The Penn's Grove record., 1916-09-29
PAST RECORD BAD
HUGHES ACTS AS GOVERNOR OF
NEW YORK CONDEMN HIM.
Vetoes Of important Legislation Show
That He Well Earned the Title Of
1.-THE Great Evader"-unwor-
thy Of Peoples Trust.

Delivers into. the veto records of
Charles Evans Hughes, the Republican
nominee for president, while he was
governor of the state of New York In
1907, 1908, 1909 and 1910, are demon
strating that In addition to his recent
ly earned pseudonym of THE Great
Pathfinder" he also merits that of
The Great Evader." In proof, they
have brought to light his vetoes Of
numerous important bills which show
that he reveled in a smugness Of
speech which to the superficial reader
might sound erudite and highly Judi
cial, but which upon searching analy-
sis utterly failed to reveal Hughes
attitude upon the fundamental princi-
pies involved.
Many of Hughes most important We
toes, they point out, indicate his readi-
ness to dodge commitment by trans
ferring responsibility to a public serv-
ice commission uncontrolled by the leg
islature or by the people, thereby in
curing the danger of giving autocrat-
ic legislative power to a bureaucracy
which might become dangerous.
Examiners of the Hughes record
further emphasize that he denied the
right of the legislature to define pub
lie policy, made of the legislature a
rubber stamp" and assumed a high
ly equivocal attitude on giving woman
s~choolteachers in New York city
equal pay with men for equal work,
lodged the eight-hour labor princi-
ole in his veto of bills providing for
three-platoon system of police service,
which is now largely in effect in the
larger municipalities of the United
States. Investigators also find that
Hughes was astonishingly prone to an
ticipate the rulings of courts by as
Stunning what their decisions would be,
and by his veto to- deny courts the op-
%portunity to pass upon legislative
measures.
OF all of Hughes vetoes which his
critics say would have richly justified
the pseudonym of THE Great Evader'
by the lodging character of language
employed, his veto of the bill Fixing
the Salaries of Members of the Super
vising and Teaching Staff of Public
Schools of the City of New York;
equal pay for equal work for wom-
an teachers). May 90, 1907. is now es-
pecially conspicuous. Following is
Hughes language:
"The proposition as it is put-'equal
pay for equal works an attractive
one, and set forth on behalf of the
worthy public servants who are en-
gagged in this important calling, it has
elected a large measure of support
while at the same time it has pro-
voked vigorous opposition from those
who believe that the desired legisla-
ton would be unfortunate both for
the schools and the woman teachers.
But it is manifest that the principle
is one of general application and it
should not be adopted by the state I'M
less the state is prepared to apply it
generally. The question is necessar-
lily n of state policy, and as such it
should be presented and debated be-
fore action is taken.
IF sound, it should be applied in
our state hospital service, in our chart
table and reformatory institutions, and
generally throughout the civil service
of the state. 1t is indefensible that a
principle of grave Importance to the