Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1917-01-17

ment II is necessary to make such
changes to meet political conditions.
/ recommend such legislation as will
create the legal machinery necessary
to call state party conventions, at
which the representatives of the party
who have been elected by the people at
primary may meet and decide upon
the principles that the party shall ad-
vocate and stand for, such platform to
be accepted and agreed to by the can
| didates who seek election under the
party name.
1t is common practice in this state,
under the primary system, that voters
under the influence Of personal politi-
cal organizations are prevailed upon to
vote for the candidates of an opposing
party at the primary for their own
political advantage, or, what is still
more Objectionable, to carry out a
trade or agreement for mutual political
advantage with some candidate or his
! representatives Such practice is poll
teal corruption and should be stopped.
In order to protect our primaries
against such evil influences l recon,
l1EllQ THAT PtONiSAOuo NC Wy law
that win permit only the adherents of
a party to vote its ticket at primary
election.
Tenure of Office of Governor.
believe il to be clearly in the inter-
est of the people that the term of Office
of the governor be four years instead
of two years, as the constitution now
provides. / also recommend that the
secretary of state, state treasurer and
attorney general, who should consti-
tute the governors cabinet, be appoint
ed by him instead of elected as the
law now provides. Under our present
nor and the officers whom have
named are obliged TO devote too much
time to politics.
The needs of our state government
may be compared with those of a large
business. 1t is not engaged in money
making but has all the functions to
perform that come to a we'll organized
peoples government. The governor is
the responsible head and the people
will do , ell for themselves If they will
give him an opportunity to study, with
out interruption. the details of govern
ment, and make such Improvements in
the interest of efficiency and economy
as any good governor will wish to
make if he is given the time that he
needs to make the necessary investiga-
tions.
If he desires to be reelected, he
must devote practically the entire Sec
Of hi 70 10 ion
This neeessitates long periods of abb
sence from his office In fact, it makes
it impossible for him to give the atten-
ton to the states affairs that he
should. Furthermore, the expense con-
nected with the campaigns is too great
in fact much greater than the salary
which the office pays justifies. This
feature | regard as of special import
ance to the people for the following
reason: Under the primary system it
is necessary for the candidate for gov
ernor to make a statewide campaign
for his nomination. If he is nominated
he must again make statewide cam
paign for his election. The law per-
mits him to spend $4,000 for the two
campaigns, which is small amount
when we consider the fact that we
have 100000 men in the state who are
qualified voters. A poor man will be
unable to meet these campaign expen-
ditures with his salary and have any
thing left for his living expenses. The
result is, that he cannot aspire to the
office unless he is willing to accept
campaign contributions. which no gov
ernor should do.
The argument which | have pre-
sented here in favor of a four-year
term for the governor applies with
equal force to the secretary of state,
the state treasurer and the attorney
general. Furthermore, these officers
come to the capitol as part of the state
administration, of which the governor
is the responsible head. They should
be the governors advisors and should.
therefore, represent the same political
views as the governor. 1t is decidedly
injurious to the state government and,
therefore, loss to the people if any of
the departments are opposed to the
governors policies and engage in poll
teal schemes to make his adminiStra-
ton unpopular with the people.
Finally, / wish to remind you that il
is the desire of the people of the state
of Wisconsin that your body and the
governor protect them against reckless
extravaganza and that we will not in
crease the burden of taxation beyond
what it is necessary to do to give the
people an efficient government l also
hope that you will be impressed with
the suggestion that you so arrange
YOUR work that you will be able to adj
iourn at an early date and in that man
ner comply with the general public de
mand for a short session.
DEATH AND ILLNESS LAY
MARK ON LEGISLATuRE