The Farmington times. (Farmington, St. Francois County, Mo.) 1905-1926, 1921-04-15
Mass Convention of Democrats
Express Righteous indignation

labuses of power calculated to scan
dalize the state, without any manner
iof adequate safeguard.
I Various Boards
Assuming to eliminate useless Of
fees, the legislative program merely
shifts or transfers existing bureaus
under different official titles, to new
departments, with general increase oi
authority and the multiplication of of.
fetal positions. A nonpartisan State
Board of Agriculture, with boards re-
lating to horticulture and poultry and
the state fair, all heretofore nonparti-
san in character, are abolished, but
recreated as advisory bodies under q
partisan Commissioner of Agriculture,
appointed by the Governor, whose
powers absorb those of the boards he
supercedes. The Building and Loan
Bureau is abolished but reappears as
a subordinate bureau in a Department
Is9f Finance, which also absorbs the
Banking Department as a subordinate
bureau. The Industrial Commissioner,
the Bureau of Mines, the Inspection of
Oils, the Inspection of Beverages, the
Department of Food and Drug Inspec-
tion and the various other bureaus are
abolished, but appear as new bureaus
in two new departments, one known as
the Labor Department and the other
the Public Welfare Department, with
out reducing subordinate stats or
eliminating any so-called "useless Of
fees"
Appropriations were made for the
five new departments agriculture,
finance, labor, public welfare and bud
get--so that an accurate guide as to
their cost is furnished to the people of
the state. These new departments
are to cost approximately $1,000, 900
during the next biennial period, while
existing boards, departments and bu-
reaus superseded and transferred cost
only 81, 100000, net increase of about
100000 to the taxpayers of the state.
eve direct attention to this fragrant
reputation of the Republican cam
paign pledges, and invite considera-
tion in connection with the action of
the State Board of Equalization,
which has increased property assess
ments approximately one-third in the
city of st. Louis. and go per cent in
jackson county, and 112 per cent in
the 113 counties outside of the large
cities. Failure to prepare for this in
crease by an adequate lowering of the
tax rate will result in an increase in
taxation, for state purposes alone. of
approximately $5,000.000 during the
next biennial period. We char& that
this increased assessment, without
reduction in taxes, has
been made for the purpose of enab-
ling the, present state administration
to execute its plan for an enlarged
governmental system, with unprece-
dented increases in governmental cost.
Capitalization of Power.
"The constitution of the state Gre
ates three departments, recognized as
in representative gov
ernment---the executive, the judicial
and the legislative. The present state
administration has ventured far afield
in extending the scope of the Gov
ernor's participation in the powers of
the executive department by virtually
subordinating the constitutional off
GERS outside the governor to new set
IF officials, forming a so-called Gov
eEnor's Cabinet. This superior inner
circle, possessing unlimited powers, is
designed to- superimpose a guberna-
toriah autocracy over the state gov
ernment, created by the constitution,
Grave as this procedure may be, it
cannot even be justified upon the
grounds that it reduces state expens-