The Chattanooga news. [volume] (Chattanooga, Tenn.) 1891-1939, 1920-07-31
THINGS TosfxPLAiN.

VI law 10 the supreme ttsue OF the present
y campaign FOR governor. that there are
other acts Of hin decentralization tina
ought to DO elucleAted before the pri
nary The goySypor has gone out into
many FIELDS, charkes the correspondent
I'd snatch power from other departments
Of the state government that no Other
Boyerncr even wanted. and which nc
II governor shoyd have. The truth II
i that Gov. RdYerts conceived the idea
early In hiaSoccupation OF the exec
utive Office hat a governor should BIZ
\ Big BossXhhat he should lord 1t over
all Of the, IN partments and make OF him
self the cogrt OF last resort in appoint
ing men I'D women to positions under
the state government.
He beEhn reaching out after greater
power a4d influence early In his career
az govafhor. His actions attracted the
4 attentifn OF a great many people, and
Iespecifily the members OF the general
ASSEMBLY. This was very clearly and
foIpefplly shown in the communication
OF Hlnius" which was reproduced In
The News Thursday. Gov. Roberts
whipped some thirty bills through the
legislature charging the authority Of
the governor. These measures placed
Ign. ex-officio, in positions where he
cbuld appoint and fix the. pay OF an
army Of state employees. and through
|.thig hold on them influence their polit-
Veal action. That they were duly in
fitenced Ia shown by the large num-
Der OF state employees now out in the
country. away from their duties at
Nashville, in violation Of sound prin-
ciple, rounding UP all straying cattle
MD driving them back into the gov
ernor's pasture. The country Ii full Of
these employees Of the administration
and all of them are defending the gov
ernor. Is the state paying their ex-
pSnses7
Gov. Roberts began this personal or
ganjzation work by organizing the legis-
lature. No man who would not wear
the Roberts collar was likely to be ia
vored with a place Of importance In the
organization. This rule applied to all
legislative committees, minor officers,
clerks, doorkeepers and the like.
The governor saw In the peniten-
t,ary organization a field for political
work Of the personal kind. Through q
law which he may have written him
self. he became a member OF the peni-
tontiary ring. He saw that leases that
had been terminated by Gov. Rye, were
renewed, and by this act continued COM
petition between convict and free labor
He refused to put convict labor on the
roads and highways. In this action he
ignored a law. State Manager Lewis
s. Pope defends the operation OF the
penitentiary system, now practically
under the control OF the governor. and
by adding the money. for which certain
timber was sold at Brushy Mountain.
TO the earnings OF the penitentiary.
shows small profit. Did Gov. Rob-
orts direct Mr.. Pope to claim the pro-
ceeds of this timber sale az earnings
OF the penitentiary? Mr.. Pope Is a
lawyer and n good bookkeeper, we are
told, and therefore we can hardly be-
Hive that he would have made this
claim without orders from higher
authority. Sale OF timber Is merely
disposlng of property that belonged to
the state and the proceeds have no
PLACE In the earnings Of the peniten-
t'ary system. The system did not earn
that money. Col. Crabtree was right In
leaving It out OF his calculation in ar
r!ving at the earnings OF the peniten-
tinry system.
Gov. Roberts took control OF all state
Institutions through his acquired au-
thority to make appointments and FIX
salaries, IL must bA remembered that
no appointment can be made In these
departments and no salary paid, with
out the approval Of the governor. Col.
Crabtree has charged that this system
cost the people OF the state over MIL
lion dollars IN the past eighteen months.
| Gov. Roberts has not. 80 far as we have
observed, paid the least attention to
/ sRl,n af
| Why not explain H. GOVERNOR
Another thing. General Manager Pope
snys In a carefully prepared statement
that production Of coal and coke at
Brushy Mountain has shown decline
this year, as compared with other years
and previous administrations because
no has not been working so many men
IN the mines. Here IL an admission
that while the people Of the state are
paying heretofore unheard-of prices for
coal. and not certain to get II at any
price. the penitentinry management, OF
which the governor 10 q Tiiember, has
been working convlcts mt something else
| than digging out coal to aid In the
| problem of relieving the coal shortage.
| What il of greater Importance In Ten
| nessee now than an adequate coal sup
| ply2 Is II true that the state will be
| fol- ced 10 20 into the open market this
fall for coal to heat its institutions?
The governor might explain these things
| also.
The various departments Of the state
| government have been filled with
friends Of the governor without mitch
reference to their efficiency. Every
department OF the government has n
largely increased payroll. made UP OF
now men and women appointed by the
| governor himself or by one OF his APP
poIntees. Gov. Roberts ought TO take
tho people into his confidence, II he
can, and explain why the cost OF oper-
ating the state departments 10 80 much
greater than II was under Gov. Rye
| Falling back on the argument that
everything costs more under prevailing
economic conditions will not do. for
high prices prevailed under Gov. Rye's
last year in office. Many necessities
cost more in 1918 than they do now.
The fact that Gov, Roberts adminis-
tratlon has been most extravagant can
not be successfully denied by the ablest
defenders OF the governor. Discussion
OF the tax law has doubtless served
to keep this extravaganza In the back
ground TO certain extent, but II pops
up now and then TO worry the governor.
| II 10 also true that the governors lust
for power, ms shown in the foregoing.
will not keep quiet, There are 30 many
things az a matter OF fact that the gov
ernor should explain that they cannot
be enumerated in the scope Of one edi-
torial. Explaining all Of them, we ad-
nit, 10 a terrible tax on the governors
lung power.
| WHAT 10 AT STAKE.
The control OF the state government
fer the next two years will be decided
next Thursday.
| What sarf ~ n SAVANNAH AnAa thu VOl-