The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1916-10-05
been submitted to the voters and they
have expressed their desire to have IL

Ill opportunity TO DullQ lnem, Dut
which will not force such improve
ments upon communities not desiring
them.
II do not believe that the city should
be permitted to force road improve
ments upon the farmer, or that the
country voter should be permitted to
force them upon the city. Il believe
that road improvements should be
authorized by vote Of the people,
the city and country voters balloting
separately, and that no such improve
ment should be authorized unless it
carries in both city and country
Il am for gravel where gravel is
available, but believe that the local
what it needs and desires in the way of
road improvement.
There you have my position on the
temperance and good roads issues. l
believe my attitude has been stated as
plainly and in as Straightforward a
manner as it is possible to state it."
Mr.. Meredith then proceeded to take
up the record of his opponent, and
to attack it upon the ground Of incon-
sistency
II believe you will all agree with me
what may be- expected of a candidate
when he is elected is not what he says
he is going to do, but what his record
shows him to have already done along
the same lines" said Mr.. Meredith.
II am willing to concede that Mr..
Harding might suddenly have become
a convert to the cause of prohibition.
It is possible, too, that he might have
discovered that he erred when he at
tempted to load taxation upon the
farmers as member of the legislature
He might have changed his views re-
Gently upon the subject of roads, al
though he did vote for paved high
ways when in the legislature. Also, it
Is within belief that he might have
discovered he was mistaken in his
stand for public utilities commission
when he had chance to vote for a
bill the corporations wanted.
But l do not believe, and do not
believe any of you will believe, that
Mr.. Harding is actuated by any desire
other than to get votes when he claims
to have completely changed his atti-
tude upon all of these things, and to
have made all these changes since he
decided to run for governor.
II am not asking you to take my
word for the Inconsistency Of Harding.
"His legislative record condemns
him. His letter to Del HuntoOn, dated
October a. 1911, shows his alliance with
the brewers Harding himself never
claimed to be other than wet until the
present campaign.
GAS on the liquor question, SO on
roads. He voted for S. F. 217 Of the
session Of 1909, the only bill for the
paving of country roads which ever
passed an Iowa legislature. And on
Hardings own motion this bill was
amended to assess not less than SO
per cent of the cost of the paving to
the abutting property owner.
"He now claims to champion the
cause of the farmer, yet in 1909 he in
troduced a bill to pay over to the cities
every cent of the county road tax col
lected upon property within the limits
of incorporated towns, thus throwing
the entire burden of the building and
repairing of country roads upon the
farmer
"He voted for bill, S. F. 421, of the
session of 1911, which permitted the
taxing of a special two mill levy
against rural property for the county
road fund, but specifically exempted
all town property from the same tax.
And he fought the provision Of the
automobile license law which gives to
the rural roads the counties share of
the automobile license revenue.
"Now he claims to be standing up
for the farmer.
"He says am trying to burden the
farmers with taxation. But he doesn't
attempt to explain his own record, be-
cause he can't.
Harding says, too, that he is op-
posed to state commissions. Yet Hard
ing himself worked for two sessions
of the legislature to put over a state
tax commission. He introduced two
bills, one in 1909 and another in 1911,
with this end IN view, and engineered
the passage in the house Of S. F. 1877,
, the tax law revision commission bill
of 1911. This was the bill under which
: q tax commission was appointed which
reported in favor of a permanent tax
commission, and whose report was re-
jected by the legislature because 100,-
900 farmers of the state protested
against it. If Iowa hasn't got per-
manent tax commission it isn't Hard
ing's fault.
Harding, you may have noticed,
got $1,000 campaign contribution in
the primaries from William G. Bows.
Cedar Rapids public utility owner.
BOWS never gives away his money fool
ishly, but Harding earned his chunk,
all right. He voted for the Crist pub
lie utilities bill Of the legislative ses-
sion of 1911.
"This was a fine little bill for the
corporations. One section gave every
corporation in the state a perpetual
franchise. Another gave the commits
sion complete control over the max
ing Of all rates, 1t took from the local
communities every bit Of control they
have over their own public service
corporations And the same Harding
who voted for this bill is now trying
to make the voters believe he Is sim
cerely opposed to Capitalization of