The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1916-09-15
eENEFIcIENT LAWS FOR LABOR
OPPOSED sY THE "WETs" IN
THE LEGISLATURE ALWAYS.
RECORDS SHOW THE FACTS
Read the "Friendiy Interest" which
The "Wets" Have Shown When
Labor Was Interested.


landslide this fall. The "wets" have
attempted to convey the impression
that wet legislators have ever beer
the friends of the common people. q
"As a matter of fact, the perform
ances of wet senators and representa-
tives in the capitol have from begin
ming to end been a story of ceaseless
endeavor to stifle everything that ir
any way has been progressive, or has
been aimed at giving the people
voice in tho government.
investigations conducted by the
Michigan Dry Campaign committee
In the hope of ascertoining just how
much untruth there IL in the charges
made by the vets, have brought to
light the fact that the present cam
paign by the so-called Liberty Lea
guers is but another of their cam
paigns Of misrepresentation. Records
on file in the journals Of the Michi
gan senate and house prove that In
the past ten years, year in and year
out, the "wets' have fought to the
finish against every law which would
change the old order Of machine poll
tics.
Vets Oppose Compensation Law
"Of all legislation upon the statute
books of Michigan intended for the
betterment and amelioration Of the
conditions of workingmen. the work
ingmens compensation law holds
highest place. This was passed in
1912. Every dry man in the house
and senate voted for this bill. The
only two ballots cast against it were
by Senators Murtha and Scott of De-
troit, the wet leaders.
This Is the way the "wets" attempt
ed to promote the interests and the
welfare of the workingmen Of Mich.
gan. This Is but one Of many such
efforts by the vets to kill those
measures which would help the man
who has to earn his bread and butter
by the sweat of his brow. This is
the sort of friendly interest the vets
have been showing in the welfare Of
their brothers"
but the legislative crimes Of the
vets, as set forth in the journals of
the Michigan house and senate, on file
in the law library at the capitol, are
practically without number.
when the question of the initiative
and referendum was up in 1907 ard
1908, it was the vets who fought it.
1t Is unnecessary to name any names.
Every wet in constitutional conven.
ton, when this issue was submitted,
fought it. Every man who wanted to
drive the liquor traffic out of the gov.
eminent was for IT, The vets, to fur.
the their own interests, would have
barred the voters of the state from
any active participation in the affairs
of government If they could, but
luckily they were unsuccessful. They
used every means within their power
to stem the tide, and 1t wasn't through
any fault of theirs that they didn't
succeed.
Would Limit Public Control.
ain 1909, when the, question of the
passage Of the primary election law
was before the house and senate, vets
were again the only active opponents
of the measure. This law, which was
drawn up by Lieut.. Governor Dickin-
son, has made it possible for the peo-
pie to choose their own candidates
for public office. 1t has given the
workingmen's candidates a chance to
be elected to office, where formerly
they were locked out Of the machine
controlled conventions.
But the vets didn't want any work
ingmen's representatives in the legis-
lative halls. They wanted only their
own machine-controlled, hand-picked
and when the law came
up for final passage it was wet votes
that were cast against it. Of the
few votes ballotted in opposition to 1t,
every enc was cast by men with
sympathies for the liquor interests.
These were Senators Bolt, MacKay,
Moriarty and Whitney.
"In 1915 there was law passed
compelling railroads to provide sani-
tary camps for their construction
crews. There was one vote In the
senate against this law and 1t was
cast by wet.
Dry Leaders Work For People.
ION the other hand, in every in
stanc where there has been any ques.
ton up involving the interests Of the
of Michigan, the drys
have been back of these measures and
have fought for them session after
session.
ut was the dry leader, Mr.. Dickin-
son. who put through the primary
law; the drys, all of them, in 1915 |
supported the law which provided for |
the organization of state board of |
mediation and arbitration, to help |
solve labor difficulties in time of |
strikes. Again when the 54-hour law
Tor women and children was passed,
every dry in the house and senate |
cast his vote for Il. This law forbids |
employers of women to compel them
% work more than "a hours q week, |
and forbids employment of children
until they are past school age.