: patriotic speech which Candidate Fer
i ported verbatim in the Free Press the
\ next morning and contrast that speech
with the speech he made a few days
IN wnieh he sTs snd MSen
: elected, and gave the assurance desir-
: ed by his machine and saloon sup
porters that he had long ago given up
any Intention OF living up TO those
| In every campaign prior 20 his cleo
ton Gov Ferris boldly and bitterly de-
nounsed political maeni1es In nth. the
4 said that the control OF conventions by
machine politicians, strengthened and
/ encouraged by official patronage. has
great and more dangerous TO our sys-
tenn of government than was slavery
/ In 1890" The truth OF those words
a deliberate and desperate attempt was
! made to steal both nominations for
| president and nominate Taft and Har-
mon. BY means OF the double-action
| machine OF the Note-Swappers' League.
| and by the most brazen and shameless
| violation OF the state law governing
| caucuses and conventions, the machine
| robbed the voters OF both parties In
| the Wayne county conventions. and
! thereby stole most OF the state dele
| gates to the national conventions. In
the Republican National convention
nomination OF Taft. when four ffths OF
/ the party wanted Roosevelt. Gov. Os-
born had the courage and consistency
TO repudiate the crime: and Tafts vote
/ proved the wisdom Of his course. In
/ the Democratic national convention the
. crime contemplated when the Wayne
stolen would also have been consum-
: mated had II not been for the courage
F.! and persistency OF VIM. j. Bryan. But
with this confirmation Of his previous
warnings fresh I'm his mind, the first
thing that Gov. Ferris did after he was
elected governor was to give his best
and most important appointments TO
men who had shamelessly broken the
laws OF the state In an attempt to per-
petrate a crime against the people of
the whole United states. In Detroit
two OF his best appointments were CIV
en- to two members OF the committee
which tore up the credentials of legal
/, ly elected Wilson delegates and seated
non-residents In their places, aud a
third was given TO a burly bruiser who
threatened Wilson delegates with per.
sonal violence because they insisted
/ upon their legal rights I'm that conven-
4 tion.
! Your space would not permit me to
mention. even in the briefest terms, the
many ways In which Gov. Ferris has
/ Ideals" and to the expectations of his
( former friends Among them are his
( negiecting state business TO attend 10
his own affairs; his support of the
4 tel mr.
J the fake cooperative corporation Dill
I, which was substituted in place of the
! bill which the Cleaners and Changers
! asked the Legislature to pass; his care
! iessness In signing bills. evidenced by
his admission In one case. at least, that
he never knew he had signed such
ers: the Character OF many OF his APP
pointments. and the general weakness
! OF his administration. II any of my
Democratic friends think that am un-
! debate the desirability OF his 're-elec-
! ton with any one or more OF them at
! any time before election. and at any
place except In saloon.
4 In every campaign before his cleo
ton, Gov. Ferris warned the people
| against the danger OF placing great
power in the hands Of appointiye or.
fcers. and in q speech that Is before
me as write he said:
\ We favor the adoption OF such
| legislation or constitutional amend
4
hpn OF railroad and tax commits
| sioners by direct vote Of the peo-
1 pie >. The idea that In
! democratic form of government the
railroad and tax commissioners.
| should not be selected by the peo-
pie. Selected now by the machine,
| by the moneyed interests back of
that that rule you and me and the
| great state of Michigan tonight
| Think Of IL, my friends assembled
here. -
/ After his election. Gov. Ferris. instead
Of urging the control OF these commits
sions b. the people. helped to increase
/ the power which these irresponsible
commissioners had over the people:
| He opposed the repeal OF the Joker
| in the Giles telephone act and secured
the passage of a still stronger law,
/ which destroyed the principle OF home
rule" which was another reform which
Candidate Ferris had advocated. The
/ new law gave Gov. Ferris railroad
| commission the power with which they
| have strangled several farmers tele-
phone companies. and the authority
which they exercised by Quitting in"
to the investigation Of our local tele-