Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1925-01-09

shall forget that after all there are
great principles of government also
Germ ourselves with these II our
views are to flnd effective express
sion.
A century of American experience
seems to have demonstrated that it
is practicable to be a good citizen
and at the same time to recognize q
proper loyalty to a party. Abraham
Lincoln was not ashamed to be called
Republican and at proper times
and in proper places to recognize his
to the party which had given him
the great power that he used so
wisely and SO well.
We have been sent here as rep.
resentatives Of one or the other of
the great political parties in this
State. These parties have for genera
tions commanded the allegiance of
Americans who have builded this
county, to a position dleo Of pre- pre-
world We shall consider carefully
before we abandon this tested party
system for the anarchy that seems
inevitably to ensue when the advo-
cacy of principles degenerates into
the petty personalities with which
our politics has recently seemed to
be rife
We can contribute in no small
measure ourselves to stabiliZing the
unsettled conditions of our time if
in these days Immediately ahead we
shall demonstrate our loyalty not
only to our State and Nation but also
to the principles of the party under
whose banner we were elected to
the offices whose responsibilities we
now bear. NO political platform
can represent exactly the views of
any individual unless the party is
submerged in the candidate and the
platform thus constitutes merely n
personal reflection of his views.
Anglo-SaXon traditions call for com
these party platforms constitute a
contract by whose obligations we
are bound unless prior to the cleo
ton we have manifested our dissent.
These platforms may seem meager
in their directions on the pressing
problems of our day but it is only by
IA sincere endeavor to interpret them
in our acts that we can restore
party government to the place of
first importance it long occupied in
contribution which we are privileged
TO make to the sterilization of con-
ditions in our national life today. A
party that Will not stand by its
banners abundantly deserves defeat.
America will have jOurneyed u long
way toward dissolution when it be-
comes a government merely of men.
This may seem to emphasize at
considerable length a subject with
which we are not especially con-
cerned. An examination of our cur
rent political thought. however. re-
veals a disintegration of political
parties that is giving thoughtful
Americans increasing concern.
BY an overwhelming majority the
Republican party has been given a
mandate to carry on the affairs OF
the State in accordance with the
principles and by the candidates it
has upheld. This constitutes no
necessary reelection upon the person
mel or the integrity of the party in
opposition. but simply means vote
of confidence in the conduct of the
affairs OF the State during recent
Republican administrations. 1t is
significant that these have been
oonspicuously characterized by econo-
my in governmental affairs.
1t is the opinion of most compe-
tent observers that thousands of citi-
zens formerly associated with the
Democratic Party voted for the Re
lions in this State animated by a
conviction that the principles it rep
resented Were of paramount I'M
portance at this time. Such a de-
parture from ordinary political lines
places an unusual obligation upon
4 the representatives of the Repub-
lean Party to remain steadfast to
their faith.
LESS Law
OF the making of many laws there
seems no end. our country suffers
from Legislative INDIGESTION, if we may
employ the term. Less law" might
/ we'll be our motto with profit to our
State. 1t has been Il maxim of the
Legislature that each member is en-
titled to one law. A crowding of our
statutes is the inevitable result. Equal
stress on repeats for period would
insure Il stricter observance of the
laws that should survive.
In our generation the efficiency of
the highly centralized business execu-
tive has cast a reflection upon our po-
rlitical red-tape. AS a consequence
there has been a growing sympathy
for an executive autocracy in our land
Executive uSurpation has been aided
by legislative neglect. Under our
plan of government the executive has
I certain quasi-leG islative functions de-
fined by custom and the constitution
1t is not we'll that these should be en-
larged. We may we'll study the eX-
ample OF our fathers in coordinatinG
the activities of the legislators and the
executive IN carrying on the state. A
| friendly adjustment of our viewpoints
| will recommend our own unSelfish pur-
pose and serve the interests of our
state. 1t is my earnest hope that we
may have definitely turned the corner
! back toward the harmonious coopera-
! ton of other days
Contingent Fund
| Maine existed for a century without
! a State Contingent Fund. 1t was in
inaugurated decade ago and has de-
veloped out of all bounds. The Elk
! ecutivc Department may, for reasons
/ which seem sufficient TO itself. refuse
! to expend appropriations that the
I iI-I. fltrn 1nnG q
! thus become available in the so-called
! Contingent Fund. other projects
which the Legislature has expressly
| refused to sanction may then be de
clared emergencies and carried into Ell
| feet. Apart entirely, however, from
! the abuses to which such a financial
method might he subjected in the
! hands of a designing Executive in oul
/ state, there is a broader lesson o,
| governmental experience, as 1t mas
| been developed in England and Amer
| lea down to this day.
The control of the purse Is the con-
troll of the government. This princi'
pie was established at Runnymedt
over eight hundred years ago. The
! Chief Executive of our state now en-
/ joys extraordinary powers in connec-
| tion with the disbursement of public
funds If in addition the Executive
Department shall develop constantly
charging powers with relation, no'
/ merely TO the eNptitbi LUZ Z pul dtoo ~
/ the appropriation of public funds, the
| Legislature will tend to become super
! fluous and possibly benevolent exec
u,ive autocracy will result. A proper
| jealousy by each department of the
| powers entrusted to it's care is one OF
| the first duties of an official under the
! institution of our Nation and our
| State.
! Some provision for Contingent
! Fund to meet real emergencies in view
SULPHUR SO0THS
Al lTnlllkIn oNlAl